What a successful weekend at the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the NIGHT of the JUMPs FMX World Championship Series for the O’Neal team riders Luc Ackermann and Maikel Melero.

Almost 15,000 fans saw history re-written by #oneofus Luc Ackermann who landed the first ever Double Backflip in a NIGHT of the JUMPs competition on Friday night. However, since Luc missed one trick in his run, he was still a few points off taking the overall win from four-time World Champion, Maikel Melero. Another Double Podium for the O’Neal riders!

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The second night, Maikel was aware that Luc would pull the Double Backflip again and that he would not make the same mistake as the previous day. Knowing this, he rode really strong but unfortunately he had a crash in the qualification round. After this, Maikel was unsure whether he would ride the finals due to some pain in the coccyx and elbow. Despite bad bruising, he finally decided to ride the final with a conservative run and managed to finish 5th and collected some important Championship points.

Then it was time for the big moment to arrive. Luc Ackermann was the last rider of the evening on the track and with 9,000 fans in the sold-out Arena, he gave the crowd goosebumps as he started his run. The judges rewarded Luc’s run full with a huge 432 points. The crowd erupted to celebrate their own local ‘German Wunderkind’. It was Luc’s first ever victory in a World Championship round at NIGHT of the JUMPs as he re-wrote history.

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With Luc’s first ever victory, he also took the lead in the World Championship overall standings. After three rounds of the FIM Freestyle MX World Championship series, the German leads with 56 points in front of Melero with 52 points.

Are we seeing a changing of the guard, after four years of domination by Melero? Ackermann has always surprised and impressed the other riders in recent years, but he has never challenged because of inconsistency. If Luc can keep this current run going, it will be interesting to see what happens at the fourth World Championship round in Krakowon March 24th, 2018 at the Tauron Arena.

1. Luc Ackermann 56 Points
2. Maikel Melero 52 Points
3. Libor Podmol 44 Points
4. Remi Bizouard 39 Points
5. David Rinaldo 35 Points