One of the largest crowds of the event series gathered in La Villette for the series finale. Darren Berrecloth and Paul Basagoitia were locked in a tight battle for first place, and the Paris results would decide once and for all who would be the overall Qashqai champion.

Rain kept the riders from putting on a show during the first day of the Big Air event in Paris, but day two was packed with action all day long for the Qashqai fans. The riders took advantage of the dry weather to impress the spectators with huge jumps and amazing tricks, finalizing the five-event series that toured the athletes all around Europe.

The Finals runs of the Big Air in Paris – 2 runs – the best run counts!

All eyes were on Kona Clump Rider Paul Basagoitia and Darren Berrecloth as they climbed to the top of the roll-in tower. Paul was the first out of the two to ride, and he started his run with a huge backflip over the 35ft gap and continued with a table one foot to x-up on the second. Paul blasted the quarter wall super high, over the heads of the cameramen on the deck of the ramp!

Bearclaw was next on the starting ramp and he knew that he would have to come up with something amazing if he was going to “claw“ his way ahead of Paul Basagoitia for the overall win. He rolled into the Paris course to the sound of thousands of screaming fans and stretched out his trademark indian air on the first gap! He landed it perfect enough to hit the second booter with enough speed and control to spin a 360 one-footed table. Bearclaw wrapped his first final run by boosting out of the quarter wall with real big air. It was obvious that the 50,000 euros overall prize money was motivating both riders to perform in Paris.

The final round of the last stop of the Qashqai tour attempted to push the level of riding even higher, but unfortunately most of the top riders crashed in their attempts to one-up their previous runs.

Paul Bas pushed his riding a little bit farther on the second run with a backflip, then a 1-foot table to late table on the second jump. Bearclaw’s first run looked like it was enough to unseat PB from his top overall position.

The Qashqai Big Air results were announced first: Cameron McCaul in third, then Greg Watts and Darren Berrecloth in first place. Bearclaw sprayed his champagne all over the riders and celebrated like no one else. When interviewed, Cameron McCaul grabbed the microphone and said, “None of us are good enough at math to figure out who won the overall points standings.“

Kona Clump Rider Andreu Lacondeguy took the fifth spot overall, his win in Milan was a huge factor in the overall standings, although he placed well in Newcastle and Madrid as well.

The crowd waited with anticipation for the second and first place riders to be announced. Paul Basagoitia and Darren Berrecloth have battled at every stop of the tour, and Paris was no exception. After five events of back-and-forth, Darren Berrecloth was able to edge out Paul Basagoitia by one point in the overall standings. Paul placed fourth in Paris, which gave Bearclaw the overall win for the first ever Qashqai Urban Challenge series.
The Qashqai Urban Challenge comes to a close for 2007, but clips from each event can be viewed on www.nissan-qashqaichallenge.com <http://www.nissan-qashqaichallenge.com/> or http://www.freecaster.tv/mtb. <http://www.freecaster.tv/mtb.> Stay tuned for more photos, stories and videos which will be released online, in print magazines and on TV worldwide.

Final Results – Paris: Big Air
1. Darren Berrecloth (CAN)
2. Greg Watts (USA)
3. Cameron McCaul (USA)
4. Paul Basagoitia (USA) Kona
7. Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP) Kona

Overall Rankings – Qashqai Urban Challenge
1. Darren Berrecloth 88pts (CAN) - 50,000 Euros
2. Paul Basagoitia 87pts (USA) Kona - 25,000 Euros
5. Andreu Lacondeguy 54pts (ESP) Kona- 4,000 Euros
14. Grant Fielder 21pts (UK) Kona





PHOTOS COURTESY YORICK CARROUX AND DAVID ULRICH

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