Red Bull R.Evolution, the FATBMX report. By BdJ

Aug 29, 2012

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 6295 times

Did we see a BMX revolution last Friday in Berlin, Germany? Maybe not, but it was something different and everyone had a good time. This might be a start of something new because things worked out so good that "the next Red Bull Revolution" should only be a matter of time. Riders showed up on Tuesday already for the race that was moved to Friday 24 August, an odd day to have an international BMX race, but if you've got Red Bull's promotion power you can move a race to a Friday night.

The Mellowpark in Berlin was the location for the event. It's got some BMX history but in the for of freestyle events. A BMX race track was missing so a deal was made with Red Bull to do a race at their venue, and keep the track afterwards. A win-win situation. A trails session took place on Tuesday night with most racers participating. A welcome speech followed and everyone got put up in the nice Penta hotel.

Wednesday was a day for practice on the track that got a lot of

attention on the internet at that point. It was new, it was spectacular, it had wallrides, box jumps, a 10 meter ramp to ramp first jump and a 13 meter double on the first straight. The S-turn looked like wide trails and it even had a finish-line jump. Since the track was there for the Elite Men only, the track builders could pull out all stops. This was a non-UCI event so there were no regulations to be followed as far as track building was concerned. Not all riders that were invited showed up, but those who did took to the track one step at a time and loved it. It was good to see the smiles on the faces during free practice.

Most riders used all available practice time, not that they needed it, but it was too fun to stop. Riders rode the track backwards, did transfers and found lines. It was like riding a skatepark.

After a quick shower the entire crew stepped into a double decker bus for a Berlin City Tour. Those who were there for the bus trips during the Rebeljams will remember how much fun those can be. Question was, how was the trip going to be with BMX racers? Red Bull took care of the drinks on board, and with no trainers/coaches/nutrition experts looking over their shoulders, the racers sure did enjoy themselves. The pressure of the Olympics was gone and it was time for them to blow off some steam. The R.Evolution race was turning into having a good time with fellow racers, instead of dealing with rules, regulations, scoring points and pressure. Which was good to see.

Thursday's open qualifier race was called off. All who signed up got to race the main program on Friday. Time that was reserved for the Open Qualifying race got turned into practice time which gave the riders a bit more time to get used to the track. In between the two practice sessions some of the crew went lake jumping in the Spree. I would have never thought I'd see the Olympic bronze medalist jump into the water on a bike with no grips. But again, the vibe was chill and everyone was having fun.

On Thursday night, at the hotel, all the riders got to hear which race they were in. Not only that, Bob Haro was there to give them a unique Ikonix number plate and some cool R.Evolution gear in person. The plates are the first ones ever being raced with.

Bob signed them all on the back and coloured in the Ikonix logo with a white pen on each plate. If they take off like the original HARO plates on eBay, they'll be worth some $$$ one day. It was another Red Bull rider treatment that wasn't needed to create happy faces, the smiles only got bigger.

Friday, race day. It was the first time it rained that week so everyone was checking the weather reports to see what was going to happen. It was going to be dry at night, but some people wanted to ride the track a bit more to dial it in. One of those riders was Desmond Tessemaker who had not touched the track yet because he recorded a Hugo Boss commercial in London with Jenson Button earlier in the week. When the plastic got removed from the track at 3pm, Desmond had a first look at the track. It didn't take him long to clear a full lap after being lead by Kris Fox. It was an indication of riders helping eachother out over trying to keep the track secrets to themselves for personal benefit.

But what was actually going to happen? Basically some freestyle dudes were called in to do some tricks during the race. Each heat had one or two of those riders who could not only clear the track, but throw in some action too. Over € 4000,= Euros was up for grabs (total) for all the tricks that were going down. In each race, a rider would be awarded with a cash bonus for doing the best trick while racing. Sifiso Nhlapo once made some extra money by doing a simple one-hander over the finish line jump but it would take more than that in other races. Daryn Goodwin, Chist Christiansen and Barry Nobles flipped while clipped in. Desmond Tessemaker, Nate Berkheimer, Lance Mosley and Joey Cordova flipped the 13 meter double and Kris Fox tricked all over the place. Vance Weisendanger and Mike Gonzalez did all they could to make some beer money as well. The freestyle aspect sure pleased the crowd but of course they had no game for the racers who just got back from the Olympics in London. Within three cranks, they were 3 meters behind. It showed how fast racing is these days.

5000 people showed up to watch the race, and it wasn't 1500 competitors with their parents. Only 45 racers actually entered the race so there were a lot of people in the crowd that were there to see the top riders race. Red Bull's promotion campaign had done its job and the vibe in the crowd was electric. After being entertained by "the freestyle riders" during the 1/8th finals, the pace got faster in the quarters when most trick dudes were eliminated. It turned more into an actual BMX race with top participants from all continents, 8 of whom had raced the Olympics a few weeks earlier.

When it was time for the finals 2 Aussies, 2 Americans, 2 French riders, one Colombian and one Dutch racer lined up on the gate. Darryn Goodwin and Sylvain Andre didn't make it past the first 10 meter gap and crashed but got back up. This left 6 riders on the course. Twan van Gendt (NED) had left from gate 2 and took the holeshot and never looked back. GT riders Corben Sharrah and Mike Day from the USA followed the Dutchman on the way to the finishline in that order. Duchene got 4th followed by Luke Madill and the Olympic Bronze medalist Carlos Oquendo. Van Gendt was

buzzing: "This is awesome, my first Elite win in front of this crowd. It was a super event, can't wait for another one!" the Redline rider said. I believe that goes for all riders who experienced the first Red Bull R.Evolution race.

BdJ

Results Red Bull R.Evolution, Berlin, Germany. 24 August 2012.

1 148 van GENDT Twan, NED 45.881
2 24 SHARRAH Corben, USA 46.710
3 365 DAY Mike, USA 47.111
4 157 DUCHENE Simon, FRA 47.997
5 17 MADILL Luke, AUS 49.612
6 566 OQUENDO ZABALA Carlos Mario , COL 50.194
7 39 ANDRE Sylvain, FRA DNF
8 25 GOODWIN Darryn, AUS DNF