Hey Risto, Can you explain the reason for the change in this year’s format?
There was some behind the scenes talk going on about if we should change it and I was also thinking about changing it for this year too. So we’ll give it a go this year. Do things a little differently. It's just a bit fairer to the street riders I think. It was like comparing apples with oranges before, which always made it hard. In the same time I know a lot of people love the idea that Simple Session is all about ‘riding everything’, about unique courses and bringing the whole BMX community back together under one roof.
I guess it was a bit old school but it was unique in today’s world and a nice idea. But since we’re still using one big and one-off course with park and street sections (and gray areas for both disciplines) and that the jam groups run after each other then I think it still has the same great atmosphere this year. So everyone can ride together, but they will be scored separately. This should be a great way to keep the vibe of the event while making it a little fairer. It’s hard to judge when you have to compare riders like Nick Bruce against riders like Simone Barraco. Qualifiers jam format will remain the same with one score given out to each rider. We’re changing up the finals format a bit, so it’s more transparent and easier to follow. The riders there will be scored for every run in their jam session. Three runs, two best count. The exact format will be on our website later today.