Linz, 14th January 2011: After a short winter break, NIGHT of the JUMPs has now embarked on its next tour. The Tips Arena in Linz saw the first points of the 2011 UEM Freestyle MX European Championship awarded on Friday night. Brice Izzo claimed the first victory of the new season ahead of fellow Frenchman Remi Bizouard. Sikspak team rider Maikel Milero narrowly missed out on posting a sensational result. Making his debut, the Spaniard finished the evening in fourth place, just behind Jose Miralles.




Lining up for qualification in Linz were Libor Podmol, Brice Izzo, Jose Miralles, Remi Bizouard, Massimo Bianconcini and Hannes Ackermann, six of the top NIGHT of the JUMPs performers from the 2010 world championships. They were joined by six other riders who had made it through the open qualifier held the previous day: Maikel Melero (ESP), Lukas Weis (GER), Thomas Wirnsberger (AUT), Dennis Garhammer (GER), Martin Schenk (AUT) and Radek Bilek (CZE).

The winter vacation seemed to have done the riders a power of good, as they all set about the renewed challenge with determination and a high level of skill. The only one visibly saving himself for the final was World Champion Libor Podmol, who scraped through in an unaccustomed fourth place. Remi Bizouard, Brice Izzo and newcomer Maikel Melero pulled out all the stops right from the start, performing virtually their whole repertoire of flip combinations. Jose Miralles and Massimo Bianconcini took the two remaining places for the final.



The first Race & Style Contest of the year was won by Jose Miralles. The curtain-raiser High Jump event produced a surprise, as Frantisek Maca went head to head with Maikel Melero and prevailed with a jump of 9.7 metres.

In the final round, the freestylers continued firing on all cylinders. Massimo Bianconcini put in a solid run which still left him in only sixth place on the night. Jose Miralles flipped his Superman Seatgrab Indy to No-Hand Landing in the double-up, which secured him his first podium of 2011. By contrast, Libor Podmol seemed somewhat inhibited and had to settle for fifth after a flip deadsailor.



After his spectacular start, there was no holding back rookie Maikel Melero who only narrowly missed out on a podium finish. Meanwhile, the French duo of Remi Bizouard and Brice Izzo were surpassing each other with the quality of their hardcore flips. Izzo pulled off a Stripper, Tsunami and Lazyboy backflip. Remi hit back with a Ruler, Heart Attack und Cliffhanger flip plus a 360-degree underflip.



Brice Izzo’s emerged victorious by a two-point margin, which also takes him straight to the top of the UEM Freestyle MX European Championship standings. Runner-up was Remi Bizouard ahead of third-placed Jose Miralles. However, the whole situation could be quickly turned around tomorrow (Saturday) when the next batch of points are awarded in the FMX European Championship Series during the second round of NIGHT of the JUMPs in Linz.

Linz, 15th January 2011: Round 2 of the UEM Freestyle MX European Championship – on the same weekend and at the same venue – was once again a feast of freestyle motocross. The Linz Tips Arena was sold out for the second successive night, and the crowd roared their riders on to even greater heights. With a second victory on the trot, Brice Izzo has instantly established himself as European title favourite.

The locals Martin Schenk and Thomas Wirnsberger made a good job:

Unfortunately, Lukas Weis was injured in practice, which meant that there were only eleven contestants in the starting line-up. In the private contest between the Austrian riders, Martin Schenk once again prevailed against youngster Thomas Wirnsberger. But neither was able to progress through to the final; nor was Radek Bilek who took a tumble. Dennis Garhammer put on a solid display of ‘old school’ tricks, but without any flips in his repertoire, there was no way that he was going to progress to the final. Hannes Ackermann put on his best NIGHT of the JUMPs run to date, including a new combination of Nac to Heelclicker Backflip, but in the end still narrowly missed out. So the six going through to the final were the same as on Friday: Bianconcini, Melero, Miralles, Bizouard, Podmol and Izzo.


Libor Podmol flipping in Cordova style to 3rd place on saturday night:

Victory in the Race & Style Contest once again went to Jose Miralles. Massimo Bianconcini took the honours in the Highest Air Contest with a jump of 9.3 metres. But no sooner had he got that title in the bag than he had to get back on his bike to lead off in the final. A solid run secured him a P6 finish, still not good enough to take him past Maikel Melero. The Spaniard has turned out to be the FMX discovery of the weekend, producing a display of hardcore tricks that propels him straight into the pantheon of European greats.


The next generation of spanish FMX – Maikel Melero:


In the internal Iberian duel with Miralles, however, Melero still came off second best. Jose leapt to fourth and must bide his time before he gets another crack at a podium. Izzo, Bizouard und Podmol slugged it out for the three top spots in what may well have been the toughest backflip contest ever staged on European soil. It was only when Brice Izzo performed his Stripperflip to 1-Hand-Landing in the double-up that Libor and Remi knew they had been beaten fair and square. So the diminutive Frenchman was crowned the undisputed ‘Freestyle King of Austria’.

Brice Izzo is definitely the man to beat 2011:


With these two rounds of the European Championship having been such a spectacular success, it is clear that NIGHT of the JUMPs will be coming back to Linz next year. The FMX elite have already made a date in their diaries for 20th and 21st January 2012 in the Tips Arena.

Remi is back on top after his injury last year – nice extended Hart Attack Flip:

In the overall standings of the UEM Freestyle MX European Championship, Brice Izzo leads with a maximum points haul of 40 ahead of Remi Bizouard on 36. Jose Miralles follows in third on 30 points. The third European Championship event is scheduled for 14th May in Hamburg. Meanwhile, the next NIGHT of the JUMPs takes place on 19th February in Turin (Italy) and features the curtain-raiser event in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championships.