540 on the quarter for good measure.
Russian youngster Irek Rizaev is one to watch for the future. After just missing the cut to the final at round two in China, the trick machine triple whipped and 720'd the box higher than most. Add to that a 360 double tailwhip and a double tailwhip over the spine. His 1080 attempt in his first run lead to a broken fork which he had to fix to get back on the ramp again for run two. It took the steam out of the Russian and that's why he finished up on spot eleven where a better result was in the pipeline.
Many Russians made it to Langkawi. FISE regular Alex Nikulin is always a treat to watch. The energy he puts into his airs can be felt by everyone who's watching. Alex pushes it where it might look a little sketchy, but somehow he gets away with the bone-airs and/or deep landings. Nikulin is not afraid to send it big and did fronties on the driveway and no-handed front flips on the box combined with good looking 360 no-handers over the spine, flairs and barrel rolls all over the place. Place 10 was for Alex.
Alessandro Barbero (ITA) has missed most of the 2015 season due to injury. It's not fun when a 500kg ramp falls on your arm and makes it numb. But the former FISE Montpellier winner is not done yet. Ale knows how to pack a run together with hard tricks and makes it stick. Jumping the box backwards doing 360 no-handers, flip whipping the step-up, doing wallrides to tailwhips, and icepicks on the hitching post are some of the moves the Italian brought to Langkawi. He took home 9th place points.
After a slam into the face of the quarterpipe two days earlier during practice, Konstantin Andreev wasn't sure if he could ride. His eye was so swollen that he could hardly see. But the face heals up quickly and when it was time for the final, the vision was back. Kostya has so many tech moves that it's hard to keep up. He also adds no-handers and barspins to the tricks when he's already set in the landing. It's insane. There's not a lot of time to do a Truckdriver on the step-up to downside whip, or a 360 double tailwhip to extended no-hander on the box for instance, but the Russian makes it work. After many crashes all weekend he was still the last rider on the course after the comp wanting to pull that one trick. That's determination. Time to recover now.
With the top five finishers in Cheng-du getting their trips covered for the next round, Drew Bezanson (CAN) made sure he hopped on that plane. It took him 3 days to get to Langkawi island but once there, there was no time to waste. On the scooter or the park course, Drew has the tricks and is always down for some extra entertainment. One of Drew's run would have probably got him on the podium but with both scores added for a final score, the Canadian ended up on spot number seven. His double flip on the box came out of nowhere. His barspin drop-ins from the wall are ballsy. Drew was all over the place and will be back at Langkawi Island whenever he has the chance. 7th.
With all of the riders, staff and fans renting scooters, you can imagine it's chaos on the streets in Langkawi. An accident was going to happen eventually and it was Daniel Dhers (VEN) who was the victim. After going wide on a turn, it was either getting a head-on collision with a truck, or take the gap between the truck and the barrier. After washing out on the grass, Daniel left some skin on the island. It looked nasty and the comp was only two days away, but was there enough time to recover? Daniel soldiered through the semi-final trying to stay on the bike. He did better than anyone thought he would and transfered to the main program on Sunday. Daniel had to put his hands in a different position on his grips so his scabs on his palms got some rest. The way he still managed to do his two fully stacked runs was nothing short of impressive. The 6th place finish even boosted him up to a 5th place rank on the 2015 FISE World Series overall rankings. He'll be stoked to have put the effort in to ride. He'll be more careful on that scooter next time.
England's Ryan Taylor flew into Langkawi making sure all his followers were not disappointed. They can be proud of the Brit who kicked off his riding with the incredible flair drop-in making it look easy. Next time you're on top of the ramp, look down and picture yourself doing that trick. RT pulled a double flip on the box as well and showed he's got good bike control by pulling all the lip tricks he wanted to do. Ryan broke his cranks during practice and gave his entire bike to the local who lend him his cranks so he could ride to comp. 5th.
After making the podium at the FISE World Series in Chengdu, China at stop #2, Jake Leiva is hooked on the FISE events. His fresh approach to the course and personal tricks are a welcome addition to the pro field. Jake is simply not someone who learns the standard tricks, he adds his own flavour to them. The rider from Tehachapi, California won the Best trick contest with a alley-oop 270-tailwhip drop-in from the wall into the quater a few meters below. It was insane. His two runs almost got him on the podium in Malaysia finishing 4th. Flip double-whips anyone?
Daniel Sandoval (USA) was tied with points for the overall win. Arriving rather late after a long trip wasn't the best preparation for the comp that he could have wished for. But being the pro rider that he is, and having attended many FISE events, Daniel did not need much time to get used to the ramps. The triple whip on the 10 ft quarterpipe to start his run was a sign he wanted it badly. He shot straight into a double truck to downside whip on the box to add to it. Daniel was the only one to do frontflip flairs in both his runs, did a 810 over the hip and dec-8-d down the step up with ease. Incredible riding, good for third place at the FISE World Series in Langkawi.
Great Britain's Alex Coleborn had room to step it up in the finals and he did. Alex is one of those riders that packs a run full of tech and big moves. A good combo to have. His 360 triple whip on the box was massive and he made the 360-whip to barspin over the spine easy. Barspin to footjam transfer to the top of the 10ft quarterpipe? Check. Alex casually continued with a 720 barspin on the step-up. The barspin barrel roll over the spine was nice as was the 360-double whip over the same ramp. Alex had two packed clean runs which gave him 2nd place in Langkawi and bumped him up to third place overall with the absence of Mike Gray (CAN) and Daniel Wedemeijer (NED) who were in 3rd and 4th in the standings but couldn't make it to the final stop due to injuries.
If there's one contest machine that knows how to use the FISE ramps to their full potential, it's Logan Martin. The Australian is so dialled it's insane. He packed everyone's hardest flip/spin/whip tricks into his runs and added some more. It's simply better to watch his runs to understand. The win in Malaysia also gave Logan the 2015 overall FISE World Series title which next to a big check, gives him some good benefits for the 2016 season. Congrats Logan!
The 2016 FISE World Series will be the official UCI World Cup rounds next year. The full schedule will be announced during a press conference on Langkawi Island 12-13 March 2016. You better start getting ready now.
Bart de Jong
Final PRO BMX Results FISE Malaysia, Sunday 20 December 2015,
1 Logan MARTIN 22 years Brisbane 95.00 pts
2 Alex COLEBORN 23 years Jersey 93.66 pts
3 Daniel SANDOVAL 21 years Californie 92.66 pts
4 Jake LEIVA 21 years Californie 90.00 pts
5 Ryan TAYLOR 22 years Walsall 89.33 pts
6 Daniel DHERS 30 years Caracas 87.66 pts
7 Drew BEZANSON 26 years Truro, Nova Scotia 85.66 pts
8 Andreev KONSTANTIN 22 years Saint-Petersburg 85.33 pts
9 Allessandro BARBERO 32 years Ceva 84.33 pts
10 Alex NIKULIN 23 years Krasnodar 81.33 pts
11 Irek RIZAEV 18 years KAZAN 78.66 pts
12 Vladislav MELNIK 25 years St Petersbourg 77.66 pts