Brandon Semenuk wins 26TRIX 2011

After the finals on Saturday had to be cancelled due to weather, judges and riders decided together to take the qualifying results as a final ranking. Because of the bad weather forecast, the riders had been prepared for this possibility and already went full throttle in the qualifying; especially Brandon Semenuk, whose qualifying result made him the winner of the contest. The course had gone soft and muddy overnight from the rain and it was questionable whether the riders could complete their runs without risking major crashes. Fortunately, the qualifying was already carried out on such a spectacular trick level that spectators and riders did not feel cheated out of the legendary trick action expected of the contest.

Brandon Semenuk

Brandon Semenuk's skills landed him safely in first place. With the 26TRIX fueled by Monster Energy being a gold event of the FMB World Tour, this is a very important victory for him, and he was able to score a lot of points for his overall ranking. It was his second run that catapulted him all the way to the top. He started with a backflip tailwhip, followed by a truckdriver, onefoot flip x-up, a really sick double tailwhip, tuck no hander, and a frontflip over the last sender. With a run like that, first place was well deserved and the judges had no trouble scoring. He was also on top of the podium after the best trick competition held on Saturday instead of the finals. There, he impressed the judges with an impressive 360 backflip. (We've since watched the video and ascertained that it was in fact a corked 720 and not a 3 flip, thanks to Reece Wallace for the heads up on that one.)


Andreu Lacondeguy

His first run of the qualifying placed Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP) in second place. He started it with a backflip tailwhip followed by a 360 and a backflip. After that, he impressed judges and spectators with one of his signature superextended supermans, a tailwhip and 360 tailwhip which gave him the points for second place.


Sam Pilgrim

It was the second run that helped Sam Pilgrim (GBR) come in on third place. His run included a tuck no handed backflip, a 360 x-up and one footed flip x-up. After an extremely stylish 360 tabletop, he finished his run with a backflip and 360 tailwhip.

Martin Soderstrom

Martin Soderstrom’s (SWE) run is definitely also worth mentioning. On the challenging Airtime Line he caused quite a stir with a 360 double tailwhip. His run would probably have earned him first place if it hadn’t been for his foot touching the ground after a backflip tailwhip – a mistake that cost him important points. Just like the other riders, he loved the new course that had been completely remodeled for this year’s contest: “The course is definitely a lot more fun than last year. The landings are softer and catch falls much better. Additionally, it is a lot faster now so that you can build up good speed for really sick tricks. All in all, it’s a lot more flowy this year and has a really good feel to it.”

Louis Reboul (FRA) and Florian Berghammer (GER) also showed an impressive performance since they were the only riders who managed to make it to the finals from the pre-qualifiers.


Yesterday's results from qualifying will stand as final results so the finals post is here.

Final Results

1. Brandon Semenuk
2. Andreu Lacondeguy
3. Sam Pilgrim
4. Mehdi Gani
5. Martin Söderström
6. Lance McDermott
7. Yannick Granieri
8. Niki Leitner
9. Amir Kabbani
10. Linus Sjöholm
11. Cameron McCaul
12. Sam Reynolds
13. Cameron Zink
14. Florian Berghammer
15. Mitch Chubey



Mitch Chubey qualified 15th and was hoping a good run or two could move him up a bit, instead he'll finish 15th now in the event, good enough to move into 5th place overall. Here's what he had to say about the course and the event:


New FMB World Tour Rankings

Sam Pilgrim stays in the overall FMB World Tour lead with his 3rd place finish here yesterday, but Mitch Chubey has moved up to 5th, and Brandon Semenuk has made a huge leap up the ranking into 6th place. However he's still 880 points behind Sam. Cam McCaul and Cam Zink have moved onto the board in 41st and 42nd spots respectively.