Robert de Wilde has come up with another update straight out of the USA. Robert is Holland's only pro BMX racer ever who made it to the big time in the USA. He's living the pro life with his wife Mariella in Santa Ana, California. Here's Robert's latest update.
It’s been a while, sorry about that. I think the last little story was in March or April. The season has come to an end now and we have 3 new champions. Kyle Bennett won the NBL title, Bubba Harris won the ABA title and Warwick Stevenson won the UCI title.
UCI World's
I’ll start with the UCI worlds. The worlds this year were super big, there were about 2500 registered riders. The weather was of course very unpredictable. It rained very hard during the Red Bull Shoot out. The track stayed very nice so the races were pretty good.
The qualification was a bit different than normal. 8 moto’s with 4 riders each. After every lap the last guy in the moto would be dropped so the 3rd moto it was one on one with somebody else. It feels weird to be on the gate with just one more rider but somehow the racing was very intense.
After the 3 moto all the riders that were left did one more lap for the money. So you went from 4, 3, 2, to 8 riders. Warwick won the shoot out with J Rich in second and Big Afro Bob in third.
I raced this event last year too and I like it a lot. It’s different and it doesn’t take that long, just about 3 hours.
The worlds race started very early and we had to be done around 1 pm. The moto’s were alright but after that it was a interval training. There were some people struggling to recover. We had to race so quick because the mains would be live on national TV.
The main event was crazy. The only guy that really stayed out of trouble was Warwick. He grabbed the hole shot and took off. Behind him every body was fighting for position. 2 riders went down in the first turn. Cristian almost pushed Kyle out of the third turn. I tried to pass Cristian in the last turn for second but a stack of tires were in my way and I belly flopped onto the asphalt and that felt awesome, NOT.
Warwick was enjoying the clear track and he crossed the finish line way ahead of Cristian who got second and Bubba fought his way back to third. And that was pretty much it. The worlds were awesome and I can’t wait for next year to go to Paris.
NBL
The NBL season was very interesting too. Nobody really dominated the season. Warwick had a good late season push and he had the lead going into the grand’s.
There were 6 riders in contention for the title. This was the first time in the history of the NBL with that many riders in contention for the title. Normally it’s 2, sometimes 3 but that’s about it.
Warwick didn’t make it into the main event because I was trying to shut him down right out of the gate. We elbowed and he unclipped and that was it for him. He had a rough weekend already. He was a bit flat because he just got done taping MADE for MTV. It should air in January I think so keep an eye out for it.
The other 5 riders that were still up for it made the main and the points difference was very small. I blew my gate but Kyle just exploded out of the gate. He got the holeshot and brought it home in style.
Randy crashed in the first turn and balled a bunch of guys up. I used the ball up to go from eight to fourth. I tried everything to pass Cristian but I couldn’t pull it off. Kyle won the race and got the title with it.
J Rich and me finished with the same amount of points for the overall standing, but because I finished ahead of J Rich in the main that day I ended up second overall. It sucks when you are so close but yet so far away. Will see what next year will bring.
ABA
The ABA season was interesting too. Bubba focused on ABA only, and it paid off. Going into the Grand’s, there where 4 guys up for it but Kyle and Randy needed some help from Bubba and Warwick.
Kyle, Bubba and Warwick made it in to the main. Randy didn’t make it out of the semi’s so he was done for the title hunt. Kyle was pretty much done for the title hunt too because of Bubba and Warwick. The mains were awesome. Bubba crashed in the first main.
Kyle passed Warwick on the finish line for the first win. Bubba came back strong and won the second main and he almost crashed Warwick in the pro section. Warwick still got second with John in third.
The third main event was crazy. Warwick got the holeshot but Bubba got next to him in the pro section. Warwick clipped a jump and wasn’t able to jump the last set and he crashed over the bars.
So who ended up winning for the day? John got it with 3 third places. Bubba made it back to second for the day and secured the title. I think Warwick ended up fourth but I’m not sure.
Guess who’s back in action? Christophe raced at the grand’s for the first time in over a year. He made the main and got seventh. Not bad at all. He was looking good so I’m expecting big things from him for next year.
The season is over and we are getting ready for a new season. The Christmas Classic is around the corner. Some things are going to chance next year because of the 2008 Olympics. The UCI will have 3 World Cups next year. The dates are set but the locations are not official yet. They canceled the downhill supercross.
Okay this was it for know. I try to give you guys more updates.
Later, Afro Bob.
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