There are constant highlights to an event. But the most exciting is to see who will get emerge the victor. Motocross is a real action sport – watching the competition take turns and make attacks, the noise of their dirt bikes and of course, the loud cheering when a winner is already found, they are clamored for pushing their own personal limits. That in itself is very interesting.
At the start of the race are 20 riders – hopefuls if we may say who in a few minutes will be vying for the top spot in their various motorcycles – Kawasakis, KTMs, Hondas and others. The grid is filled with tension which immediately disappears as soon as they are waved off to start. In a fraction of a second, the silence filled course is invaded by the shrill sound of motocross bikes and the sand comes alive as tyres make contact with them at every turn. The same could be said about the first lap which was full of attacks from all the racers as a lot of them try to set the tone for the rest of the day.
From where I was standing, some of the audience as well as my friends were making predictions as to who will take this stage of the race. I decided to jump in on this and check out who is the fan favourite – the selection is varied as a lot of them are shooting for different people. But there seems to be a common denominator in place – they were all betting on the riders who won the past championships such as Jake Shipton or Ryan Blair. Nonetheless, I for one always root for the underdogs to challenge the champion bets so that we here in the audience could be treated to an amazing show of skill and expertise. For this race, I’m betting on Ross Runnals with the Kawasaki Racing Team and it seems my faith is not out of place as he is currently leading the MX1 class.
Another rider I’m also quite fascinated with is Ahmed Alnuaimi from the 65cc class who is also from the Kawasaki team. He has shown a lot of improvement over the past season and has entered this March’s penultimate race with a show of skill unlike any other.
Seeing action taking all over the track, it was a perfect opportunity for me to take some great photos of the event in the manner of telling a story. You can check out my shots in the next pages. You can also see the current standings below to see who’s leading the various categories.
At the moment, motocross is no quite big yet here in the UAE but this is countered by the fact that it is one of the fastest growing motorsports in the Middle East. With various bike companies battling for sales, it allows fast riders to be sponsored but not to the extent as you would in Europe where a rider can live off racing. 90% of riders either have a job or are still in school. For this sport to grow even further, sponsors need to come and the DMX races have to be more prevalent and made aware of, and I think magazines such as OutdoorUAE does this greatly. So here’s to more awareness, more races and more dirt bike bashing action in the final race for the 2015/16 season of DMX on the 15th of April!
Photos by: Avinash John
