Race Face UFC IV - The third four



Words by Stuart Kernaghan

The results from last week's voting were posted, and the people have spoken: Kurt Sorge pulled off a bit of a squeaker, edging out Derek Peltzer by less than 200 votes. Congrats to Kurt - you've made it to the next round, buddy.

Anyway ... Cam has passed the UFC torch over to me this week, so he can take a break from playing Simon Cowell. He said something about being worn out from all the hard work. My only question is, does that make me Paula Abdul or Randy Jackson? I'm hoping it's Randy, because Paula is waaaay too screechy. But enough with the comparisons to B-list celebrities. Let's get on with the show...



Matt Brooks - Age 19 / Jared Gatzka - Age 27

The dynamic duo of Matt Brooks and Jared Gatzka have a few tricks up their sleeves. Two riders in one UFC segment is a bit of an oddity, and it's actually hard to tell who is who at times, but I like this video because it's not just about big hucks - in spite of the fact that they're in Kamloops.

These boys make good use of the natural terrain, with wall rides on the cliffs outside of town and a wicked manual through the woods. My favourite stunt is the step-up onto a wooden ramp that looks like a cresting wave. There are also some cool big-air shots with both the boys in the frame at the same time. Whether voters get off on that remains to be seen. If the pair comes out on top at the end, they'll both be signed and will split the prize money.



Jamie Doerfling - Age 18

Readers familiar with nsmb's AIRprentice contest from last summer will remember Jamie Doerfling's name. He was a finalist, and the 18 year old isn't ready to get out of the limelight just yet. The video starts out with a long shot of Jamie dropping into a ravine and then up the wall on the far side, but there's almost five seconds of nothing while you wait for him to hit the wall. Not the best use of precious time.

A skatepark segment played in reverse is cool, until you see the same footage is repeated - with Jamie going the right direction - and the coolness factor is lost. There are some nice no-handers and can-cans in the woods, but the editing could have been tighter. I want to see the rider, not the jump before the rider hits it.



Ryan Berrecloth - Age 26

Ryan what? Berrecloth? Man, that name sounds familiar, doesn't it? Well, it should. His brother is the infamous Darren. But fear not - Ryan can rip it up just fine all on his own. He was another competitor in the inaugural AIRprentice competition.

I really like Ryan's opening sequence, with big drops off dirt cliffs and high-speed runouts. He also spent some time up at the bike park in Whistler, and even hits the road gap in the Boneyard. There's a bunch of shots illustrating smoothness, and a few proving that he's not afraid to go big on the Shore. I really liked the step-up in the clear-cut - big points for creativity there - and the carnage at the end where he lost his lid was effective. I wasn't wild about music dying out so quickly, though.



Derrell Knelson - Age 19

Derrell Knelson likes his dirt jumping. Indoors, outdoors, hardtail, full squish, he's all over it. And he's pretty good. The cinematography in this video was more inspired than in some of the others, and I enjoyed the artsy camera angles in the woods. Shooting up towards the tree tops with Derrell flying by was impressive, and I liked the slow-mo stacking / post-crash shot.

This video is smooth, it's got plenty of footage of Derrell going big, and there's air time, but as Cam said last week - is it different? There were the requisite hucks, but nothing that particularly blew me away when compared to the others.


Now that you've heard my thoughts, it's time for you to view, ponder, and vote. You'll make one (or two) of these people really happy if you do.

Check out the Race Face UFC videos.


Stuart Kernaghan