With the last stop of the Masters of Dirt tour calling to Dublin during the final weekend in March, Enduro.ie was granted a full access pass to see the show. Armed with his golden ticket to one of the hottest FMX acts in the world, Noel O’Leary went to take a closer look…
I’ve never been to a show like this before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. As many may know I’m an avid fan of motocross and everything off road but when it came to freestyle motocross I wasn’t up to speed on it, but I knew the Masters of Dirt would be the best place to find out.
Arriving at the Citywest Hotel Conference Centre, just outside Dublin there was a real sense of excitement in the air. Monster Energy banners and branded hoarding lined the entrance to the car parks and stadium lobbies. After quickly checking out the pits I sat down with some of the stars of the show.
As far as the FMX section goes, Blake ‘Bilko’ Williams was the headline act. Bilko is one of the leading guys in the world of freestyle and has won medals at all the big competitions throughout the world including the X-Games and Redbull X-Fighters. For a kid from Australia he’s doing well. While he was getting ready for the evening ahead we had a quick chat about some of the insane tricks he’s pulling and about his time in Ireland. He was loving every minute of the trip and said he already tried out a pint of Guinness. He’s a cool kid and I’m a new fan of his now, that’s for sure.
I also got to hang out one of the pioneers of the sport, Edgar Torronteras. Edgar disappeared off the radar for a while but he’s back again and enjoying his time on the tour. Turns out he’s also pretty handy at some human beatbox tunes too.
Noel and Edgar chill out back stage before the main event
With the show about to start, I headed into the arena to check out it out. The stands were full and the crowd was ready for the action to begin. After a quick warm up and a rider presentation, the lights dimmed. As anticipation mounted the riders blasted into the arena floor kicking off the show by hitting the jumps in a train like procession. What a fantastic, mind-blowing start to the evening.
Unfortunately Alastair Sayer dislocated his knee in the middle of it all and the running order of the show needed a quick revision but to be honest we wouldn’t have noticed it as the show went on.
As far as FMX was concerned, we were left with five riders, namely Bilko Williams, Chris Birch, Edgar Torronteras, Rob Adelberg and Remi Bizouard. Believe you me, none of those riders disappointed.
One of the two highlights of the show for me was the “best whip” competition which Edgar Torronteras won hands down and rightly so. The ‘old guy’ can teach the young guns a trick or two when it comes to laying it flat. He was awesome. I have never ever seen whips of that calibre and as far as I could see the adrenaline charged crowd enjoyed it as much as I did. Other than that it was impossible to single out any of the riders, but Edgar had the edge!
With BMX, mountain bike, mini bikes, a quad and a snowmobile the show roared on.
Oh I nearly forgot the fuel girls. How could I forget the girls!
As the show marched on never once did it repeat itself. Every minute the guys had us either on the edge of our seat or standing to applause. I still can’t figure out how they link all the tricks together with such precision, sometimes three or four bikes at a time. Saving the best to last the announcer whipped the crowd into a frenzy as he introduced the “final mayhem”.
Five bikes, the quad and the snowmobile jumped altogether and all executing back flips as they went. That’s right a quad and a snowmobile doing back flips at the same time. It doesn’t get much more extreme than that!
As the show drew to a close and the spectators filtered out of the building I couldn’t help but think that the Masters of Dirt had got it right on the money. Redefining the idea of freestyle extreme off road, the show encompassed all manner of aeronautical freestyle display. Mixing in motocross, quad, snowmobile, BMX and mini bikes by some of the world’s best extreme sports athletes, the Masters of Dirt didn’t fail to deliver an adrenaline pumping performance.
So if any of you haven’t seen the show and can get a chance to see it, grab the chance with both hands. You won’t be disappointed…
