Watch: The Massive Jumps of Red Bull Imagination Competition
September 22, 2021, 12:15pm
Text/Film: Red Bull
Competition day is here! Practice sessions come to a close as the riders lock down the supercross-motocross “dirt-skate-park” course and figure out their runs before the main event. Ryan Sipes successfully joins the ranks as a freerider after escaping a scary wreck while Tyler Bereman toughs out an ankle injury from a wicked first-hit case to send a completely new hit the morning of the comp. From there, it’s up to the judges as the riders take to the course for two 5-minute runs to determine the Red Bull Imagination 2.0 champion. Let’s see what happens with this star-studded rider list.
- Fan favorite Axell Hodges threw down the winning runs to secure first place, but not before Colby Raha and Tyler Bereman gave him a run for his money in the chase to the podium.
- The riders had two 5-minute windows to showcase and hit the visionary lines they had dreamt up all week long. Riders were scored on magnitude, creativity, execution, and the overall line they carved, and their best single score run counted.
- Highlights from the rider’s first runs included Durham’s funbox and wallride before jumping up and over the moon booter, Jimmy Hill’s joyful riding style and on-course antics, Parsons’ whips over the big dawgs, and Golden seamlessly hitting a superwoman.
- But it was Hodges, Raha and Bereman who led 1-2-3 after the first round with 93, 87 and 86 points respectively.
- The second time around, every single rider delivered at or above the level of their first run, matching or raising their scores.
- In the chase for the podium, Bereman demonstrated ease and perfection in seamless transfers in and out of each zone, using every inch of the course with creative, technical approach.
- Not to be outdone, Raha responded to Hodges first run with two jaw-dropping first-ever hits that wowed the judges and showcased his aggressive style, skill and finesse on the course: he hipped across the entire quarterpipe landing and landed a 120’ backflip big dawg over the quarterpipe.
- But ultimately, it was Hodges’ technical prowess and huge jumps that sealed the final standings. In a line that toured all three sections, Axell soared over the big dawgs and quarterpipe, rode a nose manual off the funbox, and executed perfect whips and nac nacs with masterful precision.
- After the second run, Hodges earned a winning score of 94, Raha a score of 92, and Bereman 86.
- The final scores for the event were as follows:
- Axell Hodges – 94.0
- Colby Raha – 92.0
- Tyler Bereman – 86.0
- Josh Hill – 85.0
- Ryan Sipes – 84.0
- Cole Seely – 80.0
- Christian Dresser – 72.0
- Billy Bear Carpenter – 71.0
- Darryn Durham – 69.0
- Jimmy Hill – 64.0
- Tom Parsons – 58.0
- Vicki Golden – 56.0
- The level of riding demonstrated at Red Bull Imagination was truly next level, in large part because of the magnitude and scale the custom-built course brought to the table.
- Heading into 2021, Baker and Bereman knew the stakes had to be raised for year two of Red Bull Imagination and they used their learnings from year one to redesign and expand the course in ways that would truly push the bounds of what is capable in freeride motocross.
