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Video: DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

Aug 29, 2014
by DirtWarsUK  
Views: 3,174    Faves: 29    Comments: 4


With the additional Open category round at NASS festival this year it meant that the two categories at Dirt Wars became out of sync with each other. This became a little confusing for some but last weekend’s round at Radical Bikes in Essex saw the final round of the Open category take place alongside the penultimate round for the Pros.

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

It also became a little stressful when we found out that one of our favourite venues, Wisley, wasn’t going to be available for this round but with the help of the local Essex riders we were pointed in the direction of Radical Bikes. And on arrival we were pleasantly surprised!

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

Radical started 5 years ago and has grown considerably over the years. Its now home to an extensive trials course, a mini-ramp, street setup, foam pit and a selection of dirt jumps of all different shapes & sizes. The comp line consisted of a nice big roll-in followed by two straight doubles, a right-hand hip & the final double which had a mulch landing. The line finished with a quarterpipe/vert wall and after some discussion it was decided that it would also be judged, giving the riders an extra feature to impress the judges on.

The Open category saw a large Northern contingent making the trip down to Essex along with a few of the other regular faces to the series. There was a handful of locals keen to grab the podium places and it became clear during practice who had the feel of the jumps and who hadn’t yet.

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

Open qualifiers started with 13 riders that need to be reduced down to 8 for the finals. With the overall 2014 series coming down to where Andy Crawford & Jack Ambler placed in the event, they were both riding their socks off and laying down their smoothest moves in their usual styles. NASS winner and local to Radical, Cameron Crozier, was also making big moves and looking like he wanted a shot at the top spot as was the main trail maintenance guy, Darren Eastall. #teamcornwall were also there representing with both Danny Selkirk & Ollie Davison doing their best to get to the finals. In the end the qualifying finalists were –

1- Jack Ambler
2- Darren Eastall
3- Jack Cardy
4- Andy Crawford
5- Cameron Crozier
6- Callum Sherwood
7- Harry Campbell
8- Joash Clarkson

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

The Pro qualifying soon got underway and of the 11 riders we need to lose 5 leaving 6 to duke it out in the final. With an injured Pro rider, an injured Open rider & Dirt Wars main man, Cliff Barbeary, on judging duties it was clear that they were being quite tight on what scored well. And it was clearly the riders who had big amplitude, clean execution, big tricks and didn’t rely on bitch cranking everywhere that made it in to the finals. The finalists were –

1- Tom Cardy
2- Freddy Pulman
3- Scott Merrell
4- Daryl Brown
5- Ray Samson
6- Tom Reynolds

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

Moving back to the Open riders, and after a bit of time to let the finalists get warmed back up it was time to see who would be crowned 2014 DMR Dirt Wars Open champion. Again the judges were being strict with their scoring and a few riders who kept trying moves that they weren’t certain to land fell foul to this. Riding well enough to take 5th place was Harry Campbell, who despite trying to frontflip the last jump & crashing on two of his runs, had obviously put enough into hit first 360 packed run. Making 4th place was the NASS winner Cameron Crozier who’s large flips, clean whips & slick 360s had clearly impressed the judges. In 3rd place was another local lad, Jack Cardy. Jack’s runs included some sweet suicide no-handers on the first and super smooth truckdrivers on the last jump. It was Jack Ambler who took the 2nd place spot, unfortunately for him not the place he wanted to finish, but his trademark huge superman’s, flip no handers, barspins & flip whips were all there but not all quite together in the perfect run that he wanted. This meant that taking 1st place, and only by half a point, was Andy Crawford. The judges seemed to love Andy’s smoothness and consistency throughout the line as he sent truckdrivers, 360 tables and tailwhips with great amplitude & execution.

1 – Andy Crawford – 47.0
2 – Jack Ambler – 46.5
3 – Jack Cardy – 46.0
4 – Cameron Crozier – 44.0
5 – Harry Campbell – 43.0
6 – Darren Eastall – 39.5
7 – Callum Sherwood – 37.5
8 – Joash Clarkson – 34.5

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

It was then time for the Pros to get themselves warmed up again for their final. Riders knew that to get onto the podium they would not only need to step up their runs from qualifiers but execute every move perfectly with as much amplitude as possible to win the favour of the judges. It was odd how things panned out and a lot of people were surprised at the end results as those who qualified in the top three didn’t end up back there in the final. However taking 3rd place was Bulls Bike’s Daryl Brown with his usual technical wizardry and huge airtime. Making 2nd place was Specialized UK’s Tom Reynolds; Tom rode through the line with consistently good flips, 360 tables and 360 whips whilst at the same time being so smooth and clean. But it was DMR Bike’s Ray Samson who rode well enough for the win. A barrage of 360 tables, flips superman’s and flipwhips did it for the judges who said it was Ray’s effortlessness and amplitude that made him the clear winner.

1 – Ray Samson (DMR/Morvelo/X-Fusion) – 52.5
2 – Tom Reynolds (Specialized UK/Salice/PedalHeaven) – 51.5
3 – Daryl Brown (Bulls Bike/Mountainbikerider) - 49.5
4 – Freddy Pulman (Spank/One Industries/Marzocchi) – 46.5
5 – Tom Cardy (Dartmoor/X-Fusion/Slam69) – 45.0
6 – Scott Merrell (Jimmy’s Iced Coffee) – 41.5

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

For Dirt Wars’ first time at Radical it definitely turned out well and ended up a great competition. The weather managed to hold out and in the end it was a great day on the jumps with no wind and even the odd bit of sunshine; a lovely way to finish the open series. And for those lucky Open riders who made the overall top 5, they will be going to the NEC for the bike show to join the pro riders for the last Dirt Wars of the year!

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4

DMR Dirt Wars 2014 - Round 4


Author Info:
DirtWarsUK avatar

Member since Aug 13, 2012
61 articles

7 Comments
  • 3 0
 "DMR Dirt Wars is sweet because it's a place where DJ and Sloperiders can come and compete on Dirt Jumps because there are no Slopestyle areas in the UK!"

Fixed that error in the title for you.
  • 1 0
 Never really noticed before but I can't' think of one , Esher used to have a mini slope track but hats all I can think of.
  • 2 0
 If there was a decent slopestyle facility here with a variety of size hits and some big pro lines I reckon it would do the UK riding scene the world of good. It's a nightmare to build anything with wood over here so we're kinda limited to dirt. All we need is a UK equivalent of the Coastal crew who get land and build what the riders really want to hit. That mix of smooth berms and big booters is the way things seem to be headed. If there's anyone out there with the money I will help them build it wherever you are!!
  • 1 0
 @bigburd

We tried to build the slope style course at Esher shore, but no slope= no style. It was fun and served the summer jam well!

The pump track that was rebuilt on the site was much better use of the space, although it only saw summer / autumn use until the park closed following collapse of Esher x project Frown

Its really hard to build a good slopestyle course in UK because you need a site with good elevation and cheap rent because its not going to be a commercial activity like a bmx track or dh venue
  • 1 0
 with this level of talent... why so few Brits in the FMB? that's my question.
  • 2 0
 yeah teamcornwall!
  • 1 0
 Lovely







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