Omroeper who both did a good job keeping things right for the riders and hyping up the crowd. To see birthday boy Bjorn Eulink on the Red Bull DJ booth was a surprise but he brought classic tunes and nobody complained. When the music doesn't disturb anyone, it means they like it. Hats off to Bjorn for spinning the vinyl.
The contest started with a little bit of a delay as some of the riders and part of the judging team were stuck in a big traffic jam. That meant that the pro riders got some extra practice. In general the park was liked by the riders, and the crowd. It was warm inside, the bar was open, the BBQ was set up outside, the riders had food in the riders arear and the bowl could be used for everyone who brought a bike. 
The media and red cross even had their own space and the orga team had an office to work on the event. Things were thought out which contributed to the good vibe at the 040BMX Park.
The contest got on its way with Pro qualifying while some riders were still arriving. If they'd planned to be there for 10am practice they would have made it but getting up early on a Sunday morning after a heavy night isn't the easiest thing to do. We'll show you who made finals in Eindhoven so you know who were all there:
040BMX Park pro qualifiers. Results Sunday 23 March.
1. Tom van den Bogaard
2. Kenneth Tancre
3. Paul Thoelen
4. Jack Clark
5. Gwen Geyskens
6. Kevin Liehn
7. Channon Balorian
8. Tobias Freigang
8. Pedro Pedro Brás
10. Jimmy van Belle
11. Panos Mameras
12. Sean Brouns
12. Dustin Grice
14. Aaron Nicholson
14. Adrian Warnken
16. Joe Roofe
Tom van den Bogaard is a local at 040BMX park and you can tell. He's got the lines but most importantly he's got the style and the tricks. The 17 year old "Mike Aitken from Ale Blie" qualified in first in front of 040BMX team rider Kenneth Tancré and another 040BMX Team rider in the name of Paul Thoelen. Dustin Grice and Joe Roofe also made it to the finals but had to sit out because they crashed hard towards the end of their runs in qualifying. Dustin hurt his knee on the big step up and Joe ejected on a huge front flip to land on the flat bottom. You've probably seen that clip on Youtube already.
After an open riding session the finals were on the program. 14 riders lined up to battle for a € 3750,= Euro pro purse to be divided by the top 5 riders. Adrian Warnken (GER) has the tech tricks and the skills but somehow it didn't work out for him at Strijp-S. A lot of youngsters made it and Sean Brouns was one of them. The 15 year old Belgian did huge flips and flairs on the former rebeljam ramps for 13th place. After doing a killer first run Gwen Geyskens had a bad crash and knocked himself out. The Belgian had qualified in 5th place and was doing great until that moment. 
It got the vibe down and a 15 minute break was called. Then Gwen came to and was transported to the hospital for an extra check. Wearing a certified helmet is a good thing and Gwen is back up on his feet again. 11th place was for Panos "#Braaab" Maneras from Greece who was enjoying his trip so much that he got a #Braaab tattoo from Channon Balorian after the event. Panos found the lines and pushed his turndowns, lookbacks and flairs to the extreme level. Channon Balorian from Rotterdam did a frontflip on the step-up and a backflip down the same set up. Then took the backie to the big step-down for the first time. The 34R rider got 10th place and was still smiling (and walking) after the comp. Aaron Nicholson from the UK has been out with an injury for a long period of time. The Braaab comp was his first comp back and he didn't waste any time. He was
riding fast and flipped, double whipped and frontied the ramps like a true Brit. Not scared and full speed. Every rider had two runs and a last trick. One score was given for the overall. Pedro Bras from Portugal rode an amazing run and was on his way to a top 5 ranking. Unfortunately he struggled a bit also which cost him a higher place on the final results list. The 16 year old rider from Portimao is a ripper and you'll be hearing more of him in the future. We're getting close to the top 5 positions now. Tobias Freigang (7th) from Germany had a very solid performance. He's got an incredible pump in his legs and does the highest flairs with the slowest speed. His last trick transfer from spine to step up didn't go too well. He came up short and snapped his frame in half. Luckily the strong German walked away from it. Another German on place 6: Kevin Liehn. The Sunday Bikes rider showed his tech riding which made him stand out from the others. He pretty much pulled everything also but he just missed out on the top 5 big checks.
Jimmy van Belle was one of the riders who showed up late. With no warm-up he transferred to the finals but when the time finals arrived, he had warmed up. You can describe Jimmy's riding as pretty loose which makes for good entertainment. His tailtap on the slanted wall was huge and right in front of the loud Belgian section. 5th place was his.
The top four riders were on a different level. There's almost a four point gap between place 5 and Paul Thoelen's 4th place, but less than two points difference between 4th and 1st. It was close up on the top to say the least. Paul rode clean, did his tricks 2 feet higher than most and was all over the place in his runs. Paul is a local at the park as he lives 50 minutes away over the border in Germany. His many sessions at 040BMX paid off in his 4th place check. Oh yeah, he's only 15 years old.
If Duracell is looking to sponsor a BMX rider, they should call Jack Clark from the UK. He'll be the first one on the course and the last one to get off. His runs are longer as is his trick list. The Haro rider does so many lines and tricks in his runs that it's hard to keep up. Thing is, he makes things up as he goes and reminds me of the way Mark Webb used to ride when he entered comps a few years ago. The skills to adapt quickly comes with lots of riding. Jack's runs are never dull and always different. He also pulled his last trick, a barrell roll from the spine over the resi in a small landing. He got a well deserved 3rd place in Eindhoven.
It won't be the first time that someone makes a "Mike Aitken" comparison when 17 year old Tom van den Bogaard drops in. Aarle-Rixtel finally has someone who can compete with the big boys in the pro class. Stoked on that. Tom rides at the 040BMX park 5 times a week but was stuck at home doing homework all week for upcoming tests. Once he dropped in, the thoughts were on the tricks and not his homework. It's such a pleasure watching Tom ride. His riding is calculated. He qualified in first and was the last rider up for best trick. He'd been working on a 360-triple downside whip that he saved to do on the box for the first time ever. Everyone was ready to see it. On take-off things looked good. He got that FIT around once, twice, three times, got his feet on the pedals but fell over on his head and knocked himself out for the first time. Once again the place went silent but Tom got back to the real world and walked off course with the help of Daniel Wedemeijer. What he'd shown before the final hit still got him 2nd place. #Braaab!
One rider left: Kenneth Tancré from Belgium. Kenneth knows how to build up his runs. He keeps it going from start to finish and didn't crash. With the Belgian crew getting loud for Kenneth he stepped it up another notch in the finals. That's two in a row for Kenneth after winning a dirt comp in Assen the weekend before. What's next? € 1250,= Euros will help pay for the next trip and Kenneth and his dad are not finished yet. Congrats.
Despite the hard crashes and people getting hurt the Braaab comp was awesome. Thanks to all involved. Let's make this an annual event. We'll be there. Braaabbraaab!!
BdJ
Results finals Braaab BMX contest:
1 Kenneth Tancré 18 Belgium Vans, Grounded BMX, 040BMXpark, We The people 91.2
2 Tom van den Bogaard 17 Brabant Vans Paulsboutique BMX 040BMXpark 91.0
3 Jack Clark 19 UK Haro bikes, ExtremeSports, Vans, Vocal BMX 90.8
4 Paul Thoelen 15 Germany Redbull, Vans, Total BMX, 040BMXPark, Reeel Jeans G&S distribution 89.6
5 Jimmy van Belle 24 Belgium 34R, Original BMX Shop 85.8
6 Kevin Liehn 25 Germany Sundaybikes, Sportrimport, TSG 85.4
7 Tobias Freigang 20 Germany Maddgear, Beltiez 84.0
8 Pedro Bras 16 Portugal Legandbikes, vans, Monster Energy 83.8
9 Aaron Nicholson 23 UK DK, Vocal, Wearepark, Scoop BMX, Adrenaline Alley skatepark 83.6
10 Channon Balorian 23 NL 34R, Allispossible 81.6
11 Panos Maneras 24 Greece Redbull,, Verde BMX, Vodafone, CU, SneakAces, Denty, Vonzipper, Dakine 81.4
12 Gwen Geyskens 24 Belgium Haro Bikes, VWP, The 900 Shop 81.0
13 Sean Brouns 15 Belgium ghostracing BMX Shop 77.6
14 Adrian Warnken 21 Germany Felt Bikes, Almond Footware, Dev, Paranoia, Allience BMX 77.4
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.