Red Bull X-Fighters Abu Dhabi Qualifying Report

This is it: the final showdown of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2015, with the title contenders Clinton Moore and Tom Pagès tied in points. Whoever places better will be the new champion. The qualification has set the stage for the final event of the year. Australian Clinton Moore came out swinging, showing all his big tricks, like the Bundy, 360, Flair, Volt, and a big bag of backflip combos. This secured him the top spot. Moore has more aces up his sleeve since he decided to play it safe, so he did not perform the Volt off the 120-foot dirt jump that he succesfully landed in practice.

For Tom Pagès the qualification did not work out as well. The Frenchman crashed on his first jump in the first of two runs, attempting his signature trick, the Bikeflip. He came out for the second run, landing the Bikeflip and showing an impressive run, including the Special Flip, Volt, 360, and more of his stunning tricks. But the judges penalized another crash he suffered when he attempted the unique Alley Oop Flair in the middle of his second run, scoring him only ninth place in the qualifier. This means he has to ride the first round. If he wins that it will lead straight into the championship decision, since his opponent in the quarter-final would be Clinton Moore.

The top three all hail from Australia, with Josh Sheehan in second and Rob Adelberg in third position. Sheehan convinced the judges with a run of big tricks and technical line choice, showing a challenging line with a Tsunami Flip straight into a Flair that led immediately into an Indy Flatliner. He was the only rider who managed to ride this line. He did not perform the Double Backflip in this run, but landed one successfully in his second run, which he only used for that trick. Adelberg impressed with his perfect execution and big bag of high-level tricks, like the California Roll, showing a lot of confidence over the dirt jump; he also did the Cordova Transfer Flip.

Maikel Melero stepped it up in his second run, adding the Doublegrab Backflip and a Nacnac Flair after he made a small mistake in the first run.

Remi Bizouard also added new tricks to his run by bringing the Heelclicker Transfer Flip; he also used his trademark huge Tsunami Flip and new-school tricks like the Volt, rounding out the top five.

Dany Torres and Taka Higashino are the last two riders who made it directly into the quarter-finals for the main event, both showing their perfect executions of high-level backflip combos.

Javier Villegas added the Egg Roll to his arsenal of tricks and beat Tom Pagès in the qualification, due to the Frenchman's crashes.

David Rinaldo suffered a crash in the practice and decided to rest his bruised shoulder, so he did not start in the qualifier. Luc Ackermann is curing a throat sickness and also decided to not start in the qualification, but both riders will give it a go tomorrow.