Buell and Harley-Davidson professional rider leads the way ……

After a nail-biting freestyle shoot-out Buell Motorcycles’ extreme rider Craig Jones was crowned 2002 European Motorcycle Stunt Champion on 29th June. Judges from 10 different countries had been unable to separate Jones from his old adversary Kevin Carmichael, and ordered both men to complete another 3 minute freestyle riding programme. Under intense pressure Jones delivered the best programme and lifted the championship.

Over 20,000 motorcycle enthusiasts converged on the Czech Republic for the 2002 European Stunt Championship and witnessed 60 of the world's finest extreme riders (representing 10 countries) compete for the coveted European title. After a tough qualifying competition involving freestyle and compulsory technical elements, just 12 riders made it through to the final. Jones and Carmichael finished dead-level and then battled it out for the championship laurels.
Craig rides exclusively for Buell Motorcycles and Harley-Davidson and was understandably delighted to have won the championship and believes his strategy of riding 'two-up' with his passenger Wing Chui might have provided him with the decisive edge.

"Wing has been working with me since I turned professional and we've developed an intuitive partnership that allows us to push things to the absolute limit on the Buell X1 Lightning," said Jones

"I think we got the crowd on their feet at vital moments during the competition with a couple of extreme manoeuvres. We performed a front wheel 'stoppie' that involved Wing hanging from the front bars and placing his head on the tarmac whilst we were still moving at high speed. Wing wore a motocross style helmet with a titanium modified peak, thus producing sparks as proof of ground contact. I also wheelied the bike with Wing facing me on the handlebars. Then while still in the wheelie, I came to a complete stop to leave him on top of the vertically parked bike. This is particularly tricky due to the immense top heavy mass that I have to contend with while balancing on one wheel."
The motorcycles Craig used in the championship played a key part in his victory.

"The Buell X1 Lightning is an awesome motorcycle that copes with everything that I throw at it. I also used a specially prepared Harley-Davidson FXDX Dyna with Screamin' Eagle performance parts that really deliver the power."

Craig, from Birmingham in the UK, admits that taking part in this year's championship was a close run thing after he damaged his wrist a fortnight before the event. He has been undergoing laser and ultrasound treatment to speed the recovery.

"I used several cans of painkiller spray and bandage to make sure the wrist held up during the championship. To be honest, I only went there to show my face and only expected to be a possible runner up. My injury is serious and prevents me from giving maximum effort in many of the moves. We were given a warm up period and many riders used it wisely. I however simply used it as a test to see if I could do a wheelie and stoppie without embarrassing myself. I didn’t even take my bikes out of the truck the day before, when everyone else was busy practicing and polishing their routines. All I knew was that I had to get through a 4 minute qualifying round and a 5 minute final. By the time I realised that I had tied first place with Carmichael, I was so fired up that pain was not an issue any more. I just remained focused and stuck to our trusted routine with a little extra madness thrown in. Wing stayed cool and was in every place at the right time. He was great. Even at the end, I still did not expect to win and fair play to Kevin Carmichael for showing great sportsmanship. My body could now do with a short break from competition. However, I've got a busy season ahead of me and I'll be back on my Buell on July 28 to entertain the crowds at the World Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch in England."
This year's championship was held at a military base near the town of Bechyne in the Czech Republic. It was organised by Czech Motorcycle news ( CMN ) and a special thankyou goes out to Honza Drobny who has probably created the best Stunt Championship yet, since the first began in Scotland 1997. This year attracted riders from as far afield as Brazil as well as a strong contingent of local Czech stunt riders. Craig believes the growing popularity of serious competition will have a positive impact on his profession as it is encouraging riders to be even more creative, athletic and daring:

"The riding standards were exceptionally high. A large number of competitors were very strong in the technical disciplines with very precise handling. We also saw some outrageous examples of skill in the freestyle competition. This means that you'll see some increasingly spectacular performances from the stunt riding community.
"The guys representing the Eastern European countries deserve a special mention as they're relatively new to the sport and don't always get access to sponsorship. There's some serious talent in Hungary and the Czech Republic and they'll be a force to be reckoned with in the near future."