After six long years in the making, the revolutionary Red Bull Dirt Pipe became a vivid reality. Located in the pristine surroundings outside Victoria’s Mt Beauty, the riders got their first taste of the 120m long, snowboard inspired dirt pipe.
Dropping in from the 4 meter high roll in, the assembled riders slowly felt their way through the day's practice session on what is by far the biggest dirt creation ever devised for BMX.
After the initial jaw dropping reactions to the sheer size of the pipe, the riders had nothing to do but step up to the task of boosting the 14 foot high walls. While first runs were very cautious with most riders focusing on individual sections, it was Clint Bensley who set the bar with a clean first run, hitting everything blind and as smooth as butter. With that run laid down, there was no more procrastinating, the day was on.
Within hours, the ante was being upped on all fronts, with the likes of Chris O’Donnell, Sergio Layos and Cam Pianta stamping their authority early with huge moves over the hips, walls and vert sections. Young Jaie Toohey went above and beyond the call of day one practice, throwing a massive no hander to lookback from the first step up, making sure everyone knew that he too was a serious contender for the weekend's competition.
By the end of the day, the pipe was beginning to show its full potential with multiple line choices opening up, incredible speed and riders bouncing ideas and tricks between themselves every run.
Under blue bird skies with snow caped peaks surrounding the grand canyon-esque pipe, the stage was definitely set for an incredible weekend of BMX mayhem in an event that will put Australian BMX on the world stage in a format never seen before.
Cam Pianta
