Chris Birch is Britain's best freestyle motocross rider and he's just days away from his second consecutive appearance at the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour stop at Battersea Power Station, London on August 14.
In the second of a two-part interview with Chris we get the lowdown on his worst wipeout, his expectations at Battersea this year and the importance of the backflip...
You’re going to be the only British rider at Battersea again this year. Does that make it any easier or is it more pressure to deal with?
To be honest at the moment I’m riding at a slightly higher level – I’m the only rider to be back flipping out of all the other British riders, with a good set of tricks to back it up.
I've been practicing solidly in the south of France for the last few weeks and I’ll be looking to set the bar even higher. It’s a real honour to be chosen to be on the world stage – a great stage like Red Bull X-Fighters.
I know what to expect from last year and I’m riding better than I ever have done as well, so I’m really looking forward to this year. It’s not as much pressure this time, because it was all new to me last year. It was the first time I’d ever ridden in an event of that size so this year I know what to expect.
It’s a big course, the biggest of the X-Fighters World Tour, but I’ve been riding very big courses in training so I’m not worried about what they’re going to build.
What’s the atmosphere like when you’re out there ready to perform?
When I was out doing my run last year, at every corner and every approach you could hear people shouting ‘Go on Chris!’ which I really appreciated. Once the helmet’s on and you’re told to go you shut everything else out.
The main thing for any rider is that you’ve got to do what you know you can do under that pressure. You just want to get out there and feel the energy and give some of it back as well. It’s going to be even bigger this year with lots more people and I’m just looking forward to it.
Nathan Gallagher
The best riders in the world will be at Battersea. Who do you think is going to be in the shake-up for the win?
It’s so close. There are 12 of the best riders and any of those 12 could win. It could come down to the tiniest mistake in someone’s run, which costs them the title. It’s crazy. Anything could happen. It only takes one accident and you’re out of the game. Touch wood that won’t happen.
Have you ever had any major wipeouts doing FMX?
My right hand has taken a bit of a beating. I’ve lost the tip of my right index finger. It was in a demo in Wales in 2007 on a horrible little mobile landing. I came back late from a cliffhanger, where you put your feet under the handlebars and stand-up on the handlebars, and the landing didn’t mellow out to the ground smooth enough.
It was literally running you into the ground and because I wasn’t on the bike properly I fell off. It wasn’t a bad crash but my hand got slammed in between the exhaust and the concrete car park and after a few metres that was my finger gone and the nail ripped off. In September last year just after Battersea – on another cliffhanger – I broke my hand and my little finger, so now I physically can’t straighten it. It’s part of the sport. I will crash again, I will break a bone again, that’s the way it is.
How important is the backflip in FMX now?
Everyone is expected to be upside down now. You haven’t got a career in FMX if you’re not going upside down. It’s a minimum requirement if you’re serious about the sport. Most people learn in the foam pit first, but there’s always that point when you have to take it to the dirt.
It’s a head game. You can be perfect in the foam pit, but that all goes out of the window when you go to dirt. It’s one of those tricks where you can’t go halfway. A lot of tricks are step by step, but with a back flip it’s 100% commitment. Sometimes you need to force yourself to do it. That’s where it’s make or break.
And to read part one of our interview with Chris Birch click here
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