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Five minutes with ... Edgar Torronteras
With over 20 years of FMX under his belt , Spain ’ s Edgar Torronteras has seen the sport take shape , competed in it ’ s biggest events and gathered a small pile of medals . We caught up with Edgar to talk competitions , beat-boxing and giving back to FMX . ..........................................................................................................
So , how ’ s the Spanish FMX scene at the moment ?
Well , it ’ s a bit tough . Years ago , the promoters managed massive shows over the year but now it ’ s difficult to sell out arenas .
We ’ re feeling that across the industry at the moment .
Yeah , but I think in Spain it ’ s massive because we started Freestyle there . We ’ ll do some shows and it ’ s like 500 people there watching them .
Really ? That ’ s sad to hear .
Yeah , it ’ s not all bad though . Lleidas have a new park to ride . Andreu Lacondeguy has my old park so we can practice – then Danny Torres has an insane park and so does Maikel Melero . So , there ’ s more places to ride .
Are there many young riders coming through ?
No , not too much . I ’ m coaching a twelve-year-old now . He ’ s got potential but there ’ s not a lot of young riders wanting to do the work . Part of the problem is the money . There ’ s a big difference between winning and losing but either way you ’ re risking your life .
It ’ s similar in the UK – it ’ s the same guys doing it that have been there for a decade .
I know . Because for five years I ’ ve been jumping with the same guys .
What about your own compound , the Banana Camp – it ’ s looking on point - what sort of work goes into it ?
Well , we work every month to make different runs or landings . Next I want to work on a Speed and Style setup so we can put on a competition .
A one-off competition ?
Yeah , I want to start it in Spain and then if everything goes well , we can take it on the road . For now , we ’ re concentrating on the track .
I ’ ve always like the idea of Speed and Style but getting the balance between racing and tricks seems tough …
Yeah . People like the head-to-head setup , and the freestyle . Mixing them is the difficult part – but why not ?
What does the setup look like at the moment ?
We ’ re trying to build lines like BMX trails but with super kicker runs . All short gaps , like 16-18 metres , with about three jumps in a line .
Like a smaller version of Jacko Strong ’ s Headstrong setup ? That was what , nine or twelve in a row .
Not quite ! Same sort of thing but we don ’ t have the space – the area ’ s not quite big enough !
© Monster Energy
But that type of flow , so you can flow easily from one jump to the next .
Yeah , we ’ re working with Andreu [ Lacondeguy ] on it . He ’ s like my brother – he started learning to ride with me .
Didn ’ t know that ... so that ’ s where he got his style from !
Yeah .
Shifting gears a bit : how ’ s the beat boxing going ? Are you still doing it ?
Yeah , yeah I ’ m still doing it . Not here cause ... not all of the motos want the beat box , but yeah , I have a couple battles in Spain .
You got any new tunes ?
Yeah . Yeah . Yeah . Oh yeah . We try to do different s ** t .
What else you got planned for 2017 ? Any projects you want to tell us about ?
Well , I want to start to organise some shows . The Speed and Style idea is the end goal but for now I just want to do my shows - freestyle shows .
Once I have the chance to show Monster Energy the plans we can maybe do something with the Speed and Style .
So is organising going to become your main focus ?
No , I still be riding the shows I usually do - the organising will just be one or two shows to begin with .
Look forward to seeing what comes of it - good luck man !
Thank you . t