Die Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2011 is heading into the final round. In Australia five judges will make the decisions that separate the winners from the losers, between the world championship and the runners-up. There are five categories being judged.
One judge is responsible for variety of the tricks. "Variety is easy to explain - the aim is to try to do as many different tricks as possible. Unfortunately that has proven to be the most difficult to judge because everyone has a somewhat different view of how to judge the number of tricks. One should watch to see where the bike is headed, is it sideways, is it going up and down, is the rider sideways, is the bike up, the rider under -- we have set it up in a rather complex way. So variety is the most painful category for the judge," explains sports director Tes Sewell.
Another "judge" evaluates challenge and execution. The third judge is tracking the riders' use of course. Also equally important is the energy, the excitement and the entertainment value. And last but not least the fifth judge is evaluating the style and fluidity of the run. Sewell says: "We're talking about what the form of the rider is, how much you can see a rider and whether he is feeling good on his bike, whether his elbows are up or down. That's really important and whether he is fluid riding through the course."
But that needs to be evaluated. A head judge is there to ensure that everything is done correctly because at the end of the day the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour is the core of the sport of FMX, with the top level and the best athletes. He is there to decide whether the last jump was completed in time and who is the winner if two riders were to finish with equal points.
Each of the judges has 100 points to award for each rider on each run. "The maximum that you can get is 100 points -- but no one should ever get all 100 points because that would be perfection. If someone gets 100 points, then we've set up the scale of assessment the wrong way and have to change it. I think with a really ultimate run one could maybe get 98 points. This scale should be the same for every FMX rider in the world. Whether it's the guy doing his first run all the way up to our best of our guys like Dany Torres, for example, winning in Madrid with 90-plus points. So if you're young and can hardly do any tricks, you should be able to manage 50 points or so, if you're at a good amateur level you should be able to about 60. Our guys at the Red Bull X-Fighters get between 80 and 95 points -- that's about a 15-point range. But if you make a mistake, then you drop right down. So if you mess up a trick, you can end up dropping down to about 60 points really fast. If you crash, you'll end up with 50 or less."
That helps to explain why the field is so closely bunched together going into the finale in Sydney. To win a rider needs to capture at least 3 of the 5 helmets. Will it be Dany Torres or Nate Adams? Spain or America? Will the hunter Torres win it all or the man being hunted Adams?
Current overall standings (after 5 of 6 rounds): 1. Nate Adams (365 points), 2. Dany Torres (325 points), 3. Andre Villa (270 points), 4. Blake Williams (AUS/215 points), 5. Eigo Sato (180 points), 6. Robbie Maddison (AUS/160 points)
Red Bull X-Fighters Sydney - Judging for the finale