There are three rounds to go in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. The first of these takes place on 26th October when Riga hosts NIGHT of the JUMPs and the 2013 Latvian Grand Prix. A fortnight later, the competition returns to the Czech Republic after a two-year absence. The venue will be Liberec which last staged NIGHT of the JUMPS five years ago. For the grand finale on 14th December, the freestyle motocross circus makes its now customary end-of-term visit to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. The new FMX World Champion will be crowned there and then – if the outcome has not already been decided.
Venue. photo: Oliver Franke / NOTJ.de
The front-runner in the title chase is David Rinaldo. The young Frenchman has made stunning progress over the past two years and has already won two Grand Prix events during the current campaign. In three others, he finished as runner-up – a set of results that sees him topping the table on a score of 116 points.
David Rinaldo. photo: Oliver Franke / NOTJ.de
His closest pursuer is Czech rider Libor Podmol on 112 points. The 2010 world champion may only have won one Grand Prix event so far this year, but he has steadily been accumulating points with podium finishes in four more.
The other leading contenders were Spain’s Dany Torres (84 points, #3) and the French duo of Brice Izzo (83 points, #4) and Remi Bizouard (72 points, #5). Torres is now presumably out of the running after sustaining a long-term injury. Meanwhile, Izzo and Bizouard will themselves be hoping for speedy recovery so that they too can have a say in the destination of the title, but they certainly won’t be fit in time for either Riga or Liberec.
Petr Pilat. photo: Oliver Franke / NOTJ.de
Consequently, it looks like the championship will be a straight fight between Podmol and Rinaldo, leaving the rest of the field to scrap it out for the bronze medal. This includes Podmol’s fellow countryman Petr Pilat (65 points, #6), Germany’s Hannes Ackermann (61 points, #7) and Spain’s Jose Miralles (61 points, #8). Even Maikel Melero back in ninth on 53 points still has a mathematical chance of claiming the final championship podium spot.
Libor Podmol. photo: Oliver Franke / NOTJ.de
So the last three NIGHT of the JUMPs featuring the 2013 FIM Freestyle MX World Championship promise to be high-voltage affairs, keenly contested all round.
26th October 2013
NIGHT of the JUMPs Riga
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Round #8
Arena Riga / Latvia
8th November 2013
NIGHT of the JUMPs Liberec
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Round #9
Tipsport Arena Liberec/Czech Republic
14th December 2013
NIGHT of the JUMPs Sofia
FIM Freestyle MX World Championship Round #10
Arena Sofia / Bulgaria
FIM Freestyle MX World Championships Ranking (after 7th contest)
1. David Rinaldo FRA FFM Yamaha 116 Points
2. Libor Podmol CZE ACCR Yamaha 112 Points
3. Dany Torres ESP RFME KTM 84 Points
4. Brice Izzo FRA FFM Yamaha 83 Points
5. Remi Bizouard FRA FFM Kawasaki 72 Points
6. Petr Pilat CZE ACCR KTM 65 Points
7. Hannes Ackermann GER DMSB KTM 61 Points
8. Jose Miralles ESP RFME KTM 61 Points
9. Maikel Melero ESP RFME KTM 53 Points
10. Massimo Bianconcini ITA PZM KTM 49 Points
11. Kai Haase GER DMSB Suzuki 36 Points
12. Clinton Moore AUS MA Yamaha 22 Points
13. Gabriel Villegas CHL FMC KTM 16 Points
14. Rich Kearns USA AMA Kawasaki 10 Points
15. Martin Koren CZE ACCR KTM 7 Points
16. Joel Brown AUS MA Yamaha 7 Points
17. James Carter USA AMA Honda 6 Points