Text/Photos: Rob Alton.

This was our first contest in a location like this. Three years ago, I scouted the Duna Plaza and dreamed of having a contest there. Then this year Város Viktoria from Sportivo.hu now working in collaboration with the Hungarian Cycle Federation (MKSZ) helped me make it happen. Once we got the go ahead it was down to me to make it happen starting with the most important thing, the floor. With hiking prices, it was not easy to but we managed to do it. I know it could be better but the floor held well and the non-slip paint is so much better than unpainted OSB.

We had 40 riders in Junior, Girls, Amateur (Master) and Elite categories from 5 countries, Best Trick and King of Spin as extra events.
The Junior and Girls categories were my main events because all the riders are from my club SPORT ZONE SE. Their progress has been amazing and everyone was very happy and surprised to watch them ride in live event, not just in videos. From the Juniors it’s fair to say the Kriston Patrik dominated with hard and consistent tricks for a 10-year-old! In one line 2 Footed Squeaker-Backwards Wheelie-Infinity Roll-Decade, Mega Spin-Boomerang, One handed McCircle, Half-lash-Catapult, Firehydrant- Squeaker-Decade and Double Bypass Boomerang. Second place, 11 year old Thuránszky Levente with Decades and Funky Chicken combos and third place 13 year old Fillip Marcel with Mega Spins and spinning lawn Mowers.

The Girls were great too, with 3 beginners who only started in the summer and three who have been riding 2-3 years. The top three was going to be close, and the tricks were also good from all of them, surfer, McCircles, Boomerangs, Tail Whips, Squeakers, Backwards Wheelies, Half-lash and Decades. Thuránszky Panni took top spot and is now the official Hungarian Girls Champion.
Amateur (Master) had the usual riders and it came down to pulling the tricks. For the Hungarian Championship Bordas Ákos has been training hard on new combos but didn’t manage pull them in his run but expect to see him on top very soon. Second and first places were Császár Balázs and Orosz Csaba who both did older combos in their own styles and pulled more. This group also had an internationalrider, Frane Granic who took first place with his classic tricks that we have seen before on both front and back wheel, clearly shows help with consistency.

Elite had three international riders and some older faces from Hungary returned again, which was great to see. The Hungarian Championship was going to be close but, on the day, Vidakovich Fülöp took the top spot and the 2019 Champion Szájer Gergely second. A surprise entry was Nágy Dávid who kept his cool and pulled some of his original tricks from BITD to take third. Sarlós Péter returned too, but family life and being a doctor doesn’t leave much time to ride. However, I really appreciate that riders like Péter come to support, take part and enjoy the day regardless, so thank you!

International riders were also in this group, Gernot Ibounig, Gilles Van de Sompel and Martin Drazil. Martin was pulling combos and having fun all day but, in his run, could not finish them. Gilles rode well with his effortless style and got third place, second Szájer Gergely and top spot Vidakovich Fülöp. I hope Fülöp will embrace the contest scene because he has style, creativity and I guess because of doing many shows consistency too.
Best Trick Winners, Kriston Patrik, Thuránszky Panni, Frane Granic and Miklósi Péter with a bike Flip. Péter donated 100CHF for this event which he won! So, he passed the money on to Fülöp, which kind of sums up the day, riding, supporting and motivating everyone.
King of Spin was new this year, any trick any technique, some of the battles were long and that’s really hard if you keep winning. Some riders were doing really hard tricks for this too, but the final came down to Kaposvári Martin and Vidakovich Fülöp who both chose pumping Steam Roller, Fülöp who had only a minute to rest from the Semi final hung in to win.

In reflection, I have learnt again how we can improve the event and I am taking advice from riders, Judges and management (my wife!) on how we can fine tune this contest for the next time. There has never been a Flatland Event like tis Hungary in such a great location and we are very grateful for this opportunity. We hope the Duna Plaza enjoyed our show and will welcome us back in 2022.
Some interesting information, floor installation was 2 hours and the break down and complete move out from the Duna Plaza was one hour! SO, A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HELPED. WE DID A PROFESSIONNAL JOB IN A VERY FAST TIME!

There will be more photos and videos to come so please be patient.

The post Repo: Hungarian Championship & Sport Zone SE Open International first appeared on Flat Matters Online.