| PRACTICE | |
| QUALIFYING | |
| FatTony, bmx.transworld.net, January 17th, 2009: Tonight was absolutely amazing in Tallinn, Estonia as more than 80 talented riders from 28 countries battled it out for a mere 20 spots in tomorrows finals. As if the countless Web videos that pop up on a daily basis wasn’t proof enough, this contest reaffirmed the fact that there are unbelievable riders from all corners of the world that are virtually unheard of in the U.S. Hopefully some of you were able to catch the live webcast of tonight’s qualifying, but if not we will have a wild highlights video for you tomorrow before finals begin. All riding aside, one thing that was really great to see tonight was the excitement in the crowd. When a local Estonian rider or neighboring countryman (Latvian riders to be exact) took the course, the crowd went bonkers. It’s difficult to explain, (one of those things where you probably have to be there) but when the crowd was really getting into the contest, it was actually touching or inspiring in a way. Garrett Reynolds was last year’s Simpel Session winner and this year he blew up the course with his inhuman-like perfection. Some of his back to back bangers included an up ledge to 540, an up rail ride to 180 double barspin, a barspin to up rail icepick, a smith to barspin on a ledge into a bank, and the list goes on… The number two qualifying spot was split between Great Britain’s Mark Webb and Greenville, North Carolina’s Rob Darden. Rob was on a rampage last year and is starting ‘09 off with a bang. He had his usual high airs and fast lines all around the course and really filled his alloted time with tons of dialed tricks. Mark Webb is one of those riders who has made a name for himself in the U.S. via Internet videos and robot-like trickery. Tonight he showed us in person for the first time how truly robot-like he is. He had mainly rode the spine mini during practice and continued to kill that thing during his runs with more tech combos than I can possibly recall. But he also made his way around the course and hit jut about every obstacle out there at least once to show he’s not just a mini ramp rider. Morgan Wade worked his way into finals with moves like nose wheelie up the rail. He also pulled a nose wheelie across the entire dumpster and off the drop. He wanted to barspin out, but never made it happen. Maybe tomorrow? Time will tell... Gary Young rides fast every time he hits the course and this contest was no different. He rode fast enough to make it into the finals and tricks like ice up the rail helped him secure his spot. During qualifying tonight an Estonia rider's bike broke and Gary gave the dude his bike for a run. Meanwhile Gary fixed the dude's bike and went give it back to him to continue riding. That was really awesome and the spectators were super excited to cheer on their local shredder. Garrett Reynolds was riding even after he qualified first. He really does just love riding his bike. Nathan Williams had enough moves to qualify, but just couldn't put them all together in enough time during his run to make it happen this time. Oklahoma's Russell Wadlin made the journey out to Europe for his first Simpel Session and whipped up the rail gap wearing a tie-dyed shirt. I saw this local Estonian rider kill his local indoor park a few nights ago... Andrew Lainevool killed it today as well and made it in the top 10 qualifiers with moves like stylish 360 off the dumpster. He also did a clean 720 to fakie on a quarter. DGAF Dan Norvell pegless up rail to bars. 2009 Simpel Session BMX Qualifying Results: 1.Garrett Reynolds 2.Mark Webb 2.Rob Darden 4.Dennis Enarson 5.Gary Young 6.Ben Hennon 7.Maxime Charveron 8.Bruno Hoffman 8.Andres Lainevool 8.Morgan Wade 11.Sergio Layos 12.Kiattichai Wanitsakun 13.Ty Morrow 14.Paul Ryan 15.Bjorn “Bommel” Mager 16.Michael Beran 17.Stefan Lantschner 18.Tony Malouf 18.Brian Kachinsky 20.Isaac Lesser 21.Harry Main |
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| FINALS | |
| FatTony, bmx.transworld.net, January 19th, 2009: Someone in the crowd here in Tallinn, Estonia had a joystick tonight and was controlling Garrett Reynolds. The ‘09 Simpel Session has come to and end, and for the second year in a row Garrett is taking back home the win to New Jersey. And for the third year in a row, Gary Young is taking the second place spot back home to California. Garrett is one of those riders (not that there are many of them) that can do just about anything he wants on a bike and not think it’s a big deal because it just comes so easy to him. Tonight Garrett proved what he is made of once again with a ledge ride to 720, a 540 barspin to fakie up the step up gap, a barspin gap to icepick, and a slew of other hammers in his runs. If you watched the qualifying video, you have an idea of how he was riding tonight. Seriously…just wait for the footage of his tricks in finals. Wow, wow, wow. Gary Young nailed a rail manual up to whip, did a huge 360 transfer, and blasted around the course hitting everything in his path with a smile on his face. Dennis Enarson flip-whipped the spine and pulled another 180 whip clean up the step up. Rob Darden went higher than anyone on the hip and throw out a stylish one-handed table while he was up there. Ben Hennon has so much fun while riding and it shows. One of his bangers was an enormous no-hander across the quarter channel. 15 year old Bruno Hoffman from Germany did a perfect 540 to fakie off the dumpster and a manual to 180 off the dumpster, both on the first try. This kid has a huge future in BMX ahead of him. Everyone rode amazing tonight, and you’ll get to see all of the insane tricks in the finals highlights video coming soon. The best trick contest was actually before the finals at this contest which was a bit strange, but it didn’t look like anyone was holding back because of that. It all went down on the Red Bull rail gap in the middle of the course, so it somewhat limited what people could do, and who rode. Nathan Williams did a perfect gap to icepick to 180 as soon as the clock started, then did an up rail to 180 gap on his first go at it. Brian Kachinsky did a bunch of nollie gaps to the rail, but never pulled the nollie to tooth hanger that he was looking for. And after doing a 540 to fakie up the gap, Ty Morrow won the contest by doing a 540 to fakie down the gap and pulling the roll out clean. Once again the crowd was going nuts the whole time and the energy in the arena was contagious. A huge thanks goes out to the contest organizers for keeping the true spirit of BMX alive with this incredible event. We sure hope we can make it back next year! 2009 Simpel Session Final Results: 1.Garrett Reynolds 2.Gary Young 3.Dennis Enarson 4.Rob Darden 5.Ben Hennon 6.Bruno Hoffman 7.Bjorn “Bommel” Mager 8.Morgan Wade 9.Michael Beran 10.Mark Webb 11.Ty Morrow 12. Sergio Layos 13.Brian Kachinsky 13.Maxime Charveron 15.Tony Malouf 15.Paul Ryan 17.Stefan Lantschner 18.Kaittichai Wanitsakun 19.Andres Lainevool 20.Isaac Lesser 2009 Simpel Session Red Bull Best Trick: Ty Morrow - 540 to fakie over the rail gap to the wedge. |
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