The second day in Winterberg included the Warsteiner Whip Offs, the amateur Slopestyle contest, some first training sessions for the iXS German Downhill Cup and the qualifying of the Bikeunit 4X Rumble and the Red Bull Berm Burners. That was some busy timetable!
Today the sun was shining nearly as bright as yesterday – perfect conditions for the second of four exciting days at the iXS Dirt Masters Festival 2015. More than 500 riders from 18 nations practiced their skills on the short, but demanding downhill track. Due to the perfect mixture of sunny weather, motivated riders and festival atmosphere, the track was extremely crowded all day.
Riders ready, watch the gate! Words well known to those of you who ever watched a Fourcross race. During the first downhill training session, more than 170 riders practiced at the 4X track. After the short training period, Hannes Slavik (AUT – Ghost Magura) dominated the field of starters with a time of 33.181 seconds, while Julia Luckas (GER – Propain Bikes) was the fastest female rider.
One of Winterberg’s annual highlights is of course the Slopestyle contest. Today the amateurs already did some tricks, and provided a perfect warm-up for tomorrow’s FMB silver event of the pros.
In the meantime, both the Warsteiner Whip Offs and the qualifying of the Red Bull Berm Burners provided some first-class mtb action. As usual, the Whip Off registration had to be shut down early, due to the huge number of riders who wanted to take part. But those who actually made it to the contest really deserved some attention. In the end, Sam Pilgrim (GBR – NS Bikes) took the title as Winterberg’s champ in 2015. At the pump track eight riders managed to qualify for tomorrow’s Red Bull Berm Burners in which they will compete against the elite.
The first half of the iXS Dirt Masters 2015 is already over and we ended the day with a huge party, hosted by the Disco Dogs. Tomorrow, however, we still got a lot up our sleeves with the iXS German Downhill Cups, the Bikeunit Fourcross Rumble finals, the Slopestyle Contest of the pros and Red Bull Berm Burners finals. Stay tuned!