IGSA California Championship - Bonelli Park

The fourth race of five in the ‘07 IGSA California Championship series was held at Bonelli Park, California in hot, sunny weather on April 28th.  With an influx of new speedboard skaters, a crowd of visiting racers from Canada and new additions to the Jr. Downhill Skateboard class, the hill was covered with skateboard racers and IGSA’s registered racers now number over 450, worldwide.  By the time we got to the course, large groups of racers were streaming down it in open practice.

In the 23-racer, Downhill Skateboard division, SoCal’s speedboard elite were joined by Canadians Graham Buksa, Nick Dunmall, Kyle Martin, Andrew McCannell, Brianne Davies and, via a quick drive from Long Beach, Erik Berzins.  Fast in practice, they were dicing with John Rogers, Andrew Sawyer, the Kludys and Venezuela’s Romulo Cortez,  as were a crew of new IGSA racers including David Govea & Kevin Clutario from San Diego, Eric Tokle from the Bay Area and a junior class of six racers!  Headwinds were blowing up Via Verde all day, and it was hot!  Over 90-degrees, so the wind was almost welcome even though it was blowing the wrong direction.

 

With so many new faces on the start line, Rick Kludy commented later that he looked over in one heat and didn’t know anybody else!  New lines and aggressive charges led to some shoulder bumping on course and then, in an early heat, a gnarly 5 racer pile-up that had IGSA’s new mid-course marshal freaked out at skaters tumbled and slid down the pavement, then scrambled to find skateboards.  Mr. Rayne, Graham Buksa, was the only racer in the heat of 6 skaters to avoid the carnage, but he clearly saw what he missed.

 

The Via Verde course is described by many as a drag race, with short-track strategies for fast starts, aggressive moves and runs for the line being the norm.  The final round in Downhill Skateboarding was definitely all that.  Off the line, Graham Buksa leapt out a little early and DQ’d, but didn’t know it.  He streaked down the hill being chased by  teammate Nick Dunmall, Rick Kludy and the wiley John Rogers.  Buksa’s clean tuck and fast line led the pack down the hill until a move by John Rogers allowed him to slingshot around the outside of Buksa for a run to the line.  Rogers got their first, followed by the unwittingly-disqualified Buksa and then a tight pack behind, with Rick Kludy and Andrew Sawyer swooping to the line ahead of Dunmall for second and third, respectively.

 

  John Rogers, leading Buksa to the line. 

 

After speedboarding, it was time for the Streetluge and Classic Luge classes to roll, and the competion was hot.  Brian Lee came out from Arizona to join a field including Ronnie Iverson and his dad, Ron Sr., John Rogers, Justin Tolman and Digger Green.  The racing was clean & fast, with Brian Lee winning each of his heats before the main.  The Final was a drag race off the start with strategies abounding for the draft-pass move to take the line as the lugers dropped toward the finish at 52mph on the Silverfish radar gun.  “Danger” Lee nailed another one, reaching the line ahead of the pack with a hoot heard right through his closed helmet as Rogers and Tolman stretched out to see who’d reach the line for second place, first.  That was so close that it took a video review to find that John Rogers earned second place over Tolman, by less than two inches on the toes of his shoes.

 

  Brian Lee rejoices while Rogers & Tolman scoot for the line. 

 

The Inline DH race was a shoot out between the top three in the current IGSA standings. In the first heat, Scott Peer jumped out ahead at the start, but the pack stayed close. Dave attempted an early pass, but Scott and Warren’s train was faster, so Dave jumped on the caboose. At the finish, Dave and Warren broke out too late for the pass and Scott held on for the win. In the second start, Scott jumped out to a bigger lead, and Dave and then Warren pulled slingshot passes to finish 1-2. In the third run, everyone was wary and started slow. The finish was the same as the second run, and Dave won the race. Scott took second place in a tiebreaker based on his fastest qualifying time. 

  

  Tolman and Conaway, at the line. 

 

In Classic Luge, Justin Tolman took a narrow victory over a very impressive Christian Conaway. Christian has found a lot of speed over the winter. Watch out for this young gun! Thank you to all of the riders who attended and to our sponsors including Sector Nine, Random X skateshop, Rayne Longboards and One West Clothing, The season finale will be held on Saturday May 19th.

 

The Gravity Bike class might be just about “done” for a while.  With only two bikes on the hill, it was pretty thin.  Add to it that Noah Rutherford was also racing Street Luge and Downhill Skateboard, and you can see how this class has faded from what it was, even one year ago. 

 

  Natividad puts it to bed with a blazing final run. 

 

The Jr. Downhill Skateboard class, however, is booming!  Speedy Nick Natividad was joined by first-timer Kirby Cox, Alex “Z-Money” Zimmerman, Josh Rodgers, Pete Eubank and Steve Doman for a six-racer class that ripped all day.  IGSA ensures the Juniors get plenty of hill time, racing them in all the main-division heats and then again in their own.  After an warm rest on top of the hill, the racers ripped three six-man heats for points.  Zimmerman turned heads with an aggressive style and a heat win, putting him into contention with Natividad, who’d also won a heat by the time round three came around.   Down to the line, it was Natividad’s ripping first place finish that placed him atop the podium once again, but Eubank’s excellent final run put him in a points-tie with Zimmerman for second that was resolved only by comparison of their qualifying times, earlier in the day.  Zimmerman was the fastest Jr. on the hill for qualifiers, so he got the nod for Second and Eubank took Third.

 

The Series Finals are scheduled for May 19th, 2007. 

Downhill Skateboarding Results
Pos No. Surname First Nat Qualified Points
1 38 Rogers John USA 47.810 228.77
2 71 Kludy Rick USA 50.056 219.93
3 209 Sawyer Andrew USA 48.685 215.73
4 460 MacCannell Andrew CAN 50.656 211.91
5 459 Dunmall Nicholas CAN 49.145 208.37
6 457 Buksa Kyle CAN 50.041 205.06
7 324 Berzins Erik CAN 51.155 201.93
8 31 Meehan Nick USA 50.796 198.97
9 458 Martin Kyle CAN 49.037 196.15
10 452 Lanning Michael USA 57.368 193.45
11 53 Kludy Justin USA 52.121 190.85
12 108 Cortez Romulo VEN 53.437 188.35
13 93 Gorman Michael USA 52.693 185.93
14 65 Natividad Nick PHI 52.965 183.59
15 123 Rutherford Noah USA 54.016 181.32
16 461 Davies Brianne CAN DNQ 179.11
17 417 Smith Sean USA 54.520 176.96
18 368 Houtman James USA 59.197 174.87
19 456 Rodgers Joshua USA 53.477 172.82
20 455 Tokle Eric USA 53.758 170.83
21 451 Clutario Kevin USA 53.181 168.87
22 450 Govea David USA 54.917 166.96
23 447 Cox Kirby USA 1:38.349 165.09

Junior Downhill Skateboarding Results
Pos No. Surname First Nat Run #1 Points
1 65 Natividad Nick PHI 52.965 228.77
2 457 Zimmerman Alex USA 51.982 219.93
3 454 Eubank Pete USA 53.301 215.73
4 456 Rodgers Joshua USA 53.477 211.91
5 453 Doman Steve USA 54.376 208.37
6 447 Cox Kirby USA 1:38.349 205.06

 

Inline Downhill:

1 Dave Lambert

2 Scott Peer

3 Warren Focke

 

Street Luge Results
Pos No. Surname First Nat Qualified Points
1 25 Lee Brian USA 49.096 228.77
2 14 Rogers John USA 48.672 219.93
3 9 Tolman Justin USA 50.441 215.73
4 194 Price Charles USA 50.366 211.91
5 188 Thiede Matt USA 49.616 208.37
6 32 Iverson Jr. Ronnie USA 50.303 205.06
7 151 Green "Digger" AUS 50.592 201.93
8 54 Rutherford Noah USA 50.474 198.97
9 55 Conaway Christian USA 51.835 196.15
10 206 Castaneda Kyle USA 53.353 193.45
11 207 Iverson Sr. Ron USA 53.556 190.85
12 208 Collins Tabitha USA 1:08.169 188.35
13 127 Foster Ted USA 52.055 185.93

Classic Luge Results
Pos No. Surname First Nat Qualified Points
1 9 Tolman Justin USA 52.433 228.77
2 55 Conaway Christian USA 54.110 219.93
3 134 Peer Scott USA 54.170 215.73
4 188 Thiede Matt USA 55.893 211.91
5 206 Castaneda Kyle USA 54.017 208.37

Junior Street Luge Results
Pos No. Surname First Nat Qualified Points
1 55 Conaway Christian USA 51.835 228.77
2 206 Castaneda Kyle USA 53.353 219.93
3 208 Collins Tabitha USA 1:08.169 215.73

Junior Classic Luge Results
Pos No. Surname First Nat Qualified Points
1 55 Conaway Christian USA 54.110 228.77
2 206 Castaneda Kyle USA 54.017 219.93

 

Special thanks to Marcus Rietema and Scott Peer for words in this race report.  Would you like to see more?  Check out the IGSA/Silverfish event gallery.

 
Written by Silverfish