Aussie MX and FMX riders tear it up in East Timor
Posted: Monday, 23rd November, 2009 : 12:52 PM - - 673 Reads -
East Timor, the small island nation about an hour north of Darwin; might not be the first place you think of when talking Motocross and FMX, but recently a group of Aussie and local East Timorese riders came together in the nations capital Dili to take part in the country's biggest and most prestigious dirt bike event - the Conoco Phillips MX International.
Although the event was primarily put on to showcase motocross, and to stage the final round of the 2009 Conoco Phillips Underground FMX Tour, the significance of the event reaches far beyond the berms, stutters and freestyle ramps of the custom track built especially for the event at Dili's Delta Speedway.
Now in it's fifth year, this year's event saw the largest field of local and international riders come together at an event that is not only unique to the region, but is also one that quite literally brought the nation's capital to a standstill. As part of a three day dirt bike extravaganza, it included an incredible ¡®street ride' that saw a group of over 100 riders take to the main streets of Dili on their dirt bikes, accompanied by local and UN security convoys. The ride closed down traffic in the centre of Dili and was certainly one of unique and incredible parts of the event.
The international riders also helped build important cultural bridges between Australia and Timor as they visited a number of orphanages, and local villages to put on shows for the locals and give them a taste of what Australian MX & FMX was all about.
Kickstart Media, the team that bring you MXTV, were on location to capture all the action in a 30 minute TV special that is set to air at 7PM on Tuesday the 24th of November.
"The logistics involved in getting bikes, people, the track and everything else together for any MX event is pretty hard¡± said Executive Producer Brendan Bell on his return from the island, but I mean less than 10 years ago Timor was a country at war - so the fact that an event like this is on in this country, and is so well organized is incredible really "we we're completely blown away".
A lot of the things here are like nothing I've ever seen at any event before so it's fantastic that we got the opportunity to show some of that to dirt bike fans in Australia.
The event was attended by Timor's President, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jose Ramos\Horta, and was broadcast live all day across Timor on the country's primary free©\to©\air broadcast TV station.
You can check out all the incredible action from the Conoco Phillips MX International on Tuesday the 24th of November at 7pm on Foxtel & Austar Channel 183 ( Aurora )
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