Downunderground round one Perth 6th November 2009.
Supported by Newcircle –Freestyle Now – Colony – Rebel Yell Bmx Mag – Airwalk
The weekend just gone saw the start of the new series of the Newcircle Downunderground Australian national bmx flatland contest series. Round one went down at the Canning agricultural show on Friday night 6th November.
Riders from all over the country were in attendance and the action went down hard and fast. DJ Drew was on hand to throw down some phat beats and keep the pace up tempo. In the competition the riders are split into to classes, Middies and Advanced. These two classes cover the broad spectrum of skills that are present in the flatland community here in Australia.
Freestyle Now squad member Jason Parker took the win in the Middies class. Jason was not going to ride due to some back wheel problems but after some good advice from Queenslander Brett Dighton he kept his wits about him and took top spot with his unique style of tricks. Perth rider Mike Brandt rode some solid runs and kept his feet off the ground and on his bike to score second. Squad member Shaun Jarvis must have had an off day and could not keep his bike and feet connected all to well. Park and street rider Andy took to the comp well and made some new friends in the process. It was awesome to see him competing.
Left – Shaun Jarvis – cross footed elbow glide, Right – Jason Parker – Mc circles.
In the advanced class the riders had to compete to find the order for the battle round finals.
First up was squad member Andrew McDermott. In his first run he was a bit rough but his second run was far better and knocked back some solid trick. Representing his home state of South Australia and sponsors Newcircle and Colony, Shane Badman has a somewhat off first run but his second run more that made up for it. Queenslander Brett Dighton put out some super tough new links but a few too many touches was his only drawback. Ben Moran from Victoria is a very original rider and put some of his originality to good use. With original manoeuvres mixed with some mad spins Ben seemed to be focused. With the qualifying over it was time to battle it out in the qualifying order of Andrew, Brett, Ben, Shane.
Left – Andrew McDermott – Hitchhiker, Right – Ben Moran – Defying the laws of physics. Photos by Andy Fortini
Battle round 1
Andrew McDermott v Brett Dighton
Tricks were done and the judges awarded the win to Brett unanimously
4th place to Andrew McDermott and $100
Battle round 2
Brett Dighton v Ben Moran
With two battle rounds said and done the judges could not split them, so they had to battle again. Brett was stating to waiver with the demanding amount of riding he was getting through, but with some fine riding from Brett and with Ben having a few touches Brett took the win.
3rd place Ben Moran and $200
Brett Dighton from Queensland throwing a half hitcher on his way to 2nd.
Battle round 3
Brett Dighton v Shane Badman
This could have gone either way. If Shane made too many mistakes and Brett was on it, it could have made for some interesting results. But that did not happen. Brett had the tricks firing out but they just did not have the same level of intensity as Shane had. Shane was on it and put out two solid 30 second battle runs all while ripping his thumb nail in half in the process. The judges collectively knew Shane had it in the bag.
2nd place Brett Dighton and $300
1st place Shane Badman and $400
Shane Badman taking the first place with tricks like this spinning cliffhanger.
Round one of Downunderground was a great success. The contest format was dialed. The setting was great, with a mass of people being exposed to bmx flatland, the surface was good and a happening vibe went down all day.
Round two waits in Sydney.
