| June 21-24: Panasonic Open - Baltimore, MD. | |
| DIRT | |
| Fat Tony, www.ridebmx.com, june 2007: After qualifying first in prelims, Doyle couldn't quite keep that first place ranking, although he did manage to stay on the podium with his 360 variations—no-footed can-can, turndowns, no-handers, whips and more, all while rotating in circles. If memory serves me correct, and there is a good chance it doesn't, Nyquist fired out a run that went something like this: One-haned, nosed-in 360 X-up to barspin, 360 double-truck, x-up, opposite 360-whip. Wow… He also landed a 720 and 720 barspin. Cameron had double whips on lock along with 360-whips and several flip variations and took second place. Last year's overall dirt winner from Dew Tour, Anthony Napolitan, went down on a tailwhip during his second run in prelims and separated his shoulder, taking him out for the day. In the finals Stephen Murray attempted a double flip on the last jump in his first run. He slammed hard, but got up and went for it again during his second run. He bailed at height on the second try and landed in the worst possible way possible. Medics had him on the ground for quite some time before an ambulance took him to get medical attention. We are unsure of his condition at this time, but hopefully we will hear good news soon and report back to you. Everyone wishes him the best. The wind has been a factor all weekend and was no different tonight. That, along with the undesirable jumps made for tough conditions for the riders. We suspect there would not have been quite as many bails and crashes had the jumps been in better shape. Nonetheless, huge moves were thrown down and the crowd got a great show. www.dewtour.com: The winds in Baltimore were a little kinder to the Dirt Finals than they were to Prelims, easing up just enough to allow the riders to break out some of their best tricks, including a couple of new ones. The rules were changed this year for Finals, so that the best two of three runs would be averaged for the final score, instead of taking only the best-run score. So what does that mean? It means that riders had to work to put together at least two solid, unique runs. The bottom line of that scenario is that we, the fans, get more tricks, which is always a good thing. Here are the results from 12th to 1st, with the highlights of their runs: 12. Ryan Guettler. Guettler went for the mid-rhythm 720 that he had pulled in Prelims, but couldn't stick the landing well enough to continue through the pack. His second run went much better, with a solid flip, tailwhip, and 360 tailwhip. 11. Stephen Murray. Murray charged out of the gate in his first run with an x-up to turndown flip and a 360 table, then fired off a double backflip attempt but came up a little short. He came out in his second run determined to land the double; unfortunately, he crashed and had to be taken to the hospital. 10. Luke Parslow. Parslow's always got what it takes to land on top; the difficulty level on his planned runs was crazy high, though, and he couldn't stick everything on this outing. He did a perfect flip whip and flip turndown over the first set in his first and second runs, respectively, both followed by massive frontflips, but a crazy backflip over the low third set cut his momentum so he couldn't clear the fourth. With a nutso line like that, he definitely had the crowd's support. 9. Dave Dillewaard. Dilly rode well, but couldn't land his best tricks. He still has some of the best 360 inverts in the business, though. 8. Allan Cooke. Cooke brought out the flipwhip he learned over the winter in Prelims, but took a couple of gnarly crashes on them in Finals. He still got his signature one-footed x-up flips and a 360 whip done, though. 7. James Foster. Foster ripped off a solid run with a double tailwhip, a superman seatgrab, and a flip turndown, but had trouble with his truckdriver to downside whips in his other runs. 6. Rob Darden. Darden loaded tricks into his first two runs: 360 whips, a barspin to turndown, double whips, and a killer new truckdriver to turndown. He landed with a foot off on the first set in his third run, but still roughed his way through the course and managed a barspin on the last set, playing to the crowd and enjoying himself despite the bobble. 5. Corey Bohan. A couple of uncharacteristic crashes kept Bohan out of the top three, but his killer one-footed invert 360s, a barspin to tailwhip, and opposite 360 whips kept him in the top five. If he hadn't crashed on an x-up to barspin to tailwhip in his last run, he definitely would have been a contender for the win. 4. Colin MacKay. Mackay's got a way of quietly sneaking high into the standings. Tricks like tailwhips to x-ups, 360 whips to x-ups, and a smooth 720 put him there again in Baltimore. 3. Chris Doyle. First-place qualifier Doyle must have had "spin to win" written on his bars; he managed to break out awesome 360 tricks on all of the sets, including the awkward third one, and capped it off with a big 720. 2. Cameron White. White stomped his second run with an x-up flip, double tailwhip, and a flip whip, on top of the x flip, whip to x, and barspin to turndown flip he did in run one. He's going to be all over the Dew Cup race this year. 1. Ryan Nyquist. No stranger to the winning spot, Nyquist's victory was even sweeter given the fact that he pulled an opposite 360 whip. Of course, Nyquist originals like a one-handed x-up to barspin 360 and a barspin 720 were pretty sweet, too. Click here to watch Nyquist's winning trick.. Bart de Jong, mirrabikeco.com, june 2006: |
Dirt final results: 1. Ryan Nyquist 2. Cameron White 3. Chris Doyle 4. Colin Mackay 5. Corey Bohan 6. Rob Darden 7. James Foster 8. Allan Cooke 9. Dave Dillewaard 10. Luke Parslow 11. Stephen Murray 12. Ryan Guettler |
| PARK | PRELIMS www.dewtour.com: Dew Tour spectators packed the stands on Saturday to watch 35 of the best BMX Park riders battle it out for 12 spots in Sunday's Finals, and they definitely got what they came to see. The field of riders included guys with both crowd-pleasing big moves and technical jibs, so the riding was all over the map. One of the riders who got the most cheers was Austin Coleman, which is pretty much the case at any contest he enters. He threw one the biggest frontflips we've ever seen over the box, then followed with another one over the step-down, a huge opposite double tailwhip on the big quarter, and a decade over the spine, but a couple of small mistakes kept him out of the qualifying spots. When 23 riders are getting cut, you've really got to lay down some perfect runs, and at this level, even guys who rode well will end up outside of the Finals roster. When the dust cleared, the top 12 included several relatively new names like Craig Mast, Mike Spinner, Dennis Enarson, and Zack Warden. Spinner made a splash at the end of last year's tour after winning the Free Flow Amateur Tour and has been making news with new tricks ever since, including the first-ever 1080. He fired out effortless 720s, a 540 whip, and a double tailwhip over the step-down, and has plenty more on reserve for the Finals. Enarson has been making a name for himself recently, and will most likely be making a lot of Dew Tour Finals this year. Mast was on last year's tour, but has vastly improved over the winter. He took a few big tricks to little ramps in his qualifying runs, front flipping the short box and flaring a tiny quarter. He also pulled a double whip 360 and double whipped the step-down. Warden is also much improved this year, both in Park and Vert. He pulled a rare bikeflip and fired out many tricks back-to-back to earn a place in the big show. The four rookies were joined by eight of the more well-established riders, including the ones that are about as well-established as you can get: Dave Mirra and Ryan Nyquist. Mirra opened up with a massive flipwhip over the step-down and didn't let up for the rest of his run. He'll definitely be fun to watch in the Finals. Nyquist did huge 540s and a 720, and double-trucked the spine and the step-down. Fellow Greenville locals Allan Cooke, Rob Darden, and Mike Laird also joined the list; Laird with big double whip 360s, Darden with a truckdriver to turndown, and Cooke with wild 360 whips and transfers. Gary Young executed his typical full-speed, full-course annihilation, including tech moves like g-turn 360s and a nose wheelie to manual. Steve McCann was clocking altitude with huge double whips on the 10-foot quarter and a no-handed 720. 2006 Dew Tour Park champ Daniel Dhers showed that he was serious about his title defense by besting Mirra by .33 points for the top spot. Dhers did most of the existing tailwhip variations you could do during his run, along with massive flairs. He's not going to go down without a fight, and that's just what he's going to have on his hands for Park Finals on Sunday. FINALS Fat Tony, www.ridebmx.com, june 2007: With the completion of park finals today, the first stop of the 2007 AST Dew Tour is in the books. Just as Jamie Bestwick is off to this season with a good start, so is Daniel Dhers—both riders winning the first stop in 2007 after winning the overall title in their respected discipline last year. The park finals ran as a jam format—three riders at a time, six minutes per jam, with the option of a last run after the buzzer. This was something new for the Tour and the riders loved it as they fed off each other, throwing out huge moves.Daniel Dhers rode last and was non-stop with back-to-back tailwhip variations including a truckdriver to late tailwhip over the box. He also put together a solid mini ramp run, showing the judges he can kill the whole course. Mike Spinner landed a 900, a 720-whip over the box, a 540-whip, and attempted a 1080. Dennis Enarson threw out a triple-whip over the box to start his run and never put a foot down as his fired out all his other bangers including a 360 double-whip over the box. Gary Young did a 360 transfer from the box lip to the step-down landing, covering a distance of about 25 feet. Zack Warden tried a 360 bikeflip three times, but couldn't quite roll away from it—expect to see that one again later this year. All the riders rode amazing and everyone stayed healthy today. www.dewtour.com: The last event of the Panasonic Open in Baltimore ended up being the always hotly-contested BMX Park Final, and it was a great way to put a cap on the weekend. Twelve riders took to the course to determine who would get a head start on the overall title, and since it was the first Park Final of the Tour, there were plenty of new tricks getting fired out. One of those new tricks came courtesy of Zack Warden. He did a clean bikeflip over the box and came back to attempt the Iron Lotus, a bikeflip 360. Although he didn't land it, he came close, and the trick was crazy enough to get the crowd fired up for the rest of the contest. Mike Spinner and Dennis Enarson laid down the craziest stuff, and they kept stepping up their game every time they dropped in. Enarson fired out the first triple tailwhip landed in Park competition early in his run, and followed with stuff like a double tailwhip 360 and a barspin 540. Spinner double whipped the step down, did a 720 over the small box, spun a 540 whip, and pulled a tailwhip 720, as well as a 900. The kid can indeed spin. He attempted a 1080 after time was up, but unfortunately came up a little short. Other highlights include a huge 360 transfer from Gary Young,Allan Cooke's first-ever double tailwhip 360, Steven McCann's no-hander to turndown 720 and high double whips on the quarter, and Dave Mirra's massive flipwhips over the step down and flair whip and super high turndown air on the quarter. Ryan Nyquist did a double barspin flip over the step down, along with a crazy double barspin 540 and a barspin 720. Everybody's tricks keep getting crazier, but nobody fired out as many bangers as Daniel Dhers. Double whip 360s over the step down, regular, tabletop and alley-oop flairs, a 360 tailwhip tailtap over the spine, double whips on the quarter, and a truckdriver to tailwhip over the box made Dhers untouchable. We'll see if he can continue his dominance when we get to Cleveland next month for the Right Guard Open. |
Park Final Results: 1. Daniel Dhers 2. Mike Spinner 3. Dennis Enarson 4. Gary Young 5. Ryan Nyquist 6. Allan Cooke 7. Rob Darden 8. Mike Laird 9. Dave Mirra 10. Steve McCann 11. Craig Mast 12. Zack Warden |
| VERT | |
| www.dewtour.com: The first big contest of the year is always full of surprises, which was definitely the case in Baltimore at the BMX Vert Finals. From new tricks to a little shakeup in the standings, the Panasonic Open's Vert throw-down was an exciting show. Zack Warden delivered the first shocker, a new trick in which he blasts an air, throws a downside tailwhip, then catches it and immediately throws a tailwhip in the other direction. He crashed his first attempt in run one but really got the crowd on its feet, so when his name was called for run two, they brought the noise for him. He landed his second attempt, along with a downside whip, a flair, and a handplant, signaling his intent to rise through the Vert ranks this year. Koji Kraft had a little surprise of his own when he threw a double barspin and his bars spun an extra half-rotation. Dropping full-speed into a vert ramp with your bars backwards is not a position you want to be in, but he luckily emerged unscathed. Dennis McCoy dropped in via one of the big roll-ins for his second run, throwing a big 540 on his first air and an alley-oop 540 on his second. He even threw barspin 540s in both runs. Steve McCann spent the winter working on his vert skills, and made his debut with huge airs, double tailwhips, no-handed flairs, and a 540. There's no doubt that most people were surprised to see Kevin Robinson and Simon Tabron finish out of the top five. Robinson seemed to have some troubles with the ramp in practice, and couldn't get a full run in. He did drop a proper superman air, awesome 540s and no-handed flairs, and came so close to pulling his first 540 tailwhip in competition. Tabron took a rough crash in his first run on a new trick, a ballsy no-hander to barspin 540. He didn't back down for his second run, however, throwing it again and pulling it, but a crashed 900 held him to 9th. Jimmy Walker flowed all over the ramp with huge no-handers, regular and opposite flairs, and a no-handed 540, making his first Dew Tour podium in 3rd place. Chad Kagy charged the vert ramp from the moment he dropped in, unleashing his trademark barspin to tailwhip, barspin superman seatgrab and scissor-kick superman seatgrab, then went for the fabled triple tailwhip with no hesitation. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring it all the way around; he crashed, but the rest of the run earned him 2nd place. Jamie Bestwick followed with an amazingly high and stylish first air and the smoothest tailwhip flair ever, earning his first win of the year and his fifth consecutive Dew Tour Vert win. The new tricks we saw in Baltimore forecast more good things to come for Vert in '07. With four more comps to go, there's still plenty of time for these riders to turn up the heat. | Vert Final Results: 1. Jamie Bestwick 2. Chad Kagy 3. Jimmy Walker 4. Steven McCann 5. Dennis McCoy 6. Zackery Warden 7. Jay Eggleston 8. Francisco Zurita 9. Simon Tabron 10. John Parker |
BEST TRICK |
| www.dewtour.com: BMX Vert rider, Zack Warden, certainly caught the attention of fans in the BMX Vert Finals at the AST Dew Tour’s first stop. Warden’s steezy Whip-to-Whip Back was the winning trick in the Panasonic Open's PlayStation® Trick of the Week Contest. From June 25th until July 2nd, fans were able to view video clips of the six nominees' top tricks and then vote for their fav. When the polls closed and the votes were tallied, Warden’s Whip-to-Whip Back was the winner. Warden faced some fierce competition and was up against some of the world’s finest FMX, Skate and BMX athletes, including: Alex Perelson (Skate Vert), for his Tailgrab 720 during Finals. Blake "Bilko" Williams (FMX), who threw the gnarly Kiss of Death Backflip Ryan Sheckler (Skate Park), who nailed a huge Air to Manual on the eight foot step-up Ryan Nyquist (BMX Park), for his 720 Truckdriver Dennis Enarson (BMX Park), who, at only 16-years old, completed a flawless Triple Whip Warden walked away with $5,000 and his trick will compete for the PlayStation® Trick of the Year versus all the other Trick of the Week winners from the remaining four AST Dew Tour events. |
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