Man! That was fun! King Of The Whip really has become a South African staple!
By the Dirt And Trail team.
Some pics by Eric Palmer (Thanks!)
Montecasino really came alive as fans packed the arena to see their freestyle and MX hero’s hitting the steel. What a way to spend a sunny Saturday Afternoon.
KOTW seemed slightly less frenetic this year, everything seemed to run a lot smoother and the talent was seriously on display with massive whips, tricks, backflips…
Ever heard of Wanky Watanabe? Pat Bowden? Tom Parsons? Or our local hero’s, Dallan Goldman, Dalton Venter and Ryan Adler? How about Andreu Lacondeguy and Antonio Navas?
Well go and look them up, along with some of the other internationals who were along – they can do things with motorcycles that we’ve not seen before and we’ve seen plenty of stuff over the years.
Motul and Yamaha were two of the household motorcycle brands who again festooned the stadium with colour – it’s awesome to see them involved with an event like this.
The Monster energy girls had all the boys smiling like idiots… and the lighties scrambling for the goods thrown into the crowd from the rig, while international DJ DJ MA1A Made some serious noise. Renowned FMX event host Steve Sommerfeld kept the wheels turning – we reckon that his is one of the biggest jobs at an event like this. We often wondered why a local commentator has not been used, but Steve actually used to jump himself and he knows so much about every competitor.
Good job!
Fans of all kinds were in attendance including World rally champ Ross Branch.
There were a couple of crashes – (Freestyle and MX is not for sissies), with the riders jumping up to entertain the crowds some more.
The call of “Wanky! Wanky! Wanky! rang around the arena – the affable Genki Watanabe certainly has established himself as a firm crowd favourite although, we suspect that the chanting had a lot to do with the use of his now famous nickname!
It’s easy to understand why this event has flourished from humble beginnings at the old Smoking Rocks track on Malibongwe to its home at Montecasino. The team from LW Mag really puts on a great show.
If you missed it, you missed out!
See you there next year!
Best Whip:
- Julien Vanstippen (Belgium)
- Tom Parsons (USA)
- Genki “Wanky” Watanabe (Japan)
- Dalton Venter (South Africa)
- Dallan Goldman (South Africa)
Best Trick Left Side Up:
- Pat Bowden (Australia)
- Genki “Wanky” Watanabe (Japan)
- Julien Vanstippen (Belgium)
Best Trick Right Side Up:
- Pat Bowden (Australia)
- Genki “Wanky” Watanabe (Japan)
- Dallan Goldman (South Africa)
![IMG_2686[1]](https://dirtandtrail.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_26861.jpg)
Just some of the images that our lads caught. It’s great to see sponsors like Ford South Africa, Monster Energy, Yamaha South Africa, Garmin, Motul, GoPro, PlayTSOGO, LW Mag and Estrella Cerveza getting involved!
For more great motorcycle content please take a look at Dirt And Trail Magazine.
