bsx2008 was presented by bmxultra.com and proudly supported by
Gold Partners:
Dirt Designs (www.bmxultra.com/dirt),
XBR (www.xbr.com.au),
SE/Goldcross (www.sebikes.com.au),
Answer/DK (www.answerbmx.com / www.dkbicycles.com)
Silver Partners:
BMXMAD (www.bmxmad.com.au)
Safe and Sound Production Services (www.safeandsound.com.au)
Intense Tyre Systems (www.intensetires.com)
Splash Creative (www.splashcreative.com.au)
Fox/GT by Monza Imports
Bronze Partner:
Poison City Records (www.poisoncityrecords.com)
Special Thanks:
Khalen Young (www.khalenyoung.com)
For those of you who missed out on the BSX2008 race we have compiled a couple of videos for you to download.
BSX2008 Finals & Interviews
We will have a DVD of the entire event, so keep an eye out for that.
Once again XBR Magazine took a whole lot of photos on the day and provided us with the disk for promotional purposes, we picked the best of the bunch and created a two part gallery. See the links below.
BSX2008 photo gallery
by Shane Jenkins/bmxultra.com
At bsx2007 we were faced with a damp track after heavy rainfall the night before, and as everyone knows a clay surface and water makes for a slippery track. The track dried out and the rest is history. Since then we have bought a number of covers to protect the first half of the track from rain.
Fast forward to the morning of Monday January 21, 2008. bsx2008 would again face heavy rainfall in the lead up to the event, around 100mm. This time we were more prepared, the whole track had been covered. A shout out to the guys at the Knox BMX club for supplying enough plastic to cover the last half of the track and a big thanks to Stewart Kelly for running a late night mission and going about 100kms out of his way to drop it off.
There were a couple of people who were very early to arrive at the track, they got there before most of the volunteers, so we had to move them along while we got set up.
When the gates opened at 11am the track was ready to race and the sun was starting to shine through the clouds. During the 2 hours of practice riders seemed to be having a bit of fun, you could see as time went on and the track continued to harden up the riders were just getting quicker and quicker.
Since the track had been covered in stages starting from the gate it went from fast and dry to slower with some boggy bits, if you were to go off the race line, through the last half. This made for a challenge come time trials time. Anyone who has raced at BSX will tell you that a small mistake is very costly.
There were a few minor changes to the track over the past twelve months, they were mostly to improve the speed and the flow of the track and seemed to work pretty well.
Times
With a transponder system in place, thanks to XBR, the accuracy of the timing was down to 1/1000th of a second, and time trials as well as the racing would run through a lot quicker.
Pro open men
There were a lot of big named riders out injured, or ill. Luke Madill was resting a chest injury and wouldn't be able to attempt the three-peat.
Josh Callan pulled the fastest time for the day with a 20.83, just 0.13 of a second ahead of Billy Jolliffe. 14 year old Brandan Bullows was a real surprise package, he pulled a time of 22.24 which put him in the top 10. Luke Pretlove and Canada's Mischa Partridge pulled the exact same times in the time trial. We hadn't planned for this, and an extra timed run seemed like an option, but we asked the guys and decided a rock-paper-scissors competition would be fair. Luke Pretlove won 3 time and chose the number 12 spot allowing Mischa to take number 11. (We are going to have to formalise something just in case this were to happen again in the future.)
A number of guys struggled with the low and tight corners and were lucky that the top 32 would make the cut since there were only 32 riders in the class.
| Names | Sponsor | State | Time (sec) | |
1 |
Josh Callan | RedlineTHE/Profile/Bombshell | VIC | 20.83 |
2 |
Billy Joliffe | Beyond Bikes | NSW | 20.96 |
3 |
Michael Young | DK Bicycles/Answer | QLD | 21.23 |
4 |
Brock Tuckerman | Bendigo Cycles/GT Bicycles | VIC | 21.44 |
5 |
Michael Chasteauneuf | WBR / Answer | VIC | 21.55 |
6 |
Nick Deininger | HCS | QLD | 21.79 |
7 |
Tom Sinmaa | BMXMAD | VIC | 21.96 |
8 |
Alex Cameron | Blackman Bicycles | NSW | 22.02 |
9 |
Brock Murray | Haidace Clothing | WA | 22.21 |
10 |
Brandan Bullows | Bmxultra.com | VIC | 22.24 |
11 |
Mischa Partridge | XBR | CAN | 22.43 |
12 |
Luke Pretlove | Redline | VIC | 22.43 |
13 |
Matt Dunsworth | Staats | VIC | 22.56 |
14 |
Darryn Goodwin | Intense/ECI | 22.62 | |
15 |
Jacob Price | FELT - Southwit | QLD | 22.67 |
16 |
Jhy Denholm | Melb Bicycles | VIC | 22.70 |
17 |
Levi Collins | Bmxultra.com/One Bicycles | VIC | 22.73 |
18 |
David Page | Mum & Dad | VIC | 22.77 |
19 |
Madison Denholm | HRV Fitness | VIC | 22.84 |
20 |
Bodi Turner | Intense / BMXMAD | VIC | 23.21 |
21 |
Adam Shields | Hyper Bikes | QLD | 23.23 |
22 |
Jesse Van Vugt | BMXMAD | WA | 23.72 |
23 |
Brenton Gibbs | Avent | VIC | 24.21 |
24 |
Ryan Van Vugt | BMXMAD | WA | 24.29 |
25 |
Kevin Watson | QLD | 24.41 | |
26 |
Joe Hey | Guildford Cycles | WA | 25.16 |
27 |
Adam Carey | Bmxultra.com/One Bicycles/Goldcross | VIC | 25.25 |
28 |
Ethan Murray | Dad | VIC | 27.52 |
29 |
Todd Guyers | BMXUltra.com | SA | 31.32 |
30 |
Connor Hunter | SE Bikes | VIC | 33.89 |
31 |
Dane Booker | Redman, SarahWalker96.com | NSW | 34.44 |
32 |
Morgan Peen | JR Cycles/UFO Bikes | NSW | 81.95 |
Pro open women
The ladies were once again posting times that were competitive when compared with the pro open men. All three of them would have finished in the top 32 of pro open had the classes been combined as they were last year. Sarah Walker and Lauren Reynolds seemed to be enjoying their first outing at BSX, and Tanya looked to be cutting some mean times.
| Names | Sponsor | State |
Time (sec) |
|
1 |
Sarah Walker | ABD | NZ |
24.31 |
2 |
Tanya Bailey | Cassap/ECI | WA |
25.11 |
3 |
Lauren Reynolds | Haidace Clothing/Stingaz Surf n Skate | WA |
28.50 |
30 & Over Open Wheel
Simon Anderson was flying again at BSX, having won in 2007, he looked the favourite again for 2008, but Jade McPherson could be a spoiler. NSW's Bruce Watman was a favourite for the final but that ended when he crashed out in the time trial. SA's Dale Saunders and NT's Jason Eecen also fell victim to the tight and technical track.
| Names | Sponsor | State |
Time (sec) |
|
1 |
Simon Anderson | GT/Fox/Dirt Designs | VIC |
22.46 |
2 |
Jade Mcpherson | Pal n panther | WA |
22.64 |
3 |
Chris Van Winden | ONE | VIC |
24.05 |
4 |
Shane Jenkins | BMXUltra.com | VIC |
24.26 |
5 |
Simon Trewin | D'Bike | VIC |
24.35 |
6 |
Brian Alexander | Pedal mulisha/Three's | VIC |
24.38 |
7 |
Jamie Bullows | BMXUltra.com | VIC |
24.57 |
8 |
Mark Dobson | 63 Army | VIC |
25.29 |
9 |
Paul Knox | ECI | VIC |
25.36 |
10 |
Dale Saunders | Me | SA |
30.68 |
11 |
Bruce Watman | 63 Army | NSW |
31.03 |
12 |
Jason Eecen | NT |
32.61 |
I have to admit that doing a timed run in front of 150 people is a little daunting, especially when you are first up, something that I personally haven't done before. I would normally enter late to go last. I don't know if the crowd was wanting to see a fast time or a big crash, so when the gate dropped it was just as simple as trying to get to the line without a crash. Everything went to plan until I drifted wide on the exit of the third corner and headed for a soft edge of a jump, it pulled me up pretty quick, lucky I have a bit of weight behind me, I think it helped me plough through the mud and back on my merry way, but at a cost.
Pro Open Round 1 highlights
Levi Collins has been amongst the fastest riders at the BSX the first two years but got a little loose in the corners during his timed run this year and drew fastest qualifier Josh Callan in round one. It was a close race but Levi had to watch the rest of the racing from the sidelines.
Michael Chasteauneuf qualified a respectable fifth in the time trial and drew Adam Shields (ranked 21) in his first race. It looked like it would be a formality however Chasty dropped the bike at his first ever BSX and it was game over for him.
Canadian Mischa Partridge (ranked 11) drew Adam Carey (ranked 27), Adam got the snap and won it from start to finish, Mischa could start packing early for his long trip home.
Brandan Bullows (ranked 10) put in a great timed run and looked like he was an easy qualifier for round 2, but it was Joe Hey (26) how would progress, Brandan would have to wait another year.
Pro Open Round 2 highlights
Michael Young (3) made an impact in practice wearing a skin tight Superman t-shirt. When it came to racing the t-shirt was replaced with his DK jersey and he was going to town on his competition, he knocked out Matt Dunsworth (13) in round 2.
Tom Siinmaa (7) has also shown great improvement on the little track over the past 12 months. He eliminated Dane Booker (31) in round 2.
Pro Open Quarter finals
Josh Callan continued on his winning ways when he met with Adam Shields in the quarters securing a semis berth.
Billy Jolliffe dominated his quarter against Nick Deininger and was only one lap away from the main.
Michael Young and Tom Siinmaa would make for a good match up, Young got the snap from the left lane Sinmaa drew even by the half way mark, but Young manged to get more pedals in through the last half of the track to take the win.
Brock Tuckerman in the left lane up against Alex Cameron. Cameron got the better first straight. Tuckerman drew even by half way but couldn't maintain his speed around the tight last corner, Cameron for the win.
Pro Open women
There were only 3 girls up for BSX this year. Australian Elite Champion Tanya Bailey, World Elite #2 (out of New Zealand) Sarah Walker and rising star Lauren Reynolds. The standard elimination format really only works with a minimum of 8 riders, so the girls devised a nice little system. They would race 3 rounds, each riding in both left and right lane and against each other once. The times from their two runs would be totaled and the two fastest riders would ride in a final.
First up were Sarah and Lauren. Sarah got to a handy lead and it was just as well. Lauren hit the inside last corner a little hot and shot to the outside bailing mid flight landing on her feet but then fell forward against a small tree which was off the side of the track. She got up right away with a big smile on her face, a little embarrassed, and brushed herself off. Lauren admitted to having a lot of fun, but decided to save herself for racing the big track at the rest of Track Attack. Down to two girls Tanya and Sarah would have a best of three.
Race 1: Sarah was in the left lane, Tanya in the right. Tanya looked to have some trouble around the outside first corner and Walker broke away to take the win.
Race 2: Tanya had the right lane this time, it was a closer race but Sarah took another win.
Race 3: Sarah was in the right lane for this run, is was fairly even down the first straight. Sarah over cooked it going into the inside third corner which allowed Tanya to get a nice lead and take the win.
Tanya, Sarah and Lauren seemed to have so much fun with it that I have a feeling that we will have a whole bunch of women racing next year.
30 & Over Open Wheel
The 30 & Over Open wheel class at BSX has grown somewhat since the first BSX. 2006 there were 4 competitors, 2007 there were 8, and 2008 even more with 12 riders, four were eliminated in the time trials.
Quarter finals
Simon Anderson in the left lane, with Simon Trewin in the right. Trewin was keeping up with Anderson but over jumped the third straight and went over the top of the the third corner. It was allover for Trewin.
Jade McPherson in the left lane Brian Alexander in the right. Brian got the snap on his Quadangle complete with Tuffs, but Jade was much faster in the last half of the track and took the win.
Jamie Bullows was in the right lane and up against Chris Van Winden in the left. Bullows took the low road through the first straight and it cost him, he was unable to make up the ground and was eliminated.
Shane Jenkins in the left lane with Mark Dobson in the right. Dobbo, on the cruiser, challenged Shane the whole way to the line, but just missed out. Shane going through to the next round.
Semi finals
Simon in the left lane with Chris in the right. When the gate dropped the two got even snap but Anderson carried more speed through to the first corner and raced away with the win.
Jade in the left lane with Shane in the right. Shane got the snap Jade had it all wound up at the last corner but had to drop the foot to get around. Jenkins pulled up next to him but missed out by mere inches.
Finals
Shane took the right lane Chris in the left. Jenkins got the snap and won it from start to finish, to take third place.
Simon in the left lane Jade in the right. Jade got the lead into the first corner but dropped the back wheel into the loose stuff and washed off some speed. By the half way point Jade looked to be making up ground, but nose bonked the last jump into the third corner, he lost his pedals and fell. Anderson was out in front when he realised that Jade was down, he turned around to check on his competitor. Anderson went on to take the win for the second year in a row.
Pro Open
From 32 riders we were down to just four. The two early favourites were still in the running, but as history will show, anything can happen on a track like this.
Semi finals
Josh Callan in the left lane up against Michael Young. Young got the snap, but Callan wound the bike up and won by a comfortable margin.
Billy Jolliffe in the left lane up against Alex Cameron. Alex looked to get the snap, Billy took a narrow win but the two collided and hit the ground after the finish line, they were both back on their feet pretty quick.
Finals
In the battle for third and fourth Michael was in the left lane and up against Alex. Michael got the snap but Alex got to the first corner first. He seemed to have a nice lead but Michael got around the inside of the last corner faster and pulled up right next to Alex. Not a bad effort, but it wasn't quite enough, Alex took the third.
The much anticipated final match up between Jolliffe and Callan didn't disappoint the crowd. The two were neck and neck down the first straight. They pulled up even again at the half way point. Callan may have had a slight advantage, but there wasn't much in it. The two entered the last corner even and were elbow to elbow right to the line. Josh Callan took the win by just four 100ths of a second.
Both Josh and Billy were heard saying they would return for bsx2009.
We have a new king of BSX, will Josh be able to defend the crown next year? Will Luke Madill be back in 2009 to reclaim his crown? Will Billy Jolliffe be able to improve on his two second place finishes? Will Tiger Robinson return to see if he can take the win after taking out the fastest time in 2007. Or will Daniel Johnston cause an upset? Maybe Michael Young and Alex Cameron have had a sniff at finals glory and they will return next year to make a bigger impact?
Pro open results
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Quarter finals | Semi finals | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Josh Callan | ||||
| Josh Callan | ||||
| 17. Levi Collins | ||||
| Josh Callan | ||||
| 9. Brock Murray | ||||
| Brock Murray | ||||
| 25. Kevin Watson | ||||
| Josh Callan | ||||
| 5. Michael Chasteauneuf | ||||
| Adam Shields | ||||
| 21. Adam Shields | ||||
| Adam Shields | ||||
| 11. Mischa Partridge | ||||
| Adam Carey | ||||
| 27. Adam Carey | ||||
| 3. Michael Young |
||||
| Michael Young | ||||
| 19. Madison Denholm | ||||
| Michael Young | ||||
| 13. Matt Dunsworth | ||||
| Matt Dunsworth | ||||
| 29. Scooby Guyers | ||||
| Michael Young | ||||
| 7. Tom Siinmaa | ||||
| Tom Siinmaa | ||||
| 23. Brenton Gibbs | ||||
| Tom Siinmaa | ||||
| 15. Jacob Price | ||||
| Dane Booker | A Final (1st Vs 2nd) | |||
| 31. Dane Booker | Josh Callan | |||
| Def | ||||
| 2. Billy Joliffe | Billy Joliffe | |||
| Billy Joliffe | ||||
| 18. David Page | ||||
| Billy Joliffe | ||||
| 10. Brandan Bullows | ||||
| Joe Hey | ||||
| 26. Joe Hey | ||||
| Billy Joliffe | ||||
| 6. Nick Deininger | ||||
| Nick Deininger | ||||
| 22. Jesse Van Vugt | ||||
| Nick Deininger | ||||
| 12. Luke Pretlove | ||||
| Luke Pretlove | ||||
| 28. Ethan Murray | ||||
| 4. Brock Tuckerman | ||||
| Brock Tuckerman | ||||
| 20. Bodi Turner | ||||
| Brock Tuckerman | ||||
| 14. Darryn Goodwin | ||||
| Darryn Goodwin | ||||
| 30. Connor Hunter | ||||
| Alex Cameron | ||||
| 8. Alex Cameron | ||||
| Alex Cameron | ||||
| 24. Ryan Van Vugt | ||||
| Alex Cameron | B final (3rd Vs 4th) | |||
| 16. Jhy Denholm | Alex Cameron | |||
| Jhy Denholm | Def | |||
| 32. Morgan Peen | Michael Young |
30 & Over open wheel
| Round 1 | Semi finals | Finals |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Simon Anderson |
||
| Simon Anderson | ||
| 5. Simon Trewin |
A final (1st Vs 2nd) | |
| Simon Anderson | ||
| 3. Chris Van Winden |
||
| Chris Van Winden | ||
| 7. Jamie Bullows |
||
| Def | ||
| 2. Jade McPherson |
||
| Jade McPherson | ||
| 6. Brian Alexander | ||
| Jade McPherson | ||
| 4. Shane Jenkins | ||
| Shane Jenkins | B final (3rd Vs 4th) | |
| 8. Mark Dobson | Shane Jenkins | |
| Def | ||
| Chris Van Winden |
XBR XPRESSION winners
Here are the XPRESSION WINNERS (XBR's dirt jumping competition). Gavin D decided to go for FOUR WINNERS. Each of these guys will win an 8x12 PRINT but they need to contact XBR at editor@xbr.com.au with their postal or collection details.
The auctions
The auctions at the end of the day are even more hotly contested than the racing. Especially the number plate auction. As riders are eliminated they hand their plate in signed and we sell them off. Josh Callan and SImona Anderson's plates went for the most amount of money this year at $50 each.
Here's the list of plates that sold for $20 or more.
| Josh Callan | $50 |
| Simon Anderson | 50 |
| Billy Jolliffe | 30 |
| Luke Pretlove | 30 |
| Sarah Walker | 30 |
| Michael Young | 25 |
| Tom Siinmaa | 25 |
| Levi Collins | 22 |
| Michael Chasteauneuf | 20 |
| Brandan Bullows | 20 |
| Jhy Denholm | 20 |
| Jesse Van Vugt | 20 |
| Todd Guyers | 20 |
| Tanya Bailey | 20 |
| Shane Jenkins | 20 |
| Adam Carey | 20 |
Other awesome items that went up for the Auction were some Answer Carbon bars, a fox Rampage Helmet, Khalen Young's Aussie team jersey that he used at the French UCI SX race, a GT jersey signed by Luke Madill and so much more. Make sure you don't miss out next year.
Thanks for supporting bsx2008 and the Royal Children's Hospital
I must thank each and everyone who helped make bsx2008 a success. There are so many names so I won't try to name them all. There were some people that put in an extraordinary effort that I will point out though.
Special thanks:
Craig Merritt, from Dirt Designs, is not only a big supporter from the start of BSX, providing the t-shirts and number plates, he is also a co-founder of the whole BSX concept of running a backyard race and raising money for the fantastic community service that the Royal Children's Hospital provide.
Andrew Hepburn of Safe and Sound production services is also a big supporter of BSX since the beginning, providing the scaffolding for the video as well as the music and sound equipment for the day.
Gavin D from XBR covered the public liability insurance costs, helped promote the event and supplied transponders which proved invaluable on the day. Helping to keep racing running through quickly, smoothly and above all accurately. Don't forget to check out www.xbr.com.au for photos and video clips from BSX.
Tracy for spending endless hours organising everything that happens off the track on the big day.
There are two guys who have spent a lot of time helping get the track and it's surrounds prepared for the event. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Levi Barnett and Chris Van Winden for their help. I really appreciate it.
Thanks
To all our partners a very special thanks to you all, without your generosity it would be impossible for us to raise money for the RCH.
To the riders thank you for your support and putting on a great show without you there certainly wouldn't be BSX.
To the volunteers thank you for all your help, no matter how big or small. You were able to hold the fort and keep everything running according to plan.
To the spectators thanks for coming along. Despite the costs and travel outside of the Melbourne metro area we manage to pull nice numbers and it's great to see the same faces year after year. Don't forget to start saving for next years event. There will be more raffles and auctions and awesome prizes.
Oh and thanks to the Bendigo BMX club for supplying the use of the gate for the day, and the Knox BMX Club for the donation of the plastic to cover the track.
Keep an eye out for more bsx2008 photos and video, coming soon. See you at bsx2009.