CAIRO: Twelve of the world’s top riders took their Red Bull X-Fighters competition Friday to the Sphinx and 12,000 fans watching in awe.
In the second stop of the season held near the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, American rider Adam Jones caught the eyes and cameras’ flashes as he claimed his first title in the competition. He beat overall ranking leader Andre Villa from Norway after a strong final in which both riders wildly whipped and flipped with their bikes.
“This really is a dream come true for me; the conditions in Cairo weren’t easy, but my final run was perfect, and that meant the judges were then on my side,” Jones said as he celebrated his win.
"It was awesome just looking at these monuments; winning in front of them is hard to describe and the crowd was huge. I couldn’t believe how many people were here," he added.
After a first round comprising the seven best riders who couldn’t qualify directly to the final event, the Czech Libor Podmol and the American Jim McNeil earned top points from the five judges, enabling them to play in the quarter-final.
In four intense showdowns, the quarter-finalists excelled in showing their skills on the bike, jumping up to 15 meters in the air, throughout the 30-meter long course. American Nate Adams and Australian Robbie Maddison joined both Jones and Villa in the semifinals.
In a brand new semi-final format for the Red Bull X-Fighter contest, each rider had only 10 seconds to perform his trick following the other contestant.
In an American-American affair, Jones took four judges’ votes while Adams got only one, the same result that Villa earned over Maddison. In the final, Jones snatched four votes from Villa to win the title.
Riders are judged based on variety, challenge and execution, style, overall impression and show and spectators reaction.
Villa, who topped the qualifications a night before, is still leading the overall rankings as he finished first last month in Mexico. The event was cancelled due to heavy rain and the organizers had to decide the winner through points earned a day earlier in the initial round of qualifications.
"I am still leading the series. Today, I made one mistake but in such level of competition, there is no room for mistakes," Villa told Daily News Egypt.
"I had a good time tonight, now I am looking forward to Moscow and I will be preparing by driving and working hard; it is worth much," he added.
Red Bull X-Fighters is now moving to its third destination of the series, the Red Square in Moscow scheduled for next month.
The crowd who arrived more than two hours ahead of the event were entertained with local music and DJ before it was their turn to make the noise by cheering for the riders who responded by interacting with their engine roars.
Although injuries are usual in this sport, South African Nick De Wit was the only rider to fall from his bike; however, it didn’t affect judges’ opinion as he stood up uninjured and earned a high score of 380 points. But it weren’t enough to take him to the quarterfinals.
The real winner of the night, however, were the fans, who together with the Sphinx, were treated to an unrivaled show of acrobatic bikers.
