BMW Motorrad's Chris Pfeiffer has made a busy start to 2008 with several appearances in Europe and America within the space of a week. The 37-year-old German stunt ace started the year off by travelling to Lisbon, Portugal, to perform stunt shows for the fans and competitors of the Dakar Rally.

Unfortunately, on Friday 4 January, the organisers of the Dakar took the decision to cancel the 2008 rally due to the direct threats launched against the race by terrorist organisations. Despite the massive disappointment for the many participants, Chris decided that his 'show must go on' and continued to perform freestyle stunt rides on the BMW F 800, much to the delight of the race fans.

"I did eight shows at the Dakar 'presentation' ramp and then performed another five in front of the Red Bull Energy Station," said the current European Stunt Riding Champion. I've missed out on a lot of practice due to recovering from my recent knee operation, so it was good to get the riding time on the F 800. In fact, some of the competitors joked that I had ridden more than all of them put together! I feel really sorry for all the Dakar riders, many of who are privateers and have spent their last few euros just to get to the start line - and all for nothing. I hope they all make it home safely."

After a really great show at the BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Chris is heading to Florida for Stuntwars 08, which takes place at the USA Speedway in Lakeland, Florida. In addition to the Superbike Freestyle Competitions, there will also be FMX freestyle shows, a Wall of Death, helicopter rides, car drifting and plenty of other attractions for 'adrenaline junkies'.

Fortunately for Chris as the 2007 runner-up, the top three finishers from last year's event are automatically qualified for Stuntwars 2008, so along with last year's winner Dan Jackson and third-placed 'Scary Gary', he doesn't have to qualify for Sunday's main event.

"It will be good to ride at Stuntwars again," said Chris, whose first competitive appearance on the 800cc parallel twin in 2006 saw him beat all challengers and score maximum points to win this prestigious freestyle stunt competition. "My luck deserted me at last year's event though. I was on equal points with Dan Jackson and we went into a three-minute battle for the victory. This should have been an easy one for me but I couldn't get the grip I needed and lost my balance - and the overall victory. I ended up in second place, which was disappointing because I showed my best tricks of the day."

Chris missed out on victory last year by just half a point, so will be hoping that his third appearance in the 'Sunshine State' will result in another victory on the twin-cylinder F 800 S.

For more information about Stuntwars, which takes place throughout this weekend, please visit the www.stuntwars.com website.