Jared Souney ©
Dhers Does Orlando Right
Nov 01 2006 / Orlando, FLWe keep saying that BMX has stolen the show all season long at the Dew Tour. The competition has never been more fierce or exciting. And Sunday’s BMX Park Finals at the PlayStation Pro in Orlando proved it once again. We saw big crashes, broken teeth, and even bigger tricks. Amateur Mike Spinner wowed the crowd in Saturday’s Prelims with an unbelievable 1st place qualifying finish. Alistair Whitton came into Sunday’s Finals in 2nd and Steven McCann qualified in 3rd. So, when the Finals got started it was anybody’s contest.
But, it was Daniel Dhers who rose to the occasion to beat down all of the incredible competition. He put the smack down on his first run and scored a 93.75, a score that no one else could beat for the whole contest. But, apparently that wasn’t enough for the voracious Venezuelan because he went out on his 2nd run and scored a giant 96.75 just to prove a point. The big exclamation mark was when Dhers pulled a front flip on the spine, something nobody does according to Dave Mirra.
One of the big upsets was Marcus Tooker taking 2nd place in Sunday’s Finals resulting from his smoking good run. Tooker used every inch of the course to beat out the likes of Dave Mirra, Ryan Nyquist and Scotty Cranmer. And Alistair Whitton cleaned up with a 3rd place finish, which landed him in 4th place in the overall Dew Tour points standings.
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And then there were the crashes. Scotty Cranmer, who came into Orlando fresh from a 1st place finish in San Jose tried to do the impossible: a double back flip over the center box. Cranmer, who put every last ounce of his soul into his run, face-planted big time sending shards of teeth all over the course. He didn’t come back for his second run. Cranmer still finished in 2nd in the overall Dew Cup points standings.
Mike Spinner also crashed big during his first run. He went big on his first trick with a 720 tail whip, but fell hard – hard enough to keep him from coming back for his second run. Spinner, the amateur who won the Free Flow Tour in Portland, shocked everyone in Saturday’s Prelims when he qualified in 1st place. The PlayStation Pro was Spinner’s first pro contest appearance ever. We’ll be seeing much more from this kid in the future.
One of the biggest tricks of the day was landed by none other than Dave Mirra. Mirra, who wasn’t expected to compete the rest of this year due to a lacerated liver, put down a solid run that put him in 4th for the Finals. But, his final run was missing something. That something was the no-handed 360 back flip. He went back out on the course after his run and put it all out there for the fans. And he landed it. The crowd gave the legend a standing ovation for the incredible show.
The win in Orlando puts Daniel Dhers in 1st place for the Dew Cup race as well. So, that means that not only will he take home a check for $15,000 for Sunday’s win, but he’ll also take home another check for $75,000 for winning the Dew Cup. It’s an especially sweet victory for Dhers because his Mom, Dad and several other family members from South America showed up to watch him in his element.
-Steve Lemig
