FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 9 | Page 39

© MASTERS OF DIRT

Some 2,000 people crammed their way
into the relatively small space at the
compound and with food and shopping
stalls, a Red Bull Air Race stunt show
and acrobats, it was seemingly a no
expense spared event. It was a who’s
who of Czech FMX royalty, with Peter
Kuchar bringing the OG vibe to the
event. Being over 40 years old and with
no practise, Kuchar was still throwing
Backflips with all of us! Not to mention
the Podmol brothers Libor and F ilip,
František Máca and Matej Cesak, the
young gun who has recently stepped
up from the KTM 150 to 250SX.
Everyone threw down, and after the
three hours or so that the show went on
for, I was still hungry to keep riding!

Flight Club - Germany’s
grassroots competition hits
Biberach

This month I finally had the chance to
ride a round of Flight Club. This series
has been bringing up Germany’s best
FMX riders for nearly a decade now.
Held in the small town of Biberach in
South West Germany, I got to meet
a lot of friendly people and of course
some interesting characters too! But
what impressed me most, was riders
from all different backgrounds coming
together to ride at this event. The usual
guys were there; Luc and Hannes

© DAVID BLAŽEK

© MARTIN KOZAK

© MASTERS OF DIRT

© MASTERS OF DIRT
© TOBIAS HANNING

really complimented the way in which
Petr and his family and friends go about
putting on this free, annual show. The
show is basically a big thank you to
the town for letting him keep his jumps
next to the train station and nobody
complaining about the noise.

Ackermann, but they humbly pulled out
of the competition and gave the rest of
us a chance.
What also impressed me was the
amount of 2-strokes floating around!
Markus Carl came in on an old school
KX250 and Daniel Liska on the RM250
2t was riding in trains flat-out with Mike
Pfister on the upgraded version RMZ450. And of course, Robert Naumann
was hammering out Flips on his Honda
CR250!
Emma McFerran was there too and
jumped onto the podium for the first
time in her career! Christian Kleiner took
2nd place, and I was stoked to pick
up a 1st place at my first Flight Club
appearance and of course my trophy –
a huge German beer keg!

Return trip to Prague for Rock
‘n’ Ride

Within the space of a fortnight, I was
heading back to Prague for Libor
Podmol and Martin Koren’s comp Rock
‘n’ Ride! And do these guys know how
to run an event. It seems the Czech
crew are trained in running seriously fun
home-grown events. It’s in their DNA!
This round of the legit FIM Czech
Republic FMX Championship was
held at one of the Podmols’ home
compounds. Joining the local Czech
talent of Ondřej Záruba and Tomáš
Lysáček was Chris Brock from the
UK and Marc Pinyol from Spain. Of
course Pilat drove down the road to join
the Podmol bros. and Martin Koreň.
Unfortunately not everything went to
plan when Filip Podmol over-jumped
and under-rotated an Indy Flip. He

popped his shoulder out trying to get
back on the bike, and then snapped his
tibia and fibula in a violent way when he
flat-landed. But the kid is so tough; he
was already back at the event before
we finished the final and cheered on his
brother who took out first place.
I was pumped on my run, but my
sneaky 4th place result was honestly
down to Marc and Chris stuffing up
their runs. I actually had a little overjumping incident of my own and almost
busted my ankles, but thanks to my Full
Perch Foot Pegs I’m still walking!
With Petr Pilat in 2nd behind Libor,
Martin Koreň took a solid 3rd place.
The FMX comp was only the entrée.
Rock ‘n’ Ride is also all about the music
and the party afterwards. It wasn’t
until I finally topped out and stumbled
home on my swollen ankles at about 2
a.m. that I realised this was one of the
coolest jams I’d ever ridden.
From festivals and stadium sell-outs
to humble jams, it’s so good to take in
every aspect of riding FMX in Europe
and I can only hope this dream run can
continue! T
/SteveSommerfeldFMX
@stevesommerfeld
@stevesommerfeld