The recent Marzocchi Airdrome was a somewhat unusual dirt jump comp, being held indoors in Munich's Olympic Hall. It was held as part of the SuperCross-Over Munich MX event, and featured a pair of huge doubles for the MTBers to tackle. The first was 35ft long and the second 20ft. Which is quite sizable.
Most riders were a bit apprehensive upon arrival, but after a few runs during the practice session, everyone was comfortable and began to trick the two massive dirt jumps. The event organizers added plywood to the top of the dirt roll-in to give the riders a little extra speed into the first jump.
Qualifying began in front of 7,000 spectators. Andreu Lacondeguy came out strong with a run consisting of a backflip and a 360 tailwhip, enough to secure the top spot for qualifying. Eight riders out of the original fifteen riders qualified for the finals.
John Jesme, the eighth rider to qualify for the finals, announced on the start gate that he was going to attempt a double backflip on the first jump. Despite the other riders reckoning that the jump wasn't set up for a double flip, Jesme was convinced that he would go for it. But after completing his first rotation, he wasn't able to get the bike around a second time and crashed hard. His bike gave up the ghost, but thankfully Jesme was able to walk away from the crash.
After such an ambitious trick attempt, the rest of the riders felt the pressure to bring out their best tricks as well. Each rider had three runs to impress the judges (with their top run used for the final standing) and they did exactly that. Lance McDermott's second run was a backflip, followed by his signature front flip. His third run was a tuck no-hander, followed by a backflip-superman. Lance's efforts were good enough for third place in the final, and he probably would've been higher on the podium if he had landed the backflip-superman a little more cleanly.
Darren Berrecloth came in second place with a solid final run, 360ing the first jump and following up with a 360-tailwhip to pedals. Andreu Lacondeguy, the first qualifier, brought down the house with two incredible runs. His first run was a backflip and then a 360-tailwhip, but his second run sealed the deal - a backflip on the first and a startling double tailwhip on the second.
"This is my first big win and it;s amazing!" said the Spaniard. "Some years ago I was watching a supercross race and I was dreaming to be one day at a similar competition. It was great to win here especially since you were competing at the same venue during the same weekend with guys like Ronnie Renner!"
Lacondeguy took home the 5,000 Euro top prize.
