Freestyle ticket to the world

WARWICK SMITH/The Manawatu Standard

NEW FREESTYLE LIFESTYLE: Brody Henricksen has swapped a rider's seat for a judge's chair on the world circuit.

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Palmerston North's Brody Henricksen can now indulge his motorcycling passion without taking death-defying leaps – and still get to see the world.

He is one of only 10 international judges paid to officiate on the Red Bull X-Fighters circuit, which kicks off in Mexico next month. Every show is a sellout.

Henricksen, 24, is pencilled in to judge in Mexico, Spain and London, but could easily find himself in Egypt (in front of the Sphinx), in Red Square in Moscow or in a Roman colosseum, if the rosters are changed.

"It's almost like an OE," he said. "You go to pretty cool places and are involved in a sport you're passionate about."

At Mexico, he will probably be judging Palmerston North rider Levi Sherwood, who won there last year.

Motocross began for Henricksen when he was a three-year-old, a natural evolution since father Colin owned Co-op Honda at the time. Henricksen remembers starting riding at Sherwood's father's house when Sherwood was just a nine-year-old.

Henricksen started racing when he was 15 and won three junior titles with the Manawatu-Orion club.

"The part of the track racing I enjoyed most was the jumping, and freestyle motocross (FMX) is all about jumping," he said.

FMX originated in the United States and when it hit New Zealand in 2002, Henricksen was one of the originals. They set up on a mate's farm and formed a troupe called Palmy FMX, the first in New Zealand to tour the country doing shows, jumping off steel ramps.

The biggest event then was X-Air in Hamilton and in 2002 Henricksen finished fourth, aged just 16, and beat overseas riders. Two months later, though, it all came crashing down.

"I over-jumped a jump on a netball court in Hamilton and shattered both ankles and my wrist. It was two years to the day, 2004, before I got back on a bike."

He had landed on his bike but it was as if his heels had been pushed into his shins, such was the impact on the concrete. Riding is for fun now, no money, no pressure, although he was fourth in the NZ supercross championships two years ago.

Henricksen appreciates how perilous a sport it can be.

"It is one of the most high-risk sports in the world. With FMX riders, at least one or two won't make it through a full series."

He finds it a lot safer running his clothing distribution and motocross products company, and judging other riders, of course.

After his injury, he began judging at X-Air in Hamilton. He knew the Red Bull New Zealand people and those contacts saw him enlisted for the world's most prestigious tour.

"They are trying to set a new standard for judges from every part of the world. There are five categories and each judge does one. They want to eliminate as much bias as ever."

An example was Sherwood's shock loss in the final in London last year.

Henricksen attended a two-day judging clinic at Red Bull's Santa Monica headquarters in California in January. Now he is ready for Mexico City.

- © Fairfax NZ News