• 8 months ago
Claire Smith presents 'Two Wheels' from Malory Park. It's the final round of the European Stunt Championships, and the two top competitors have only two points separating them. We see some of the stunts and chat to some entrants about what is involved in the sport and their hopes for this competition as well as the future. Claire meets the two men battling it out for the lead, and shares their nerves as they prepare for the big clash, as well as their feelings after the final result.

Finally, she chats to the circuit director of Malory Park about the success of the championship.

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Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:27 Hi, we're here at Mallory Park for the final round of the European Stunt Championships.
00:33 There's two guys here today who could lift that title.
00:36 The Scot, Kevin Carmichael and the man from Birmingham, Craig Jones.
00:39 There's literally only two points in it at the top of the table.
00:42 I've seen some of these guys in action and you can be assured you'll see some amazing skills here today.
00:48 But don't try this at home.
00:50 [Music]
01:19 [Applause]
01:23 Okay, the riders have got six minutes in which to impress the judges over there.
01:28 Basically, there are two sections.
01:30 There's the compulsory section and the freestyle section.
01:33 In the compulsory section, there's three things they've got to do.
01:36 A wheelie for 200 yards.
01:39 [Music]
01:41 A stoppie.
01:43 And a donut for 15 seconds.
01:47 There's the freestyle section where the riders can show off their individuality and really start to entertain the crowd.
01:53 [Music]
02:22 [Applause]
02:24 [Music]
02:35 [Applause]
02:58 Craig, could you run us through how they judge this event?
03:02 The judging is quite complex really, but at the same time it's quite simple.
03:07 You run through three basic skills.
03:10 The three basic skills are a wheelie.
03:12 We run a wheelie over something like 200 metres between two markers.
03:17 So the judge, or should I say the marshal, will give us a flag when we've lifted it at the correct point.
03:22 And they'll then give us a flag when we've lowered it at the correct point.
03:25 Straight from there, you'll turn around and you'll go between two markers and do a stoppie.
03:29 That's riding on the front wheel.
03:31 And you're supposed to stop the front wheel dead on the second marker with the bike straight.
03:36 And I've actually dropped points because I find it difficult to actually do a stoppie in a short space.
03:41 But you'll find that sometimes the simplest of things you can foul up on.
03:45 The final thing on the compulsories is to do a burnout, or a donut shall we say.
03:50 And they put it literally as basic as a cone in the middle.
03:53 And we do 15 seconds round and round and round.
03:56 And actually wear the tyre on the one side, which isn't good news for us.
03:59 The whistle blows and that's it.
04:01 And that is the end of your compulsories and you shoot straight into your own disciplinary then, whatever you want to do.
04:07 And you're then marked on four of the categories.
04:10 You're marked on an overall presentation.
04:12 You're marked on the content.
04:15 And as many tricks as you can get in in the remaining time.
04:19 The total time is six minutes and the compulsories take around about 45 seconds.
04:23 So you're looking at just over five minutes for the remainder of the tricks that you've got to do.
04:29 You've then got specialist skills and that is one off things.
04:32 Something that you might be good at and no one else is good at.
04:34 And the final thing is entertainment.
04:36 And the entertainment is really how well you really gee the crowd up and get the crowd really on your side if you can.
04:42 And you carry that right the way through to the end.
04:45 And strictly the rules say that if you carry it over for six minutes, so you'll get a chequered flag to show you've finished.
04:52 If you continue to ride over that time doing tricks, you're supposed to be docked points.
04:57 I'm not sure if anyone has ever actually done that because we try and stop it on the mark.
05:01 And in my first leg today I stopped it with both bikes vertical and it was pretty precise.
05:06 But I don't know for the second leg, we'll have to see.
05:09 [Music]
05:39 So Richie, a relative newcomer to the stump world, but you're lying in fifth place.
05:43 You're doing really well, aren't you?
05:44 Yeah, I'm pretty happy with that.
05:46 So you've not been doing it that long though, have you?
05:48 I've only been doing it like ten months.
05:50 Practicing like three or four hours a day, sometimes five, six hours a day.
05:54 Five, six hours, don't you work?
05:56 No, no, I should rephrase that.
05:58 Every like, on Friday evenings, like Saturday and Sunday.
06:02 What inspired you to get into this?
06:05 I just came, I went to Street Fighters in Sheffield in '98,
06:09 watched Jimmy Fireblade and all the others in action and I thought I could do that.
06:12 I'm interested in it anyway, just gave it a go.
06:14 You're going to be up there with the leaders in a couple of years, aren't you?
06:18 Yeah, I will be.
06:19 If you carry on like this.
06:20 Yeah, I'm going to keep going. This is giving me more incentive to keep going.
06:22 So what's your favourite stunt that you do?
06:24 I like the burnouts and the donuts, sitting on the tank and everything else.
06:28 Have you ever had any kind of bad crashes or anything?
06:31 I fell off a few times, only minor ones, nothing bad.
06:35 What's your ambition, stunt wise? What would you want to do?
06:40 I just want to perform like the top lads, you know, Craig Jones, Kevin Cartmichael, Gary Ruffwell, even Jimmy Fireblade.
06:48 What about your bike? What bike have you got?
06:51 I've got a 1200 bandit and a 600 bandit.
06:53 The 1200 is for all the wheelies and all that, because it's more powerful.
06:55 The 600 bandit is for all the ground stuff, all the burnouts, donuts and all that, all the rest of it.
07:01 And what work have you done on that to help you out with the stunts?
07:05 It comes with road legal, all the mirrors, the indicators, the clocks and so forth.
07:10 I just took off all the things you need for the road, you don't need for this.
07:14 I just took off everything, put rum footballs on there, copied a Gary Ruffwell's paint job, because I like that one.
07:20 Put a new can on there, changed the swing arm, that's it really.
07:23 You've certainly got a few supporters here with you today, haven't you?
07:26 Yeah, a few.
07:27 Just a few, they were making some noise for you before, there was some cheers going on in the crowd there.
07:31 Does that help? I bet that does.
07:33 Yeah, it does, it made me feel a lot better.
07:35 Like when I had a practice run and I felt a bit nervous, being a 9x9 in front of so many people, but it was alright afterwards.
07:40 Yeah, well you've done really, really well.
07:42 Thanks a lot.
07:43 Okay, thank you.
07:44 Nice one.
07:46 [Music]
07:48 Is the name Mad Mac warranted? Do you deserve that name?
08:12 Well, loads of people keep telling me so, I suppose so.
08:16 Have you ever fallen off?
08:18 Regularly, in the past. Usually you fall off until you learn something, then you fall off less and less and less, the more experience and practice you get.
08:28 How long have you been doing it?
08:29 Stunt riding, probably about 18 years, and push bikes and doing jumps off steps and also some mad things.
08:39 Car ramps, ramp to ramp when I was a boy, 10ft between them, jumping it in my push bike and clearing the second ramp in my driveway.
08:46 In your driveway, as you do.
08:48 Yep, well, I came off learning that as well, but I learned from it. So the next couple of times I was doing it at Spalton.
08:54 Then I raced motocross, did a bit of drag racing, road racing, stunt riding, I'm doing just now as well as most of the stuff I learned with the motocross.
09:02 I've won trophies here and there, various different things.
09:06 And how are you doing today in the championships?
09:09 The lack of practice is showing when I first go out, but once I'm out I use that as practice.
09:15 So the next time I go out, hopefully it's improved a wee bit and the quality is a wee bit better and I remember what's next in my routine.
09:21 But if I can get a bit more financial backing, then hopefully there's a lot more potential result to come.
09:29 My name's Kevin Carmichael, I'm here to compete in the 99 European Championships.
09:42 I'm leading at the moment, hopefully I can go on to win today.
09:45 I'm leading on points, so time will tell in the next couple of hours.
09:49 I think I'm about 12 points ahead of Craig at the moment, so fingers crossed.
09:54 In the next round I'm going out, I'm going to wheelie with no front wheel again.
09:59 We're a bit undecided about what we're going to do to his up, but we'll probably have a few bar scrapes and stuff to his up.
10:05 One of my boys that goes on the back, he's going to stand on the front wheel while I scrape the bar.
10:10 Hopefully that's going to be enough to beat Craig.
10:12 I don't know what Craig's going to come out and do, he might come out and better that, I'm not sure, time will tell.
10:17 [music]
10:46 [music]
11:05 The whole championship was started off three years ago now, and it's been getting bigger and bigger each year.
11:11 Basically I think it's a brilliant idea, the spectators obviously like it, it pushes the riders.
11:16 A few years ago it was just Gary Rothwell doing some burnouts and stuff, now it's going on, AC Ferraiz came along and lifted the standard much better.
11:27 And then obviously Craig and myself are pushing the British riders up higher and higher.
11:34 I don't really know where it's going to end, I'm wheelie today with no front wheel.
11:38 So there's going to be somebody who's going to go and try and get one up and that.
11:42 So really I don't know where it's going to end, everybody's just stepping up and stepping up and stepping up, so time will tell.
11:50 And time will tell who is going to be this year's European Stunt Champion.
11:55 You can find out after the break.
11:58 [music]
12:08 [applause]
12:18 [music]
12:28 [applause]
12:38 [music]
12:48 [applause]
12:58 Well with me is one of the main contenders for this year's championships, Craig Jones.
13:02 Craig, hi, there's only two points in it.
13:05 There is only two points.
13:06 A lot at stake today, how do you feel it's going so far, first rounds?
13:10 It's going good at the moment, but I don't look at anybody else riding, I haven't watched anybody else.
13:18 I've only heard people have come up and told me what the other riders are doing.
13:21 But for me, I just stay out of the way, keep my head down, and believe me, I am nervous.
13:27 Are you? Well it doesn't show, you're very, very focused.
13:31 How easy is it to kind of, you know, the second part is all your own interpretation.
13:36 How easy is it to come up with different things to do each year and be individual?
13:42 It's very, very difficult to come up with new things.
13:44 There's only a certain amount of things you can do on a bike.
13:46 So what we would tend to do is to do a variety of compulsories and variations of compulsories,
13:53 such as wheeling stoppies, which is running the bike on the front wheel,
13:57 and donuts, smoking the back wheel.
13:59 And we can do things like stand on top of the tank while it's riding along,
14:03 and we can ride backwards and things like that.
14:05 But always, always variations, variations, always thinking new things, new things.
14:09 Have you tried anything that's new this year?
14:12 I have tried new things over the last few meetings that I've done,
14:15 because we perform at other types of meetings, as well as doing the championship itself.
14:19 I've found what I can do is actually sit on the handlebars and wheelie the bike vertical,
14:25 touching the rear down.
14:26 But it's almost, I'm almost part of an accident.
14:30 It sounds crazy, but I've got a rear brake in my hand,
14:33 and the only thing saving me is a rear brake, which is normally foot controlled.
14:37 It still is foot controlled, but I also have it hand controlled as well.
14:40 So it goes vertical, it's pretty hairy, and then I drop it back down again.
14:44 It's pretty hairy. It's an understatement, I should imagine.
14:47 How long does it take you to kind of master something like that?
14:51 It must have taken hours of practice.
14:52 Some things we stumble on by accident.
14:54 Some things we go out and try, and if they're going to go pear-shaped, they're going to go wrong.
15:00 We make sure they do in practice.
15:02 But I very seldom drop the bike. I shouldn't really say that because...
15:05 You don't want to say it here, but everyone's watching you.
15:08 Exactly. For today, if I was to drop the bike, then it would be very, very unfortunate.
15:14 But generally, we don't drop the bikes in a show situation,
15:19 because by that time we've perfected a lot of things.
15:21 And also, it's a case of being in control, but almost out of control.
15:25 And it doesn't look good to drop the bike, and it doesn't look good to hurt anybody.
15:28 We're all insured, etc., but it's still not good.
15:32 So we try and perfect things, and then we show everybody what we can do.
15:35 All the stops have got to be pulled out. I'm trying a little bit behind, unfortunately.
15:39 I'm not sure exactly what I've done wrong, but I've done a few things wrong which have dropped me points.
15:46 And I think I was down on content, and I think I was possibly down on sheer madness.
15:51 Because to put a sheer madness element into it, again, it's this back to this being almost out of control.
15:57 Being in control. So I'm just going to do everything.
16:00 I'm just going to go berserk, and we'll see what points I can pull back.
16:03 We'll be watching for you when you go berserk, Craig. Cheers. Thank you.
16:06 OK.
16:07 [MUSIC]
16:36 [CHEERING]
16:38 In second place, with 355 points, in today's round, was Craig Jones!
16:46 [CHEERING]
16:54 This man has the score, 197 points in the second race.
17:00 He actually scored 186 points.
17:04 The European stunt rider is the one and only Kevin Comer!
17:11 [CHEERING]
17:22 Congratulations, Kevin. Brilliant effort.
17:25 [CHEERING]
17:29 [INAUDIBLE]
17:32 There he is.
17:34 [INAUDIBLE]
17:37 Do the traditional one.
17:38 And the traditional champagne.
17:41 Kevin, firstly, congratulations. That was absolutely amazing.
17:45 Thank you.
17:46 You started off two points at the beginning of the day, and a really, really close call at the end.
17:50 It was close.
17:52 I just knew I had to take the wheel out today. I'd done it in practice.
17:55 I knew.
17:56 I believe it's only one point, wasn't it?
17:58 Yeah, I think so.
17:59 Yeah. You can't get much closer than that.
18:01 I knew Craig wouldn't think over it, but I was hoping he wouldn't think over it.
18:04 And I knew I was going to be a winner, if I pulled it off, which I did.
18:09 So I was quite happy.
18:10 All credit to you. All credit to you. Some serious competition out there today.
18:13 Yeah, it was good. I forgot to wheelie in circles the second time I was there.
18:17 But after I came in, I was kicking myself.
18:19 I don't think anyone noticed.
18:21 I certainly didn't.
18:22 You always do things like that.
18:24 You looked like you were really enjoying yourself out there.
18:26 When you passed us, you had a huge, big grin on your face.
18:28 Yeah. Well, when the crowd are going as well, that gives you a good lift.
18:32 The crowd were certainly on your side today, weren't they?
18:35 I'm saying nothing.
18:37 I'm in the wrong place to say that.
18:39 Some absolutely jaw-dropping stunts there.
18:42 Yeah.
18:43 I've never seen anything like it.
18:44 It was good.
18:45 I feel today that was the best performance I've done since the first time I was in.
18:48 I liked it. I liked what I was, without a doubt.
18:51 I just started doing the circles a couple of weeks ago, and that's really difficult.
18:54 It's the hardest thing I've ever done.
18:56 So when I got it right the first time, I was like, "Oh, man."
19:00 I wouldn't want to see the back of your bike at the moment, would I?
19:03 That was absolutely... You can hear the crowd go, taking their breath,
19:07 when you were dragging it along the ground like that.
19:09 That must have been so difficult today.
19:11 It's a good buzz, and the crowd have been fantastic today.
19:14 And the one with the wheel. You're taking the wheel off.
19:16 Yeah. Well, that was all or nothing.
19:18 If that had came down, I was going off.
19:20 You'd have made a serious mess.
19:22 Yeah, I would have hurt myself.
19:23 The second time I was out, the bike actually veered to the right,
19:27 and I thought, "Well, here we go," because I was starting to come down.
19:30 So I brought it back up, but I was veering really hard to the right.
19:32 So actually at one point, I pointed it towards the grass,
19:35 and I was going to bang it in the grass,
19:37 and then I managed to just save it and bring it back on the track.
19:41 It worked out great.
19:42 Unbelievable stuff.
19:43 Well, I believe a double congratulations,
19:45 because you were recently in the Guinness Book of Records, I believe.
19:47 Yeah, I've done a stoppie record of 118 metres,
19:50 which was about 360 feet on the front wheel.
19:53 So I was really happy with that as well.
19:55 Fantastic. So you'll be back next year to defend your championships?
19:58 Oh, yeah, definitely.
19:59 Absolutely. We'll look forward to seeing more of you.
20:00 Thank you.
20:01 Thanks a lot, Kevin. Cheers.
20:02 Well, with me is the circuit director of Mallory Park, David at Overend.
20:06 David, a successful day here at Mallory.
20:08 Yes, it's been a great day. We've had a great turnout of spectators.
20:11 Lots of foreign visitors from Holland and Belgium and various other countries,
20:15 which is terrific for us.
20:16 But best of all, we've had a great day of sport
20:18 and a really terrific, exciting climax to the season.
20:21 Lots of young people here today have expressed an interest in getting involved in the sport.
20:26 Is there a way they can do that?
20:27 We're actually going to run a day here at Mallory Park on Saturday 13th November,
20:32 when people can come along and try their hand at stunt riding.
20:35 And there will be a lot of stunt riders here.
20:37 The top guys, Craig Jones, Kevin Carmichael, who won the championship today,
20:41 will be here to help people on their careers if they're interested in stunt riding.
20:44 And really all you've got to do is contact Mallory Park, and it's 01455 842931.
20:50 That's the phone number.
20:51 Brilliant.
20:52 Mallory Park Circuit, Kirk and Mallory Leicestershire.
20:54 And that's it. And we'll send the details when they're actually finalised.
20:58 Fantastic. So bring your own bike and wear lots of padding.
21:00 Indeed, that's right. Yes, yeah.
21:02 David, thank you very much.
21:03 Thank you.
21:04 So, Craig, a big congratulations. You just pulled back 13 points.
21:07 That was quite incredible.
21:08 I needed to pull back more. I needed to pull back 15 for a win or 14 for a draw.
21:13 It was a close thing. Really, really close thing. It's unlucky.
21:16 It was very, very close.
21:18 And I told you I was going to lose my head out there, and that's exactly what I did.
21:22 I just went berserk. But I'm fine again now.
21:26 Oh, my God.
21:28 My heart was in my mouth when I was watching you.
21:30 It was absolutely amazing.
21:32 Some of those stunts are unbelievable.
21:34 What do you think lost it for you?
21:37 I think I just couldn't pull back enough.
21:39 It didn't matter what I did. I couldn't pull it back.
21:42 I could have been the best, best, best, but I still wouldn't have pulled back.
21:47 That was too much of a margin.
21:49 If I pull back 13 points, to pull back 13 points in what we do is excellent anyway.
21:53 It's an achievement anyway.
21:55 So I'm happy to pull back 13 points, but what went wrong in the first one, I don't know.
21:59 I think I was too calm.
22:02 It's an edge-in-your-bet sort of game.
22:07 The first time I went out, it was a case of let's be smooth, let's be calm, and then I'll hit it the second one.
22:13 Maybe I should have been just a little bit more aggressive in the first one.
22:16 I wouldn't have been such a deficit of points behind, and then I'd have breezed it.
22:20 But I didn't. But that's competition, isn't it? I'm happy.
22:24 Hard luck, and better luck next time. Thanks very much.
22:27 I believe I've got to take you on the back of a bike and pull a wheelie with you on the back.
22:30 Excellent.
22:31 So the camera crew and the sound man and everyone else said, so I think you'd better get on and do anything.
22:36 Fantastic. Well, after those kind of stunts, I'm sure I'm safe. I'll be all right.
22:40 Well, we've seen some amazing action here today at Mallory.
22:43 It's been show-stopping. Well done to Craig here.
22:46 Thank you.
22:47 Foolishly, I've got on the back of a bike with him.
22:49 I've bottled the big one, but the scooter looks just as dangerous from what I saw before.
22:54 It's all as dangerous.
22:57 Why not hold on?
22:58 See you later.
22:59 See you later.
23:00 Oh, yeah!
23:01 Woo!
23:03 Woo!
23:05 Woo!
23:07 Woo!
23:09 Woo!
23:10 [Music]
23:38 (cymbal crash)