Alexey Kolesnikov came to motorsport from BMX at the age of 12. Starting off racing motocross on his Kawasaki KX, he gradually gained experience and began to participate in multi-day enduro rallies, eventually becoming Russian champion in 2005. However, it was in that same year that Alexei first began to get into FMX.
Despite the sport having almost no profile in Russia at the time, Alexey defied the lack of riders and tracks in the country to build his very own ramp and foam pit with friends in his home town of Kolomna near Moscow. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward a few years and the situation has changed dramatically. Alexey’s first taste of FMX fame came when the Red Bull X-Fighters touched down at Slane Castle in Ireland and he got to shake hands with living legends such as Travis Pastrana, Dani Torres, Matt Rebeaud and experience a professional course for the first time.
In 2009, Alex, along with Swede Daniel Bodin, Italian Vanni Oddera and his friend and disciple Kirill Gavrilov, took part in the Red Bull X-Fighters Jams held in four Russian cities: Omsk, Tyumen, Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd. The result? Alexei rocked the house and rode away as the crowds favourite in each city. Kolesnikov can rightly be considered the founder of FMX in Russia and was also the first rider in the country to land a backflip.
Today, Alex Kolesnikov – or ‘Kalaschnikov’ as his friends call him – is a top rider you should know about and that is why we choosed him for our 10 Questions Series.
Late Evening Session at 10pm. Kolomna has long summer nights, but very short & cold winter days. © schran.net
fmxworld.com: Hi Alex, thx for taking your time to answer our 10 Questions. Let´s start easy.... What have you been up to lately? Riding time should be over now in Kolomna, Russia....
Hello to everyone! Yes you are right, the season at my place in Russia is over!
Now it's to wet everywhere and geting colder! So it is not cool condition to ride in you know...
Now all what we can do..is riding with spikes tires only!
That´s why I traveled to Italy again to ride a little bit with my friends from the Daboot crew! Good times before Christmas time with the crew!
"During summertime I focused on building up
the Red Bull Kolesnikov FMX School..."
fmxworld.com: The year is coming to an end and we have not talked that much. Sum it up a bit for us.
What have you been doing in 2011 beside switching from KTM to Yamaha. Anymore US-Trips, big shows we didn´t hear about.
I started the season like always in Italy & all was great! New bike..new feeling, I got 3 new flip combos (for me) dialed in right after each other and was ready to work more before I crashed pretty hard on a show in St. Petersburg (Russia).
It was simply to windy and the result was a broken and a 1 month break. After a good and quick recovery, I was working hard on myself to ride the Russian leg of the IFMXF Series in Penza.
That´s what you call a real russian hospital meal..... © Kolesnikov
Only 2 weeks before the competition I was unlucky again and broke my foot. 2 broken bones after each other wasn´t the best luck, but Federico Santoliny (Thx for the good job) fixed it all and I was able to ride only 40 days after my crash, which is pretty much perfect looking at the circumstances.
During summertime i focused on building up the Red Bull Kolesnikov FMX School, which was so great. We had around 40 riders from all over Russia & Ukrania in my park. A session in the school includes all around FMX. It was not only riding ramps, we had MX lessons, first aid/medical training, mechanic workshops and teached the riders how to prepare their body for FMX in the best way.
Most of the guys knew a few things, but our school should give them a solid base to start a carrer in a safe way. As FMX is still very small in Russia, this was a good step to push the sport forward in my country. As all worked out so good we planed to have the school every season.
Alex showing skills on his new bike during the Red Bull Kolesnikov FMX School © D. Klero - Red Bull Content Pool
Yeah...at the begining of 2011 I got into talks with YAMAHA, Russia and we figured out that we should be working together in the future! I got a test-bike and that was great and fitted my riding!
After checking it out, I can now say YAMAHA supports me with bikes and I'm very happy about that!!!
For now the bike is the best I ever rode in my carrer.
Last time I been in USA was last winter, when we meet at Metzers and it was great expireance, but somehow I stayed more time in Europe this year!
The USA is great for riding but is not so easy organise the trip & you have to deal with a lot of stuff!
You need a place to stay, car for the bike, the bike itself...and many other things! I have a lot of stuff going on in Italy so for me it's more easy to arrange my travels down there, but in the future i want to go to US again!
Alex rockin´ Paradise Ranch better known as Metzgers Compound © schran.net
fmxworld.com: In 2010 you had the chance to ride your 1st Red Bull X-Fighters as the local boy in Moscow. Are you sad that you could not ride any event in 2011 and are you planing to ride one in 2012?
Red Bull X-Fighters Moscow was the best night in my live, for shure! Of cource I wish to ride another X-Fighters and we hope that event comes back to Russia. Ones it comes I hope to ride it again. For others stops i don't know! i would be very happy if the organisation would invite me again.
Alex side-by-side with FMX Star Mat Rebeaud focusing before his run at the Red Bull X-Fighters Moscow © schran.net
fmxworld.com: As a special gift in Moscow you got a new sled to use your time better in winter. Did you ride it a lot and are you coming closer to a level your friend Daniel Bodin has? What tricks can you do?
Yes thanks to my Sponsor ESTA group again for the new sled! Last December when i came back from US I rode a lot on it. I used it for some practice on MX trax and freeride spots close to my city! Is a lot of fun, but I did not really plan to use that like proffesional FSX rider!
fmxworld.com: We have seen quite a few pics of you with the Italian mafia. Are you riding Italy quite often with the DaBoot crew since it is cold in your country?
Usually I stay in Italy in fall and spring time! Sometimes I fly over in the Summer for good sessions, shows and shooting vids & clips together with DABOOT!
"DABOOT it's a big family with
super cool people inside!"
fmxworld.com: What´s so special about the Daboot crew? I saw many crazy pics on your facebook page?
DABOOT it's a big family with super cool people inside! I like the atmosphere in the team a lot and I call them big friends of mine. To name a few: Vanni Oddera, Massimo Bianconchini,Alvaro Dalfarra, Carlo Caresana... the guys help me a lot with many things & a BIG thanks goes out to my Italian homies.
Riding is always as much fun as the other activities ;-)
Would that count for "other activities" or Russian Mafia meets Italian Mafia? © Kolenikov Facebook
fmxworld.com: Looks like you got some more ink under your skin, since the last time we saw. What new Tattos do you have and what do those new mean to you or more what motivated you to get them?
I love tattos! The last addition is a joker on one side of my arm. It stand for my livestyle. We have a lot of fun but you never know what surprise is gonna come..
Under the joker you see 3 stars with cyrillic letters inside (м) (п) (ю) - which stand for mother, father & Julia (my girlfriend). Those will stay forever in my heart! Around Joker I placed a foliage of ivy, which stands for strong love & friendship standing for the friends that surround me. On the other side of same arm I got a typical Russian Icon in the classic orthodox style, like you would see it churches. That one is truely for myself & to long to explain.
fmxworld.com: Who is the next Russian Rookie to check out. Any upcoming talents or is the scene still quite small and it is to hard for young guns to come up due to the long winters you have?
We found a few talanted guys during the Red Bull Kolesnikov FMX School! To give you a name, it´s Sergey Belokrilin! Maybe that kid will ride with us more next season as he was able to win the comp at the end of our school.... Let´s see, if he is hungry for more....
Those are the conditions Alex is facing at the moment. Once he said: "It´s all possible till -25°C (-13°F), but then it´s simply to cold to have fun..." © D. Klero - Red Bull Photofiles
fmxworld.com: What are you goals for 2012? You don´t need to answer it FMX related. If you want to tell us you will get married or have kids that is also fine and would be interesting.....
I plan to ride more without crashes! I want to learn some new trix, ride more events with the best riders in the world, upgrade my compound little bit & organise the RED BULL FMX SCHOOL again! Me & my girl are also starting to talk about kids.....
fmxworld.com: Anything you really would like to talk about - something that touched your soul in 2011 - and that did not fit into any of the questions? Let us know, this is your freestyle answer....
I think is good moment to wish all of you all the best for 2012. Hope you had a good time with your family and friends over X-mas and could enjoy the holidays a bit, before the work starts again.
I also want to thx to my sponsors again, who have supported me in the best way and sticked with me even in difficult times.
Thx for your time for this Interview.
Want More?
- Alex Kolesnikov Facebook Page
Alex flippin´ over a jumping Kamaz Rally Truck in his park
Alex Kolesnikov Bonus Interview Gallery
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