StuntArt 2016

The top world rider Arunas (Aras) Gibieza decided to try his hand as an organizer and held a competition in Vilnius in early October. The general sponsor was RedBull, and Chris Pfeiffer helped Aras judge the tournament. Under the rules of the tournament, riders got two 3-minute runs, and only the points from the best run counted. This format allowed riders to take risks in one of the attempts and added entertainment to the tournament. The list of the participants was very strong. Karbownik, Vatanen, and Jensen represented the European top tier. The competition for the podium was very tough: many riders with a good level of stunt riding came, and any of them could have finished high with a good run.

Pawel Karbownik rode a very difficult, well-connected run and took first place. He showed unique acrobatics, an excellent kangaroo with a ride-out to a wheelie, combos and difficult drifts.

Joona Vatanen showed the best ride of the season. High speed, difficult long stoppies, dynamic flat stunts, a 50/50 jump with a ride-out into power circles, wild drift.

Mike Jensen showed a dynamic, athletic and at the same time very difficult stunt riding. With a good run, he could have won, but the area was too small for the kangaroo 360: in the first run he lost control, and in the second he couldn't land the ride-out on any attempt, which led to mistakes and lost time.

The discovery of the tournament was the previously unknown Zdenko Rubar (Slovakia), who showed a high level and took 4th place. Before this season, Zdenko did not take part in any major tournaments, and no one expected good rides from him. The tournament had a lot of young Lithuanian stunt riders.

Denis Rybalko, Nikita Pokusay and Dmitry Trukhanovich (Belarus) also took part in the tournament. The best result among them was Denis's 7th place.

We thank the organizers for the excellent tournament and hope that StuntART becomes an annual competition!