Day 5 – PKRA – Marsala-Kite World Festival 2007
It was a fun-filled final day for the Marsala-Kite World Festival in Marsala, Trapanni, Italy as the riders competed for the Sliders World Championship. Event organizers took everyone to the competition area some 30 minutes away from where the Freestyle event was held. It was a very scenic location, near a salina where they make salt, but the wind was a very light breeze. However, the sun was in full force once again which slightly warmed the event area. As afternoon progressed, the wind slowly gained momentum which prompted the race organizers to try and initiate a starting sequence at 1:00 in the afternoon. They eventually ended up canceling the Heat only two minutes later due to widely fluctuating wind conditions.
Finally at 2:00 pm, the wind was strong enough to re-start the competition.
The Sliders World Championship got underway with a format of 3 Heats composed of 17 riders for the men’s division with the final two battling it out for the crown from six-man finals. The women’s division composed of
1 Heat straight up final.
Under a fluctuating wind condition, the riders hunted for gusts to gain power and speed just before hitting the sliders and kickers. There were several riders who hit the obstacles for the first time and went all-out in the Heat. For sure, there were a lot of sore bodies with scratches and bruises after the event. Taking the heaviest fall was Madison “Iron Will†Van Heurck (Naish, USVI) with a head plant into the shallows but courageously continued on into the final landing a huge grabbed 3 off the monster kicker. Meanwhile, Angela Peral (North, Spain) took the biggest hits on the women’s side with several body slides on the kicker.
Hadlow displayed a stunning performance in the qualifying round performing a full run over the slider to a backside handlepass 360 off the kick in the end of the slider, but was not able to maintain the momentum in the final.
Etienne Lhote (F-One,France) went for a 720 off the kicker in his qualifying heat but missed the second pass and blew up the landing. The best moves of the day came from Ruben Lenten with a grabbed front side 540 off the kicker.
Van Heurck landed a perfect grabbed front side 360 off the kicker while Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK) landed a backside handlepass 360 off the slider run.
After the qualifying heats, those who advanced to the finals of the men’s division were Alvaro Onieva, Reno Romeu (North, Brazil), Rui Meira, Van Heurck, Lenten, and Hadlow. Onieva claimed the Sliders World Championship crown with a backside 360 off the slicker, a full powered slide on the slider and a front side 360 off the kicker. Lenten came in second with a full side on the slider with a grabbed front side 540 off the kicker while Hadlow and Meira were both tied for the third spot.
In the women’s division, Gisela Pulido grabbed the women’s Sliders crown by landing a backside 360 off the slicker, a full powered slide off the slider and a big air grab off the kicker. Bruna Kajiya came in second with a front roll off the kicker that included a near complete slide on the slider and nearly landing a backside 360 that the men would be envious of, off the kicker. Claiming the final podium position was Karolina Winkowska who landed a solid slide on the slider and a front roll off the kicker.
Men’s Sliders World Championship Result:
1. Alvaro Onieva (Best, Spain)
2. Ruben Lenten (Slingshot, Netherlands)
3. Aaron Hadlow (Flexifoil, UK)
Women’s Sliders World Championship Result:
1. Gisela Pulido (Slingshot, Spain)
2. Bruna Kajiya (Best, Brazil)
3. Karolina Winkowska (Naish, Poland)
The 2007 Marsala-Kite World Festival is sponsored by Budweiser, Windguru, MTG, Sorgenia, BT, Red Spot Surfcenter, Stance, Sea Store Sicily, Air Italy, Ostiensis Viaggi Network, Lastminute.sm, and in part by Le Rotte Dello Svillupo, Citta di Marsala, Ministero Dello Svillupo Economico, Provincia Regionale di Trapani and Regione Siciliana – Assessorato Turismo.
For the latest PKRA rider standings, event schedules and Video News Release
(VNR) from Italy produced by Tronolone Productions, logon to http://www.kiteworldtour.com. You can also view the additional PKRA videos at http://www.youtube.com/extremeelementstv. To view the live results for the 2007 Marsala-Kite World Festival, logon to http://www.extremeelements.com.
