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UK BMX Dirt Series 2016: The Final

Words, photos and video by Robin Pearson

I was a bit late to the party with the UK Dirt Series. I had to completely swerve the first two rounds, annoyingly, as I had other things booked this summer, so I missed watching Doyle, Bohan and various other key trails shredders riding on UK soil. Bummer. In light of this, I wasn’t going to let the final round pass me by.

The setting for the final was pretty special – at a music festival. Lakefest is a very family-friendly festival at Eastnor Castle in Gloucestershire, filled with happy, open-minded humans who want some entertainment. An unlikely but pretty much perfect setting for a BMX event, with more than enough of a crowd to create an atmosphere, eager to get the riders pumped up. MC John Wood handled the crowd perfectly, getting them to chant B-M-X, explaining tricks and managing to keep the language child-friendly… As you’ll hear in the video.

Ben Wallace and Jay Cowley taking care of the dirt.

Aliano and crew extending the roll in by a few crucial feet.

FYI, Jay Cowley is very good at turndowns.

This smokey bubble stall helped show how strong the wind was!

Ben Wallace warming up in the afternoon.

Del Shepherd with a sweet superman whip in practice. In the finals, Del took himself out on a frontflip and is now healing up with a broken collarbone. Get well soon bro.

Having dirt jumps at a festival like Lakefest reminded me of the good old days of Urban Games, with arguably most of the general public stumbling upon a BMX contest for the first time. The excitement and fascination of the crowd was genuinely there, it was awesome to see so many people giving BMX dirt jumping their time.

Check the video for some highlights of practice, the riders’ best runs, and the award ceremony, which happened on the festival’s main stage.

Round 3 Results

1st – Joe Baddeley
2nd – Brandon Dosch
3rd – Ben Wallace

UK Dirt Series Overall Results

1st – Brandon Dosch
2nd – Joe Baddeley
3rd – Ben Wallace

Young Seth Murray rode well all day. Nice turndown over the 2nd.

Mason Murray getting involved with the bubbles.

Wallace, superindian seatgrab during practice.

The final standings after all three rounds. 1st - Dosch, 2nd - Baddeley, 3rd -Wallace.

Thanks to:

Keyway – Red Bull – Vans – Profile – 4Down – Stay Strong – Lakefest – Arriva Global Plant Sales – Exac 1 – Mark Noble, Cycling Sports Group – Stephen Murray – Jason Aliano – James Done – Joe Baddeley – Robin Smith – David Guest – Kayley Ashworth – Nino Aliano.