DAY 1
Berlin, 5th March 2011: There was a full house for NIGHT of the JUMPs in Berlin. The 11,000 spectators at o2 World cheered on the contestants during the second round of the 2011 FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. The riders repaid their audience with a trick spectacular that will be an enduring memory for anyone who saw it live. In a thrilling finale, Jose Miralles (ESP) won the first of the two German Grands Prix of the 2011 season ahead of Remi Bizouard (FRA).



The Berlin audience were obviously hoping for great things from the German quartet of Fabian Bauersachs, Hannes Ackermann, Lukas Weis and Kai Haase, as they took on the international elite of freestyle motocross. Unfortunately for the home crowd, none of them made it through to the final. Best of the German contingent was Fabian Bauersachs who came within 11 points of qualifying. Massimo Bianconcini, who finished fourth in Turin, was completely off form, going out of the competition after two dead sailors. Which meant that the six finalists on the night were Romain Izzo, Libor Podmol, Javier Villegas, Remi Bizouard, Maikel Melero and Jose Miralles.

After qualifying was over, Berlin local hero Kai Haase won the Race & Style Contest, outperforming even World Champion Libor Podmol. The Maxxis Highest Air Contest was won once again by the victor of Turin, Maikel Melero (9.6 metres), ahead of Massimo Bianconcini (9.3 metres).



First to be called forward in the final was Romain Izzo, who started with some good tricks but mistimed his double-up jump and so had to settle for sixth place. World Champion Libor Podmol made a determined attempt to compensate for missing the final in Turin but took a tumble on his last jump and could only finish fifth. Javier Villegas sparkled with his flip combinations to claim third spot on the podium. Maikel Melero once again failed to keep his nerve in what was only his second ever NIGHT of the JUMPs final and, despite qualifying second, could only manage fourth in the end.



The battle for ultimate victory in Berlin airspace raged between Remi Bizouard and Jose Miralles. Bizouard pulled out all his toughest backflips – Ruler, Underflip, Cliffhanger and Hart Attack – his most surprising trick on the night being a Shaolin, albeit not as a flip. But Jose Miralles had the answer and used all the ramps plus the Race & Style track for Underflip, Clickerflip and No-Hand Landing before blowing away the opposition with a Superman Seatgrab Backflip in the double-up. The Spaniard finished three points ahead and triumphed in the first half of the big freestyle weekend in Berlin.



After this second round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship, Remi Bizouard still heads the table on 38 points, with Jose Miralles close behind on 36 and Javier Villegas dropping back to third on 34. The next World Championship points are up for grabs on Sunday (6th March) in the second instalment of NIGHT of the JUMPs in Berlin.

On the second day of the ‘Berlin Air Show’, the four German FMX hopefuls once again made a valiant attempt to please their home crowd and get past the qualification stage. Kai Haase performed two flips, while Lukas Weis forgot his injured shoulder to pull out a 360-Style Underflip. Hannes Ackermann showed off his new Whip Flip, a Nac Flip to Heelclicker and a No-Hand Flip to One-Hand-Landing. All in all, a creditable performance from the trio, but still not good enough to get them into the final. By contrast, Fabian Bauersachs made a perfect qualifying run to go through as a worthy representative of the local contingent, joining the elite of Maikel Melero (ESP), Remi Bizouard (FRA), Jose Miralles (ESP), Javier Villegas (CL) and Libor Podmol (CZE).

Massimo Bianconcini took the honours in the Race & Style contest ahead of Saturday’s winner Kai Haase, who this time won the Maxxis Highest Air with a jump of 8.8 metres, relegating the previously dominant Maikel Melero to runner-up.

Fabian Bauersachs had to really pump himself up for the final, as the strain of competing at the highest level over two nights clearly took its toll. Although he finished sixth, this was still a magnificent result and his best of the season so far. Maikel Melero went into the final having qualified third but was once again unable to defend his position, slumping to fifth. Jose Miralles seemed to have a hangover after triumphing the day before, as he failed to even make it onto the podium. Meanwhile, the three top spots were hotly contested by Remi Bizouard, Javier Villegas and Libor Podmol.



After Remi had already defended the hot seat twice, Javier sprung a sensation. With an incredible run, he brushed aside the two-time world champion and current leader in the standings. Now, only reigning world champion Libor Podmol could deprive him of victory. With two underflips, Cliffhanger Flip and a Superman Seatgrab Flip Indy, Podmol ultimately prevailed against Villegas to finally get his season underway and begin making up lost ground on the leading bunch.

The NIGHT of the JUMPs / FIM Freestyle MX World Championship just gets more exciting as the season wears on. In the three contests so far, there has been a different winner each time.

Remi Bizouard still leads the overall standings on 54 points, two ahead of Javier Villegas (52). Jose Miralles has meanwhile fallen back to third place on 50 points.

The next NIGHT of the JUMPs is down on the calendar for 14th May in Hamburg. The riders can add more World Championship points to their tally on the weekend of 20th/21st May in Basel (Switzerland). And Berliners can start planning for the next NIGHT of the JUMPs in the German capital, as o2 World has already been booked for 16th/17th March 2012.