Volkswagen Amarok King of the Whip: What. A. Night.🔥

Montecasino absolutely erupted as the 2025 Volkswagen Amarok King of the Whip delivered one of the wildest freestyle motocross nights South Africa has ever seen. A sold-out Joburg crowd watched riders send it to the moon, with USA’s Wyatt Fontenot officially crowned the new King of the Whip, while Australia’s Pat Bowden proved unstoppable once again in both Best Trick categories. Presented by LW Mag alongside Monster Energy, Yamaha, Garmin, Motul, GoPro, Fox Racing, PlayTSOGO and Estrella Cerveza, this year’s event showed exactly why KOTW is now one of the world’s premier FMX showdowns.

The rider lineup was stacked with 21 of SA’s best going bar-to-bar with nine international heavy-hitters including Julien Vanstippen, Vicki Golden, Ry Hazell, Genki “Wanky” Watanabe, Marc Pinyol, Julien Mannon and Stav Orland. With R250 000 up for grabs, the riders never lifted—every jump was bigger, faster and wilder than the one before. Event organiser Ryan van der Spuy said he couldn’t be prouder of how far the event has come, calling this year’s edition one of the most world-class FMX nights ever hosted on African soil.

The Best Whip action kicked off early, with riders battling through four intense qualifying rounds before the final eight emerged for the nighttime showdown. Before the big final, fans were treated to the Best Trick battles, where Pat Bowden delivered pure magic. His Christ Air Stage Dive secured the Right-Side-Up win, and he followed it with a flawless Rowedova Backflip to One-Hander Lander to take the Upside-Down title as well. Genki Watanabe stunned everyone with his new trick, The Octopus, while Marc Pinyol brought back his iconic California Roll in style. Just six weeks after being in a hospital bed in Russia, Bowden said simply standing on the ramp again meant everything.

As the sun went down, Monster Energy turned Montecasino into a laser-lit spectacle with their Rig Riot show—a first in SA and the perfect lead-in to the Best Whip Final. The crowd was on fire as defending champion Julien Vanstippen lined up against Stark Varg duo Wyatt Fontenot and Ry Hazell, with Vicki Golden making history as the first-ever female competitor in the final. Whip after whip, the riders pushed their limits, throwing out the biggest extensions of the night. In the end, Fontenot out-whipped them all, knocking Vanstippen off the throne and promising South Africa he’ll definitely be back. Hazell wrapped up third, followed closely by Stav Orland and Vicki Golden in an outstanding top five.

A standout moment came from Ryan Adler, who fought his way into the final and then sent one of his biggest whips of the day before a massive crash. With his bike in pieces, he and his team somehow patched it together so he could send it one more time before the event closed. His heart, grit and never-give-up attitude earned him the inaugural Ricky Raaff Award, honouring the late Ricky Raaff.

The 2025 Volkswagen Amarok King of the Whip had everything—huge tricks, insane whips, a record crowd and a global lineup that raised the bar once again. South Africa has cemented itself as a true powerhouse for freestyle motocross, and after a night like this, the future of King of the Whip is set to be even bigger, louder and wilder.

Photos by Eric Palmer