On Monday 50 truck loads of dirt was delivered to the front of the Bernabeu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid. A couple of days later it’s been sculpted into a pretty sweet course, ready for the worlds dirt monkeys to do there freeride thang. The muddy stage is set for an incredible contest to determine the final 5 riders in the biggest freeride series of the year.
Apparently the dirt this year is of an exceptional vintage shipped in from the Spanish hill farms in refrigerated containers individually filled by local peasants. Once unpacked the dirt has been carefully shaped by none other than the Mayor of Madrid himself. He has crafted a 6 meter high start ramp leading into the first double which is followed by a berm and a roller, into a step-up, onto a curved wood feature ending with a step-down, back into a beautifully shaped four pack of dirt jumps. Hats off to the Mayor.
Madrid is a two-day event, practice starts on Friday as well as the first qualifying run. The second qualifying and the finals are Saturday afternoon. The tour is heating up and the riders will be giving everything they have to be one of the top 5 finishers to qualify for the final two events. In the two final Nissan Qashqai Challenge events, the world’s best 25 riders will compete in Munich and London for the overall title and the sport’s biggest prize purse.
The Madrid rider line-up is:
Andi Brewi AUT
Niki Leitner AUT
Geoff Gullevich CAN
Kurtis Sorge CAN
Mitchell Chubey CAN
Andreu Lacondeguy ESP
David Acedo ESP
Victor Esplugas ESP
Inigo Yanci Larralde ESP
Pau Martin Miller ESP
Marc Casals Casoliva ESP
Angel Vivanco ESP
Rodrigo Velasco Ubeda ESP
Amir Kabbani GER
Andi Wittmann GER
Benny Korthaus GER
Flo Konietzko GER
Simon Kirchmann GER
Taulan Dernbach GER
Bartek Obukowicz POL
Maciek’s Ryndziewicz POL
Pedro Marrero Puerto Rico
Igor Putera SLO
Anton Gustavson SWE
John Alm Högmann SWE
Linus Sjöholm SWE
Martin Söderström SWE
Blake Samson UK
Lance McDermott UK
Mike Smith UK
Sam Reynolds UK
Adam Hauck USA
Alex Reveles USA
Andrew Taylor USA
Cameron Zink USA
Greg Watts USA
Kyle Strait USA
Phil Sundbaum USA
Ryan Howard USA
Tyler Mc Caul USA
Madrid Qashqai
