King of the Whip is back!

Image by Eric Palmer: Motocross competitor Dallan Goldman

On 19 November this adrenaline-fuelled action sports event moves to its new home in Montecasino. Witness top Motocross and Freestyle Motocross athletes battling it out for a share of the prize purse and see who’ll be crowned King of the Whip.

Doors open at 2pm with proceedings set to kick off at 4pm and continue into the evening as the final showdown takes place under the night lights and flashes of pyrotechnics. Riders will be pitted against each other in the Best Whip qualifying jam session rounds where judges will be looking for style, amplitude and variation. Riders that score high enough points will advance to the semi-finals and finals.

King of the Whip 2022 will also showcase the FMX Best Trick contest with both right-side up and up-side down categories.

The R100,000 cash prize purse will be split between 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Best Whip contest, and between the 1st place riders in the FMX Best Trick contests.

Two international riders have stepped up to that plate and will be making their way to South Africa to compete against the local heroes. Current X-Games Best Whip gold medallist and Freestyle Motocross star, Belgium’s Julien Vanstippen, is excited to put on a show for the fans while looking to claim another gold medal.

USA’s Patrick Evans is ridiculously skilled in all forms of Dirt Bike riding from Racing to Freestyle Motocross and is ready to take on the challenge on African soil.

A whip is a manoeuvre performed on a motorcycle, usually during a motocross or freestyle motocross contest, in which the rider brings the rear of the motorcycle abruptly around to either side. Performed while the machine is airborne off a jump.

In very extreme whips, the rear of the motorcycle will end up perpendicular to the direction of travel, in addition to the motorcycle being laid flat. The purpose of the whip is to show off, to alter the trajectory of the bike in flight, and to scrub speed over jumps.

King of the Whip organiser, Ryan van der Spuy, says, “We are extremely excited to be back! It has been a long two years waiting in anticipation to bring King of the Whip back to its fans, and now we are finally live. King of the Whip has grown into its own spectacle, and being able to host the event at Montecasino takes it to the next level. We can’t wait for the showdown and to share this exciting production with both the riders and fans. A huge thank you to our event partners for making this possible and enabling our top riders to showcase their skills.”

Tickets are available for R80 (standing) and R150 (grandstand seating) here. Food and beverages will be on sale at the event.