Blake 'Bilko' Williams recently returned from the USA where he competed in three rounds of the
IFMA Freestyle series on board a tricked out CRF250R.
The young Aussie made quite an impression alongside some of the best two-wheeled athletes in the world.
After his first competition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he finished with the top American
runners, the FMX hero headed to fellow rider
Travis Pastrana's house for a couple of days to "jump
into the pit".
"We only got one day of riding in as the winter weather set in," he said. "But it was enough for me
to get my cliffhanger flips a little more extended. Hopefully I'll have a go when I get home and be
able to stick it. That's the plan anyway!"
Bilko then headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a one night only show. According to the Victorian
resident, it was a "massive course consisting of two back to back 75ft ramp hits and two dirt hits
in a row."
"There were 75ft and an 85ft doubles. During practice, I was flipping the dirt hit and pulling nacs, one
handers and landing one handed as well. I teamed up with
McNeil for the doubles and we took the win,
pulling flip whips and nac flips right behind each other."
In the final, the Aussie planned for a good run but it came to an end a little early as he under-rotated
a flip on the two ramp hits.
"On the first jump, I did a double nac. I have my fingers on the clutch for this trick, but then when I
went to follow it up with a flip whip, I forgot I had my fingers on the clutch. As I leaned back I felt
the bike stop driving and as I was leaving the ramp, I realised I had pulled the clutch in."
"From here it felt like everything happened in slow motion. I knew I wasn't going to make the rotation
so I threw my head back and tucked in to try and get the bike as far round as I could. I ended up
landing on the front mud guard, and somehow walked away with a little bit of a headache and a couple of
scratches. It was a bit frustrating as I felt I had a good shot at the win that night!"
The next weekend in Pittsburgh, Bilko threw down a solid run on the first night and took the lead with
five other riders still to come.
"I got to sit in the hot seat and watch the other riders. With two guys to go I was still in the lead but
Beau Bamburg threw a solid run and topped my score by .2.
Adam Jones was the last rider out and ended up taking the win."
"I went out in practise the next day determined to get my no handed flips back. I hadn't done any since my
crash in India so it took me a while but I ended up doing them comfortably and throwing in no footers after as well."
"On the second night, I had a couple of close calls in my run. I landed right on my knuckle more than once,
and on my second last jump I went for a nac to heel clicker but as I pulled the nac my other foot slipped off.
I caught my side plates with my feet and paddled my way back to the pegs by the time I landed. That mistake
put me in fifth for the night."
Bilko is now back on home soil and has just competed in the first round of the Australian Supercross Masters
series in Adelaide in the Pro Lite division.
Shortly he will be heading off on the
Crusty Demons East Coast Carnage Tour, with a quick trip in between to
Las Vegas for the
Mini Moto SX.
Fans can check out Blake's adventures first hand at his new website:
www.bilko22.com
Main Photo: Bilko
Credit: Garry Morrow
