Podmol wins in Berlin

"Welcome to Berlin" was emblazoned all over the o2 World arena as fans arrived for the first part of a NIGHT of the JUMPs Grand Prix double bill. Eleven riders from seven different countries were lining up for Round 2 of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship, including the German duo of Hannes Ackermann and Kai Haase. Berlin-born Haase was cheered on enthusiastically by his home crowd but went out at the qualifying stage in an anonymous tenth place. Having almost recovered from a debilitating back injury, Hannes Ackermann was on far better form than in the world championship opener at Kaunas but narrowly missed out on the final in P7.Making his second guest appearance of the 2013 NIGHT of the JUMPs tour, Gabriel Villegas pulled out some decent tricks to finish eighth. American star Rich Kearns was evidently suffering from jetlag and disappointed the fans by failing to perform a single backflip. So it was all the more surprising when he triumphed in the ROCKWELL Time Best Whip.High-jump specialist Massimo Bianconcini also went out at the qualifying stage. Winner of the preliminary round was David Rinaldo who put in a great run to come through just ahead of Petr Pilat. Remi Bizouard's minor slip-up pushed him down to third place, while Libor Podmol will have been relieved to sneak into the finals in P5 after a dead sailor flip. Also qualifying in the Top Six were Jose Miralles and Brice Izzo.The Best Trick Contest pitted two mountain bikers against two FMX riders. Pavel Alekhin performed a front flip which was bested by a tandem backflip from Petr Pilat. The fans could, perhaps, be forgiven for saving the loudest applause of the night for Australia's First Lady of FMX, Emma McFerran, who pulled off a flawless backflip over the kicker ramp. It was the first time in NIGHT of the JUMPs history that a female rider had performed this trick.Despite the mathematical impossibility, the six riders in the final were all looking to improve on their qualifying positions. A gamble that did not pay off for Brice Izzo and Jose Miralles who both flopped big time with dead sailors. Petr Pilat also committed minor errors in his final run, which dropped him down to fourth. Meanwhile, Libor Podmol staged an impressive fight-back, advancing from fifth to the top podium rung. This was due in no small measure to his maiden 360; some spectators thought he had overshot his double-up time, but the judges were satisfied that it was just inside. Remi Bizouard delved deep into his repertoire of tricks, pulling out a Ruler and a Hart Attack Flip. But instead of a 360, he could 'only' manage a Whip Flip; Bizouard was visibly gutted to finish the event in a relatively lowly third position. David Rinaldo once again showed off some truly extreme jumps such as his new Heelclicker to Tsunami combo. In the double-up, he obviously hoped to pull off a Doublegrab Flip, but this petered out into a run-of-the-mill Superman Seatgrab Flip. But it was still enough for the runner-up spot, one point behind Podmol but one point ahead of Bizouard – the first time he has ever managed to out-perform his fellow Frenchman. Friday's victory saw Podmol take the lead in the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship. On the same number of points but still technically second is Remi Bizouard. Moving up to third place in the standings is David Rinaldo. But tomorrow is another day... That's when the third round of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship will be contested at o2 World in Berlin. There are still a few tickets left for those fans who don't like to plan too far ahead. Results NIGHT of the JUMPs – Final 1. Libor PodmolCZEACCRYamaha395 Points 2. David RinaldoFRAFFMYamaha394 Points 3. Remi BizouardFRAFFMKawasaki393 Points 4. Petr PilatCZEACCRKTM351 Points 5. Jose MirallesESPRFMEKTM341 Points 6. Brice IzzoFRAFFMYamaha312 Points Results Qualification 1. David RinaldoFRAFFMYamaha332 Points 2. Petr PilatCZEACCRKTM323 Points 3. Remi BizouardFRAFFMKawasaki320 Points 4. Jose MirallesESPRFMEKTM316 Points 5. Libor PodmolCZEACCRYamaha311 Points 6. Brice IzzoFRAFFMYamaha308 Points 7. Hannes AckermannGERDMSBKTM299 Points 8. Gabriel VillegasCHLFMCKTM299 Points 9. Massimo BianconciniITAPZMKTM292 Points 10. Kai HaaseGERDMSBSuzuki224 Points 11. Rich KearnsUSAAMAKawasaki211 Points Results ROCKWELL Time Whip Contest 1. Rich KearnsUSAAMAKawasaki 2. Massimo BianconciniITAPZMKTM 3. Jose MirallesESPRFMEKTM Ranking (after 2nd contest) 1. Libor PodmolCZEACCRYamaha36 Points 2. Remi BizouardFRAFFMKawasaki36 Points 3. David RinaldoFRAFFMYamaha28 Points 4. Petr PilatCZEACCRKTM28 Points 5. Jose MirallesESPRFMEKTM20 Points 6. Brice IzzoFRAFFMYamaha19 Points 7. Dany TorresESPRFMEKTM18 Points 8. Hannes AckermannGERDMSBKTM14 Points 9. Kai HaaseGERDMSBSuzuki12 Points

Source: http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1362821051-podmol-wins-in-berlin/

Max Biaggi Pier Paolo Bianchi Stefano Bianco Fabio Biliotti