Mischo Wins Teutonia!!!
Mischo Erban crosses the line just ahead of Douglas Silva. Photo Chris McBride
Teutonia, Brazil-Mischo Erban defeated three-time Malarrara Pro Teutonia winner Douglas Silva in an amazing final that was contested at 70 mph speeds. The Dual format (2-man heats) pitted rider against rider in head to head competition. Earlier in the day, Erban established an official IGSA Downhill Skateboard Speed Record of 70.23 mph. It was a battle amongst some of the biggest names in the sport.
A strong field of 42 downhill skateboarders were entered into the competition. Time trials on both Friday and Saturday whittled the field down to the fastest 32 and also placed them into their heats. As the skaters worked their through the quarter finals, nearly every heat was won by the higher seeded rider. The highlight of the quarter finals was definitely the showdown between the #4 qualifier Martin Siegrist and the #5 qualifier Scoot Smith.
Siegrist pulled out to the early lead off the line with Scoot close behind. As they entered the left hand corner at the top of the ultra fast straightaway, the two riders actually touched wheels but fortunately neither of them went down. Scoot regained his composure and set off down the steep straight.
Scoot loses control at nearly 70 mph in the quarter finals. Note the smoke coming from his toe! Photo Alexandre Maia
Scoot first pulled alongside and then pulled into the lead. Unfortunately his lead was short lived as he lost control, went down at approximately 70 mph and began sliding toward the bales. He struck the bales feet first and was sent spinning wildly like a rag doll down the course. Scott seemed to spin forever as Siegrist crossed the line to move into the Semi-Finals. Fortunately Scoot was uninjured and actually skated through the finish. He later described the crash as the fastest in his career.
Scoots wild ride! Courtesy of You Tube
That set up the two Semi-Final match ups. In Semi number one it would be Silva against Seigrist. In the second Semi it would be Kevin Reimer versus Mischo. Silva used his incredibly strong push to pull away from Siegrist off the line and never looked back. He won the heat from wire to wire to advance to the finals.
Erban beating Reimer in the Semi-Finals. Photo Alexandre Maia
In the second semi there was a bit of cat and mouse going on as neither Reimer or Erban wanted to leave the line first. With the tremendous draft developed on the high speed course neither rider wanted to give the advantage of being second at the top of the straightaway. Finally Reimer took off into the lead. Just as both riders had predicted, Mischo used the draft to pass Reimer down the long straight and into the final.
Before the final, the organizers decided to stall for about 20 minutes to build the tension in the crowd. A massive crowd estimated to be in excess of 2000 people lined both sides of the racecourse. When the final eventually took off it was again a game of cat and mouse.
Erban leads Silva in the final. Photo Alexandre Maia
This time Silva held back and Mischo took the lead. As they worked their way down the course Silva was trying to find a way around Mischo, but he was simply too fast. At one point Douglas tried to pull alongside but he didn’t have the speed to get by. He was resigned to follow Erban closely down the hill.
Top Five (L-R) Scoot Smith, Kevin Reimer, Mischo Erban, Douglas Silva and Martin Siegrist. Photo Marcus Rietema
The victory was a huge one for Erban and was arguably the biggest win of his career as he had to beat both K-Rimes and Dalua head to head on the world’s fastest racecourse. He becomes the first two-time winner of the 2009 season and moves into first place into the point standings with two events to go. Australia is the World Championships and the course is gnarly. Australia Link It’s increasingly looking like the points series won’t be decided until the final race in South Africa.
Stephenson cruises to victory in Street Luge
Will Stephenson crosses the finish alone after Borton crashed. Photo Chris McBride
Will Stephenson won an anticlimactic final when his opponent Leo Borton crashed at the top of the straightaway. With Borton out of contention, Stephenson simply took an 80 mile per hour Sunday drive to earn the victory. Borton eventually did cross the finish line to earn second place. In the consolation final Mario Jardim scored an upset victory over Chris McBride. Jardim from Cureteba, Brazil was stoked to beat McBride who had set the street luge speed record only a few hours earlier.
Stephenson was really stoked after winning his first World Cup race. Photo Marcus Rietema
Mc Bride overtakes Stephenson to win in Classic Luge.
Chris McBride crosses the finish line in a blurr to win Classic Luge. Photo Alexandre Maia
Chris McBride from Seattle, Washington, USA made a daring pass of Will Stephenson on the final straightaway to win the Classic Luge race at the Malarrara Pro Teutonia in Teutonia, Brazil. At the time of the pass McBride was clocked at an astounding 75.07 mph. Andreas Johnson from Stockholm, Sweden defeated Rafael Silva in the consolation final to earn third place. Andreas went through the speed trap at a speed of 78.49mph. Although the speeds were unofficial, they are likely the fastest speeds ever recorded in an officially sanctioned IGSA Classic luge race.
The spectators came out by the thousands to witness the speeds of Teutonia for themselves.
Photo Chris McBride
| Downhill Skateboarding | ||||||
| Pos | No. | Surname | First Name | Nat | Best Qual. | Points |
| 1 | 38 | Erban | Mischo | CAN | 1:19.601 | 450.00 |
| 2 | 8 | Silva | Douglas | BRA | 1:17.723 | 432.62 |
| 3 | 42 | Reimer | Kevin | CAN | 1:20.421 | 424.37 |
| 4 | 20 | Siegrist | Martin | SUI | 1:21.112 | 416.84 |
| 5 | 43 | Smith | Scott | CAN | 1:22.112 | 409.88 |
| 6 | 9 | Alves | Everton | BRA | 1:22.745 | 403.36 |
| 7 | 30 | Garcia | Silon | BRA | 1:22.817 | 397.22 |
| 8 | 32 | Macaco | Vinicius | BRA | 1:23.126 | 391.40 |
| 9 | 14 | Haddad | Hugo | BRA | 1:22.519 | 385.84 |
| 10 | 23 | Junior | Paulo | BRA | 1:22.850 | 380.52 |
| Street Luge | ||||||
| Pos | No. | Surname | First Name | Nat | Run #1 | Points |
| 1 | 56 | Stephenson | Will | GBR | 1:17.443 | 450.00 |
| 2 | 54 | Borton | Leo | BRA | 1:18.171 | 432.62 |
| 3 | 55 | Jardim | Mario | BRA | 1:19.326 | 424.37 |
| 4 | 51 | McBride | Chris | USA | 1:19.897 | 416.84 |
| 5 | 53 | Bundrish | Lauro | BRA | 1:22.169 | 409.88 |
| 6 | 52 | Cossia | Gilberto | BRA | 1:26.348 | 403.36 |
| Classic Luge | ||||||
| Pos | No. | Surname | First Name | Nat | Run #1 | Points |
| 1 | 62 | McBride | Chris | USA | 1:23.900 | 450.00 |
| 2 | 63 | Stephenson | Will | GBR | 1:35.930 | 432.62 |
| 3 | 61 | Johnson | Andreas | SWE | 1:25.026 | 424.37 |
| 4 | 64 | Silva | Rafael | BRA | 1:26.179 | 416.84 |