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If things don't get pushed in a different direction, BMX would still look the same 20 years from now. The Red Bull R.Evolution is an event which should inspire others to thing differently when it comes down to developing tracks and having a good time. For Elite Trackx the event is a great way to see what's possible. They've experimented with box jumps during the supercross races before but that wasn't well received by all. For the Red Bull R.Evolution they were instructed to think outside the box and the track they built, for sure looked like a monster. Obviously this doesn't work for the 6 year old novice, or even the girls, but they weren't invited to put on a show for the 5000 people who paid to watch the race.

36 riders from 11 countries were lucky enough to receive an invite. They got to Berlin early in the week and all stayed in the same hotel near the venue. A welcomes dinner, boat ride, 55DSL goodie bag, and a few practice sessions later, the riders were ready for the big evening. Once again it was sold out. Tickets were between €5 and €7,50 euros but for that money you either got to sit in the stands, or watch from the infield. In between the races, when the riders were chilling in the rider's lounge, some entertainment was brought in. The beat boxers were back and also a breakdance show plus flatland show was put on. Viki Gomez and Matthias Dandois were brought in to take care of that. They had plenty of room on the top of the second jump to do their tricks and the crowd ate it up.

But back to the racing. Only 6 guys lined up per heat in Berlin. Lane 1 and lane 8 were closed off all the time. As soon as the first gate dropped, the power switch was on. The racers came down the starting hill with full speed jumping a big wooden gap followed by a 15 meter big table top. 5 big see containers were hidden underneath but the riders didn't seem to have a problem clearing the whole thing. The next jump gave them more problems. It was a big tall roller. The speed was too high to keep the wheels on the ground. The jump was too mellow and high to lift up the front wheel. The backside was a bit steeper on the inside and a step up followed the roller where you needed speed to clear it. It was a tough part of the track. Do I slow down to actually roll it and keep the bike on the ground? Do I go on the outside where it is less steep? Both these options are unnatural for a BMX racer. When the racing was on, the riders were on the inside and had too much speed to roll it. This resulted in some crashes at full speed but if you had the skills to pay the bills, this roller gained you an advantage over the competition. Personally I like this roller being on the track. You had your options on how to take it.

After the giant step-up coming out of the first turn, the track was split in a Flow line and a Jump line. Whichever line was taken was decided when the riders were on the gate waiting to drop in. A 'wheel of fortune' was given a swing and it was either the Flow or Jump line, or in case the wheel stopped at the Joker, Tom Ritz could decide which way they had to go. The Jump line was favourite and it was decided that that line would be done in the final race. After two heats the best 2 riders moved on to the quarter final. The LCQ race that followed filled up the rest. Joris Daudet looked strong winning both of his heats. Martijn Jaspers was the only Dutch rider transferring to the quarter final without having to use the LCQ but Twan van Gendt, Raymon van der Biezen, Jelle van Gorkom, and also Niels Bensink made it through to the quarters and took that last chance they had to do it.

The only Dutch rider to not make it through was Desmond Tessemaker. But he wasn’t there to win. 55DSL put up a Rebel of the Day award and that was right up Desmond’s alley. During the racing the judges looked for the riders that did the best tricks or did transfers for the heck of it. 5 riders were selected by the judges and then the crowd could vote for the 55DSL Rebel of the Day via their cell phones. Desmond did the biggest flip over the big table and also did no-handers and a no-footed cancan over the finish line. He was the only one not wearing race gear and stood out from the start. The flip that sealed the deal wasn’t easy either. The take-off was super mellow and flipping at full speed is something else, especially with 5 other riders on the track at the same time. Needless to say, Desmond was stoked on the award.

Corben Sharrah (USA), Vincent Pelluard (FRA), Twan van Gendt (NED) and Connor Fields (USA) were the winners of the quarter final heats and took two others with them to the semi finals. The results of the two heats of six riders in the semis looks like this:

Semi 1:
1P 120 PELLUARD Vincent FRA 38.557 Q

2 P   11 FIELDS Connor USA 38.952 Q

3 P 500 REZENDE Renato BRA 39.109 Q

4 P 321 RICCARDI Remi FRA 39.363

5 P 572 BRETHAUER Luis GER 40.352

6 P   95 NOBLES Barry USA 41.583

Semi 2:
1 9 DAUDET Joris FRA 31.557 Q

2 P 148 van GENDT Twan NED 31.787 Q

3 P 278 RAMIREZ YEPEZ Carlos Alberto° COL 32.456 Q

4 P   24 SHARRAH Corben USA 32.619

5 P   92 JASPERS Martijn NED DNF

6 P   69 GODET Damien FRA DNF

With two Frenchmen, a Dutch rider, one American, a rider from Colombia and one from Brazil it was an international final. Too bad for the home crowd, Luis Brethauer did not make it out of his semi. With the track being transferred into a SX World Cup track, the Germany rider will have a big track to train on. Also the Mellowpark will host a BMX SX World Cup race for the next three years so count on the Germans to be ready for those.

The crowd was ready for the final race at 21:30hr.  When the gate dropped it was Connor Fields coming in from the outside to grab the lead. Twan van Gendt was finding his spot in second right until that roller popped up in front of him. Renato Rezende passed him on the outside when Twan went down and took Joris Daudet and Carlos Ramirez with him to the ground. Vincent Pelluard managed to stay on his bike and started following the two other riders who were quickly making their way around the jump line section. At the finish line Connor Fields did the sketchiest one-hander ever but he was too stoked to even care. He called it the best and most fun race he’d ever been to which is an indication on how well received the event was, by the others as well.

The R.Evolution race is an event in itself. BMX racing will most likely never change into something like this for the kids, the girls and the amateurs. But it’s got potential for a worldwide series bringing the best Elite Men racers in the world to put on a show for a big crowd.

BdJ