The Rules

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The Rules

2009-11-12

Cold as Ice: International Ice Cross Elite Fired Up

Bumps, jumps, banked corners and plenty of rollers – Red Bull Crashed Ice certainly isn’t for ice princesses! In 2010, the best ice cross racers on the planet will gather in Munich (GER) and Québec (CAN). One hundred will start, but only one can become World Champion. The competitors will battle it out shoulder-to-shoulder as they descend an ice track full of chicanes and obstacles four-at-a-time. Yet, despite the hard nature of the discipline, there are certain rules that must be observed by all athletes participating in Red Bull Crashed Ice.

At each Red Bull Crashed Ice event, the field is made up of the best riders from the ice cross international elite, representatives of national teams, and the fastest athletes from worldwide national qualifying races. Each event is preceded by national qualifying tournaments held across the country and is open to everybody looking to take part in the main race and test themselves against the best ice cross racers in the world.

With athletes descending the 350 metre-long and 2 to 8 metre-wide downhill course four-abreast at speeds of up to 70 km/h, crashes are anything but rare. However, competitors are strictly forbidden from intentionally causing a competitor to fall, slow down or leave the course, for example by holding his shirt, pushing or even striking him. Any athlete found guilty by the competition committee of hindering another athlete intentionally will be disqualified automatically.

Points are awarded at both Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship events to all athletes qualified for the main race, from 1,000 points for 1st place down to 0.500 points for 100th place. The points obtained at both races are then added together after the last event to determine the winner of the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship 2010. Every race counts.

As a rule, Red Bull Crashed Ice events last two days. The first day comprises athletes’ briefing, training and qualifying for the finals, while the second day is made up of an athletes’ briefing, training and the finals. During qualifying on day one, all invited athletes participating in the main event race against the clock on the course, with only the fastest 64 athletes qualifying for the finals. In the finals, the athletes race in groups of four determined according to the qualifying results from day one. The fastest two racers in each heat progress to the next round; the remaining two athletes are eliminated from the competition and ranked according to their qualifying times. Places one to four are awarded according to the result of the main final, while places five to eight are decided in the small final.

The format is simple, but the racing is fierce. Anyone who has aspirations of becoming the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Champion 2010 will have to prove himself against some of the best skaters in the world in front of tens of thousands of fans. Do you have what it takes to melt the ice? On your marks, set, go!