The 13 annual Joondalup Huckfest took place on the 26th and 27th of March at the Joondalup Festival. To say the weekend was epic would be an understatement. The atmosphere at the competition was incredible with hundreds of people lining the barriers to witness one of the best bmx competitions that Western Australia has seen in along time. The Joondalup festival is a two day event with a hive of activity going on in the main city precinct and slap bang in the middle of all that a two day bmx competition with $1000 up for grabs. With the competition course set up in a matter of hours there was something there for every rider, jump boxes, quarters, rails and transfers.
Tempered Bikes rider Warren Bowers getting his flip on – Photo Jamie Mauri
On day one in the expert/pro class the stand out rider was without a doubt Luke Snelling. His power, skill and the ability to flow around the course effortlessly showed. Luke used the entire course to his ability and was sitting well above all the other riders in points at the end of the day. Dylan Schmidt was the next rider down who was a few more points ahead of the pack and was tailwhiping the large quarter higher than anyone. The main group of riders who at the end of day one were almost all on equal points was, Corey Smithies, Jaymin King, Laurence Bakewell and Jacob DeAberu. Any of them riders had the ability to take the win and it would come down to the last two qualifying runs on Sunday. Tempered bikes rider Warren Bowers only got one run in on the Saturday so he had his work cut out for him on Sunday if he wanted to make the cut for top 6 to go into the battle finals. At the end of the first day many riders we feeling sore but ready for the final day on Sunday.
The start of day two saw the flatland jam take place, it’s only a small jam but it show cases the different side to the bmx sport that the mass populace don’t normal see. With Mike Brandt, Andrew McDermott, Shaun Jarvis and new to Perth Joel Clarke all smashed out some great flatland riding and had a stack of fun in the process. W.A. legend Jason parker even made it for a bit of a ride as well. With Kim Johnston on the mic he made for some great laughs and entertainment for the riders and the crowds.
Clockwise from top left – Joel Clarke rolling backwards, Mike Brandt hang 5in, Shaun Jarvis cross footed elbow glide, Andrew McDermott wants some funky chicken. – Photos Kim Johnston.
Day two of the competition the beginner/novice class had their final two runs and it was an over excited Mathew Phelps who got the win. For his outstanding ability in his bike he took home a FBM executioner complete bike. He was happy as a rider winning a new bike would be. Callan Murphy took out the 2nd place, and awesome effort from young Joe Bothwell taking 3rd.
The expert/pro class was now about to finish up their final qualifying runs, with Sebbi Scott hitting all 5 in the one day and Warren Bowers finishing his 4 remaining runs. Some noted riding came from Taylor Brown who was the first rider to hit the down rail, Sebbi from just his rad flow, trails style, Corey Smithies ninja drop into the quarter from the sub box, Brad Beven with insane fast plants and double footed foot plants on the sub box and Dom Williams with some good box jump tricks. Once all was done and dusted the final 6 were announced to progress to the battle finals.
Clockwise from top left – Jammo may have been at the first Huckfest 13 years ago as a youngin, but on this occasion he busted out in the free ride time, Jaymin King is in the middle of a 360 with an X up in there, Sebbi Scott leading Luke Snelling in free ride time, Winner of the beginner/novice Mathew Phelps get a double 180 going on. – Photos Shaun Jarvis.
Round 1 – Laurence Bakewell V’s Jaymin King.
With Laurence riding first he hit up a good solid list of tricks and even hitting a front flip over the FN box, but the lack of the use of the course was what probably held him back, that or either the fact that Jaymin King just flat out kills it. His use of the course and consistency married with his power defiantly gave him the judge’s votes and the ability to progress to the next round. Laurence 6th place
Round 2 – Jaymin King V’s Corey Smithies.
These two riders come from the two largest regional areas, Jaymin from Bunbury and Corey from Kalgoorlie, both had some traveling to do to get to the competition. Jaymin was first up as he was now challenging Corey, and his run was typical Jaymin style, large and larger. Corey wanted to progress to the next round and came out firing, but a bad over the bars stack from a toboggan that put him out of the running. Corey Smithies 5th place.
Clockwise from top left – one look at the judges and you know something has gone down, Sebbi Scott can can if you can, cash was the order of the night for the winners, Jaymin King getting twisted with a lookback – Photos Jamie Mauri
Round 3– Jaymin King V’s Warren Bowers.
Jaymin King was again the challenger and went first. These two riders ride together in Bunbury and either of them had the ability to win the round. Jaymin tried to 180 the FN box backwards but bailed, picked himself up again and smashed it out perfect to the roar of the ever growing crowd. Warren Bowers came out in typical Wazza style. Hit everything clean and large, rails, boxes and clean lines. In the next round Jaymin knew he had to hit it hard. First up he hit a big 360 transfer from the lander of the first box into the driveway over the rail but wiped out on landing and took a heavy crash. Winded he sat for a while, and let Warren take it to the next round. Jaymin King 4th place. $100.
Round 4 – Warren Bowers V’s Dylan Schmidt
Warren was hurtin from riding hard in the qualifying rounds so it was hard to keep things rollin but Wazza came out first and again hit the course in true Wazza fashion, using the course to its full potential but Dylan Schmidt was feeling fresher and had more energy to carry him through. His large whip transfer on the same that Jaymin crashed on the round before helped Dylan get the one extra vote from the judges to get him to take on Luke Snelling for the first place. Warren Bowers 3rd place. $150.
Round 5 – Dylan Schmidt V’s Luke Snelling
Luke had been riding exceptionally well all weekend and was the talk of the comp on his ability. His use of the course was outstanding and was defiantly deserving of the top qualifier. Dylan and Luke are good mates and ride together often. Dylan came out in the challenging first run but didn’t shine too much. Luke somehow lost some of his power that he had during the qualifying rounds but still put in a good first 45 seconds. But it was Dylan who stepped up to the plate in a big way for his second run. It was 45 seconds of pure perfection. Dylan hit every ramp, flowed the course well, large tailwhip airs on the quarter, superman to no foot can can on the FN box and got tech in the middle. He was on. Luke last run was no match and Dylan got the judges votes for the win. 2nd place Luke Snelling $250, 1st place Dylan Schmidt $500.
Luke Snelling throws his rad style in a toboggan – Photo Jamie Mauri
Dylan Schmidt is well super man – Photo Jamie Mauri
The 13th Joondalup festival and the Joondalup Huckfest was an awesome weekend. With records number of participants during free ride throughout the day and a impressive turnout of riders entering the comp it was a great success. Thank you’s need to go out to the City of Joondalup for having the festival and inviting the Huckfest back again as well as putting up the $1000 prize money. Stowaway Distribution for helping out with the product, all the riders who either entered or rode over the weekend, Phillip and Brandon for all their help with setting up and packing up ramps, not an easy job, and to everyone that gave support over the weekend with clapping, cheering or screaming. Round 2 of the F.N.W.A.S.S. is over and the future round await.
Official competition results – Joondalup Huckfest 2011 26th -27th March
Bmx beginner/novice – 1st Mathew Phelps – 2nd Callan Murphy – 3rd Joe Bothwell – 4th Brady Thomas – 5th Slade Cuisley
Bmx expert/pro – 1st Dylan Schmidt – 2nd Luke Snelling – 3rd Warren Bowers – 4th Jaymin King – 5th Corey Smithies – 6th Laurence Bakewell – 7th Brad Beven – 8th Jacob DeAbreu – 9th Taylor Brown – 10th Dom Williams – 10th Berly Tanner – 12th Sebbi Scott – 13th Reece Eversden – 14th Ross Scaffidti – 15th Garrent Honza – 16th Chris Jones – 17th Kerwan Lievense
