be-mx News

De: Karsten Junghans [karsten@air-team.com]
Envoyé: lundi 6 août 2001 15:37
À: Editor; Editor; Editor; Editor
Objet: Pressinformation EUROPEAN KING of DIRT

14.-15. April 2001 Festival International Sport Extreme (FISE) / Palavas France

29.-30. April 2001 Riva Bike Festival in Riva - Gardasee / Italy

21.-24. July 2001 ISPO Games München / Germany

28. July 2001 Urban Games London / England

The EUROPEAN KING of DIRT, in its fourth consecutive year, has established itself as the leading BMX-Freestyle Contest of Europe. Both riders such as Chris Doyle (USA), Adam Baker (USA), Timo Pritzel (GER), Markus Hampel (GER), Richie Bieger (GER), Kye Forty (UK), Dean Hearne (UK), Paul Roberts (UK), Romuald "Bibi " Noirot (FRA) und Thomas Wullschleger (CH) as well as the public agree that the EkoD is the premier BMX-Series in Europe.

The EKoD has been underway in Europe since April 2001 to present the only the best Riders from around the world. With, to date, over 80.000 spectators, the EkoD has become the most watched BMX-contest series in Europe. Highlights such as Stephen Murray 's world record of over 5,55m at the Red Bull Highest AIR contest on the 7^th of April in Leipzig took down the house. But also Timo Pretzel 's double back flip with his mountain bike during the "bike " festival in Italy turned the crowd into a group of screaming lunatics. The "scene " as well as the spectators know what they can expect at a EUROPEAN KING of DIRT event:

Top BMX stars from five nations celebrated the 4^th EUROPEAN KING of DIRT stop of the season from the 21^st to 24^th of July during the ISPO SOMMER at the ispo games in Munich, Germany. Benny Kortahaus the German newcomer not only took first place at the finals on Sunday, but also took home a NEA Award at the evening extreme sport ceremony as best international bmx newcomer of the year.

The EUROPEAN KING of DIRT now in the fourth consecutive season has taken pride in presenting only the best riders from around the globe. For the event in Munich stars such as Kye Forte from England, Tod Walkowiak out of the USA, and the European King of Dirt Champ ´99 "Blackjack " Cyril Dangeul from France all came to jam in a hard fight "flight session ".

The qualifications took place on the 21st of July as the venue of the Convention-Center Munich slowly started to fill. 19 Riders took the stage and presented a full scale off back flips, mid-air turns and acrobatic stunts in over 5m height. The EUROPEAN KING of DIRT has been at the ispo for three years now and took the lead at the ispo games next to the Vert-Skate mini-ramp and half-pipe contests also taking place.

The BMX pilots slammed the dirt in hall A2 at the Munich fair grounds to make a slot in the final heat for the Sunday battle. After a hard fought contest the following made it in finals:

Position	Rider	Points
1.	Cyril Dangeul (FRA)	211
2.	Timo Pritzel (GER)	208
3.	Kye Forte (GB)	206
4.	Benny Korthaus (GER)	204
5.	Tobias Wicke (GER)	180
6.	Simon Stevens (GER)	174
7.	Conny Zetzel (GER)	169
8.	Viktor Bako (HUN)	161
9.	Kovals Zsolt (HUN)	145
10.	Benjamin Adler (GER)	141

01:30 pm Sunday afternoon saw the final riders pumped full of adrenalin at this years EkoD. Todd Walkowiak who didn 't take part in the qualifications due to jet lag from his flight in from the states, was allowed by the other riders to participate in the finals although without point allotment. Todd is known for his success at the Gravity Games ´98 getting second place and the X-Games ´98 where he came in 9^th. The finals hosted a huge increase in hardcore ticks such as Todd´s No-Hand x-up to 360 Tailwhip and Korthaus´s 360 to Tailwhip. The highlight of the day though was Timo Pritzel´s Back flip to Table Top Back flip during his last run. The finals also saw its fair share of crashes. One hardcore crash from mini-ramp world vert champion Tobias Wicke from Berlin came to an eventful climax as Tobias tried a 360 Tailwhip landing hard in the flat and busting his front tire with a bang of exploding rubber. Tobias was back after one round delay with his repaired bike. Also the day later Tobias had to be taken to the hospital during training after having unfortunately slammed two front teeth into his bike while twisting his shoulder in the process.

Position	Rider	Points
1.	Benny Korthaus (GER)	219
2.	Timo Pritzel (GER)	217
2.	Kye Forte (GB)	217
3.	Cyril Dangeul (FRA)	209
4.	Conny Zetzel (GER)	198
5.	Simon Stevens (GER)	172
6.	Kovals Zsolt (HUN)	156
6.	Viktor Bako (HUN)	156
7.	Tobias Wicke (GER)	150
8.	Benjamin Adler (GER)	143
0.	Tod Walkowiak (USA)	/

Red Bull Highest AIR Contest results:

In total this year, the organizers "AIR-TEAM " will be bringing in over 400 cubic square meters of dirt for the parcours. This means that over 24 40t Trucks will be underway for 8 hours non-stop to fill the hall. For example one would use 20 wheelbarrows to get one m³ together. One wheelbarrow would be about 20 shovel loads. All in all this means over 8.000 wheelbarrows or 160.000 shovel loads full!

Everyone who wants can come to the fair grounds from the 25th on to try out the dirt-trails themselves. Mountain- and BMX bikes will be lent out for free. Mountain biker and BMX fans can also use the trails around the dirt jumps during times where no training is taking place.

On the 31st of August Playstation will take the stage during the Night@IFA for the playstation best trick contest. On the night of the 31^st the fair grounds will be open until midnight. Here the "pilots " will have a half hour jam session in which the best trick counts. For this contest the riders start from a start ramp as fast as possible to shoot off a jump ramp up to 6m high implementing the hardest and craziest tricks possible before landing again.

The IFA Young Media World in hall 2.1 will be presenting itself this year under the motto "Infotainment Edutainment Entertainment ". Here the areas of consumer electronics will be presented in association with the daily life of the visitors. Following the scheme of technology, the EUROPEAN KING of DIRT will be presenting itself in a "hands on " interactive show where all spectators will be able to see inside TV- and event production. The TV-Production company "Rebel Media " will be on location on the 1^st of September to film the event. All spectators can look behind the scenes in sport organization and TV-Producing.

Everyone who would like to be part of the show can come to the venue from the 25^th of August on and rent a SONY Dig cam to go on the prowl for action photos. The action photos will be put online at walkman.de and will be evaluated by the online community. The makers of the best photos have wonderful prizes and lots of fame!