Stunt Grand Prix 2016
Stunt GP 2016 has become the strongest tournament in recent years, despite the small number of participants and the absence of top French riders. Korzen and Aras came to fight for the champion’s title, and the TOP 10 standings remained unknown until the final runs.
Marcin Glowacki (Korzen) relied on stability and continuity this year. He only got his new sponsor bike a month before the competition, so adding some new tricks was very risky. He hasn't changed his program much since last year, which allowed him to ride both runs cleanly. Marcin performed some complicated combinations, for example, in highchair: stoppie 180 — coaster — figure eight drift. His performance showed the highest level of preparation and execution — a benchmark for many pros.
Arunas Gibieza wasn't in his best shape due to the multiple shows at the beginning of the season, but still showed some of the most complex modern stunts: no hands unicycle, special K spin, kangaroo 360, high tsunami. It is incredibly difficult to perform such a set of stunts: in the finals, the kangaroo worked out on the second attempt only, and he also lost control in the unicycle. In the wheelie category, Aras's performance looks modern and diverse. Slow combos and the most complex figure eight highchair no longer seem to be must-have elements of a professional freestyle: no less complex but more spectacular stunts are appearing.
Several young talented riders deserved attention: Irmantas Jasevicius (22), Pawel Karbownik (23), Mike Jensen (23), and Joona Vatanen (23). Each had a wide arsenal of sophisticated modern stunts, and a unique style.
Irmantas continues to improve athletic acrobatics and is trying to integrate it into other categories, for example, exit to highchair through a corner. This year, his stoppies looked better, and he did a good kangaroo. He also demonstrated the highest tsunami in the tournament!
Pawel Karbownik is one of the most technical riders in the world. This year he tried the super complex switchback circles on the wheel but couldn't land them, though they worked in practice. However, Pawel made a full switchback wheelie. He combined spin and no hands unicycle, showing everyone that slow technical tricks could be done quickly. He did a confident kangaroo with exit to one wheel and a good switchback drift from burnout.
Over the last two years Mike Jensen has improved his stunt skills so much that after the semi-final he seemed to be one of the competition leaders. He confidently did the most sophisticated modern tricks: kangaroo 360, no hand unicycle, jumping through clutches with poses on the tank. In the finals, Mike fell and was unable to show his best, so he ended up fourth.
Joona Vatanen arrived at Stunt GP as the winner of Czech Stunt Day, which was held the week before. In Poland, the area is much smaller, which created big problems for him. There was not enough room for a powerful GSX-R. In power circles, Joona had to steer, and in drifts he had to blip the throttle to fit into the area — this made it difficult to exit tricks. There was too little time left for acrobatics, because this motorbike goes much faster than the others. As a result, Joona took 6th place, but his great potential is obvious! He managed to combine crazy speed style and complex stunts, and he is a world-class rider. The most difficult stoppies with fast exits without rolls (the only one who did highchair 270), fast spins and special K with a jump on it — all of this looks aggressive and is no less difficult than many slow technical tricks.
The post-Soviet region was represented by six riders: Nikita Pokusay, Foma Kalinin and Alexey Kalinin (Russia), Vitaly Pasevich and Dmitry Trukhanovich (Belarus), Sergey Valivodz (Ukraine). Nikita took 14th place and will take part in the Dubai tournament. He stood out with a difficult whip 360 and high tsunami!
The tournament had a good competitive spirit, and the competition was very tight. The judging was hotly debated, and many disagreed with it. Tricks that a year or two ago could only be seen in short online clips were performed in competition runs this year. Some stunts that were considered to be difficult have now become the basic minimum, and the stoppie, flat and switchback acrobatics categories in particular are getting more complex.