Continental News

 

 

Flindt leads Maytum through Seismic Corner in the Open DH Final. Photo Silverfish Longboarding

As usual, all of the action at Bonelli Park is centered around Seismic Corner. It's a 90 degree corner that the riders enter at around 65 kph (40 mph) and must thread the needle as they negotiate uneven pavement and a narrowing track. When they get it right it propels them down the final straightaway to the finish. If they brake too much, the exit speed is hopelessly slow and leaves them a sitting duck for their rivals behind.  If they go in too fast, at best the riders slide and lose speed but more often it means a dramatic trip into the stacks of straw bales. Seismic Corner transforms the Bonelli Park track from a simple course to an extremely difficult one.

 

Maytum in hot pursuit of Flindt as they head down the final straight to the finish. Photo Silverfish Longboarding

The Open Downhill Skateboard field was 47 riders strong and after nearly two hours of non-stop eliminations it came down to the final four of Brent Dubendorff, Jimmy Flindt, Zak Maytum and Louis Pilloni. Off the start and through the first two corners it was Flindt taking the lead followed by Maytum, Pilloni and Dubendorff. They held their positions through the chicane and then set themselves up for Seismic Corner. In the two previous years, the skaters have been foot braking in this area or at least throwing a little speed check.

Not anymore... All four of them just air braked and dove in. Flindt had about a 15 board length lead going in but on the exit slid just a little bit. Maytum nailed Seismic perfectly and began reeling in Flindt as they took off down the long final straight. With his momentum and Flindt's draft he sailed by him about 10 meters (30') from the finish to take the win. It was the first Open Class win at a major downhill race for the 17 year old from Colorado who won the Junior World Championship in August. A similar situation had taken place behind the leaders with Dubendorff passing Pilloni to earn the final podium spot.

 

Riley Meehan from Glendale, CA beat Salt Lake City's Brian Lee to the line to earn the victory in Open Street Luge.  Like Maytum, it was the first Open Class win for 17 year old Meehan. Mike McIntyre was third and Justin Tolman finished fourth. After big predictions of carnaige, the class went off with very few incidents and lots of close, exciting racing. Christian Conaway earned the victory in Junior Street Luge.

 

Later in the afternoon it was time for the Junior Downhill Skateboarding class. Due to the large number of registered skaters and the great diversity in ages ranging from 9-17 years old, the organizers decided to split the class into two divisions. A Junior I division for 9-13 year olds and a Junior II class for 14-17 year olds. There were four skaters in the Junior I's with Blake Eaton earning the victory. Blake was awarded the first annual Peter Ramirez Memorial Trophy in memory of the young skater who lost his life in skateboarding accident last month. In the Junior II's it was Zak Maytum earning his second North American Championship title of the day. Tim Del Rosario was second and Calvin Staub finished in third.

The 1st Annual Peter Ramirez Memorial Trophy was awarded to Junior I winner Blake Eaton

In other racing action Scott Peer won all three heats of Downhill Inline Skating to earn the win. Justin Tolman won in Classic Luge and Christian Conaway won his second championship of the day in Junior Classic Luge.

The organizers were very pleased with the large turnout of riders. Many of them had to endure major traffic delays caused by the numerous fires burning around Southern California. Special thanks go out to the event sponsors Seismic Skateboards, Honey Skateboards, Grand Prix Skateboards, Sector Nine Skateboards, Tactis Sk8 Shop, Orangotang Wheels, and the IGSA's media partners SilverfishLogboarding.com and Concrete Wave Magazine.