London, May 24th: The 2008 Nissan Qashqai Challenge is in the books with plenty of surprises at the grand final to shake up the overall standings. The local boys stole the show in London, firing up the 50,000 spectators right in front of Tate Modern, one of the nation’s most popular art galleries. Colchester’s Sam Pilgrim took the win for the biggest result of his career, and Manchester’s Lance McDermott’s consistency scored him the overall title and the sport’s largest cash purse! A sporadic head wind picked up during the qualifying and affected some of the results. Two of the top three riders going into London, Martin Soederstrom and Brendan Semenuk failed to qualify for the final. This left the door open for some of the riders who didn’t place as well in Munich, and had an impact on the overall results.

In the finals young Sam Pilgrim chalked the highest score of the day and lit the place up with a very confident set up to a tailwhip, huge 360, back flip one-footed x-up, finishing with the biggest flair of the day from the left quarter to the dirt landing. Benny Korthaus moved into second with an x-up, to one-handed 360 tabletop, backflip, clean 360 tailwhip, and downside foot plant on the battle ship sub box. Lance McDermott put himself into the top three and overall winner with an E.T. to tuck no hander, back flip into a front flip finishing with a clean flair on the right quarter pipe. Phil Sundbaum had two clean 360 tailwhips in two runs and Paul Basagoitia rode very well for 5th on the day. Lance McDermott’s 4th place in Munich and 3rd place in London was enough to win him the overall title and the grand prize of 40,000 Euros. Benny Korthaus took second place overall with a 6th in Munich and 2nd in London only one point behind McDermott and earned himself 25,000 Euros. Norway’s Trond Hansen finished in the 3rd overall position with a 2nd in Munich and 7th place in London and took home 12,500 Euros.

Paul Basagoitia was 4th overall with two 5th place finishes, and Sam Pilgrim rounds out the top 5 overall with an 11th and 1st place. The 2008 edition of the Nissan Qashqai Challenge was a huge success, and there are big plans for 2009. Thanks to everyone who made the event such a great series.

London Results: 1. Sam Pilgrim GBR DIAMONDBACK 2. Benny Korthaus GER SPECIALIZED 3. Lance McDermott GBR SCOTT 4. Phil Sundbaum USA HARO 5. Paul Basagoitia USA KONA 6. Darren Pokoj AUS FELT 7. Trond Hansen NOR SPECIALIZED 8. Adam Hauck USA BLACKMARKET 9. Jamie Goldman USA SANTA CRUZ 10. Cam McCaul USA TREK 11. Kurtis Sorge CAN GIANT 12. Mitchell Chubey CAN NSMB.COM Overall Results: 1. Lance McDermott GBR SCOTT 2. Benny Korthaus GER SPECIALIZED 3. Trond Hansen NOR SPECIALIZED 4. Paul Basagoitia USA KONA 5. Sam Pilgrim GBR DIAMONDBACK 6. Phil Sundbaum USA HARO 7. Jamie Goldman USA SANTA CRUZ 8. Martin Soederstrom SWE COLORBIKES 9. Brandon Semenuk CAN TREK 10. Kurtis Sorge CAN GIANT 11. Adam Hauck USA BLACKMARKET 12. Andreu Lacondeguy ESP KONA

The competitions were broadcasted LIVE on Freecaster at: http://www.freecaster.com/live/1000006_1004347 You can also get the pictures, video, and results at: http://www.nissan.co.uk/home/modules/qashqaichallenge/index.html?ln=/en_GB Media and press can register for the “Press Room” on www.nissan-qashqaichallenge.com for background information and high resolution pictures. For event accreditation, please contact high@rasoulution.com . About Tate Modern: Tate Modern is the national gallery of international modern and contemporary art. Located on the banks of the River Thames in London, it is one of a family of four Tate galleries in the UK. About Nissan in Europe: Nissan employs over 12,000 people in its European design, research and development, manufacturing, logistics, and sales and marketing operations. In calendar year 2007, the company sold 570,513 vehicles across 40 markets in Western and Eastern Europe including Russia. Furthermore, the company produced a total of 576,632 vehicles in its Spanish and British plants. For more information, please go to www.nissaneurope-newsbureau.com source: rasoulution