FREE + STYLE + BMX

Posted by Clint Sibbald + January 08, 2009 09:23am [Updated]

Media Release -

Sunday the 21st of December saw the 4th annual DK King of Dirt BMX Competition take place at Pine Rivers Park. The competition attracted riders from all over Australia to compete on some of the best dirt jumps in the country and they certainly did not disappoint those who turned up to cheer them on!

In the Beginner class we witnessed some of the future stars of Australian BMX riding the big jumps and doing tricks that would have only been seen in the Pro class a few years ago. It was also refreshing to see some riders on Hard Tail Mountain Bikes competing and matching it with the BMXers. In the end, Ben Richardson won the day with some clean runs featuring Supermans and 360s. Chris Stalhart (riding the MTB) came 2nd, and Jake May came 3rd after putting it all on the line to try and take the top spot.

The expert class has again stepped up from previous years – with riders bringing out a whole range of Flip variations and big Whip tricks. While all riders in the class proved that they aren’t far off the Pro Ranks, Luke Bowerman and Matt Mackellar were the stand outs. Luke and Matt were neck and neck all through the competition, with Matt only just edging Luke out for the win. Matt put together a clean final run to put all the pressure on Luke to produce something big, who, unfortunately, just couldn’t land his last jump – giving Matt the victory.

In the Pro Class, we saw many riders returning from previous years and some newcomers to the event. Regardless of whether they had ridden here before, all riders showed the crowd why Australian BMXers are among the best in the world. In the end, reigning champion, Jai Toohey, was not going to be denied back to back victories despite the best efforts on Nick Cooper (2007 runner up) and Cam Pianta who made up the top 3.

It was with a strange sense of Déjà vu that Jai qualified 1st for the final and proceeded to produce the best run of the day straight away. After Jai’s first run, everyone else knew what they had to do to win – and everyone gave it everything they had, however none could match the youngster from the Central Coast. Just as it was in 2007, Jai’s last run was basically a victory lap.

If anyone would like access to other event footage, please contact us to arrange this. You can also see the video, all results and photos from the day on the Myspace: www.myspace.com/KingofDirtBMX