Midnight, Saturday, September 22, Budapest. - The nightspots are packed by then, with one exception, where not just the venue itself but the metro station located a few metres away is also jammed to the gills. This time many hundreds have tried to cram into the Gödör Klub, which is a physical impossibility, so a 100 stood inside and 200 outside so that they could keep track of the first international underground downhill-mountainbike tournament, joined by such big names as Nathan Rennie, Dan and Gee Atherton, Sam Blenkinsop, Chris Kovarik, Filip Polc, Julien Camelini, David Vazquez, Marc Beaumont and many others.. Of course the others don’t deserve to be left out either, but it would be impossible to list the 36 big guns who were willing to blast over the escalators, slippery tunnels and metro cars of Deák tér at speeds close to 50km/hour. No race course like this one has ever existed before! After the passage of the last metro car, the most technically demanding race course of Europe had been successfully assembled. After packed soil and hard rock, the boys needed considerable concentration to perform the 350 metre long course on slippery floors, sharp escalators and ticket validating machines, a course that Red Bull constructed just for that purpose on BKV property.
The elimination style tournament practically reflected the projected outcome. The participants only had one chance to examine the course and could only traverse it once on a bike. On the qualification run – in order - Filip Polc (SVK), Gee Atherton (UK), Dan Atherton (UK), and Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) proved themselves the best. The names were only modified a little bit, in the order of their appearance on the prizes.
In his first heat Sam met local rider Peter Frajczer before meeting Irish Champ Ben Reid. Passing these two rounds he was up against Dual Slalom and 4X powerhouse Michal Marosi (CZE). Despite the difference in strength and size, Sam had the speed on the course to take the win. This took him through to the semi final to meet his faster team mate. A bit of bad luck for Filip meant that Sam went into the final to face Team Animal/Commencal's Gee Atherton. In the end Gee was too good, keeping it clean and getting faster each run to take the overall win, with Sam taking 2nd.
"That was pretty intense and a lot of fun. It wasn't so cool to meet Filip in the semi's, it would have been better to meet in the final, but I'm happy to get 2nd. The key was just trying to keep it smooth, and hit the escalators at top speed. Wicked fun." -said Sam shortly before flying home to New Zealand for a welcome break from international racing. The past few weeks have seen excellent results including a 9th place at the World Championships in his first year in the elite ranks.
Part of the course was inside the metro cars, where Filip Polc had a big fall during the training, so for a while there was consternation that he may not be able to take his place at the starting line. He then gathered all his strength and once again mounted his saddled steed, and showed his mettle to such extent that he came in 3rd. After the fall, he greeted the shower of prizes with perhaps even greater joy. The first place winner, in addition to prizes, was also awarded EUR 3000; the second place finisher could take home EUR 1500, third place EUR 1000 and fourth EUR 500.
The results of the first tournament of Red Bull Metroride:
1 ATHERTON Gee GBR 00:42.142
2 BLENKINSOP Sam NZL 00:42.444
3 POLC Filip SVK 00:41.197
4 ATHERTON Dan GBR 00:42.317
5 MAROSI Michal CZE 00:42.689
6 TATARKOVIC Kamil CZE 00:42.840
7 DELI Gábor HUN 00:43.506
8 CAMELLINI Julien FRA 00:43.530
9 BEAUMONT Marc GBR 00:43.799
10 VAZQUEZ LOPEZ David ESP 00:43.843
11 WILDHABER René SUI 00:43.967
12 SAIZ Oscar ESP 00:43.985
13 PRISCHETZKY Milán HUN 00:44.066
14 SORIN Parau ROM 00:44.118
15 ZÖLEI Patrik HUN 00:44.221
16 REID Ben IRL 00:44.857
17 KOVARIK Chris AUS 00:44.004
18 RENNIE Nathan AUS 00:44.148
19 PEKOLL Markus AUT 00:44.572
20 NAGY Attila HUN 00:44.595
21 DONOGHUE Neil GBR 00:44.871
22 VOLF Bostjan SLO 00:44.981
23 JAKÓ András HUN 00:45.113
24 SIEDER Georg AUT 00:45.363
25 SIEDER Mario AUT 00:45.490
26 HALÁSZ Krisztián HUN 00:45.714
27 TIRCA Mihnea ROM 00:45.841
28 VINK Nico BEL 00:45.846
29 PRÁJCZER Péter HUN 00:46.206
30 LONGDEN Will GBR 00:46.223
31 TÖRÖK Péter HUN 00:46.316
32 KIMMEL Erik CZE 00:46.440
33 SZECSKAY András HUN 00:46.827
34 STRASSER Martin AUS 00:47.138
35 NOVACIK Peter SVK 00:50.887
Qualifying Results:
1. Filip Polc (SVK) - 41.197secs
2. Gee Atherton (GBR) - 42.142secs
3. Dan Atherton (GBR) - 42.317secs
4. Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) - 42.444secs
5. Michal Marosi (CZE) - 42.689secs
6. Kamil Tatarkovic (CZE) - 42.840secs
7. Gabor Deli (HUN) - 43.506secs
8. Julien Camellini (FRA) - 43.530secs
9. Marc Beaumont (GBR) - 43.799secs
10. David Vazquez (ESP) - 43.843secs
Video:
http://href.hu/x/3l5s
http://href.hu/x/3l5t
Photos: Red Bull METRO RIDE 2007
Related links: http://www.redbullmetroride.hu
S.Blenkinshop | G.Atherton | F.Polc | D.Atherton |