| Jet Waves IFWA Freeride world Championships | |
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The sun-ridden beaches and warm seas of Brazil’s Santa Catarina coast, played host to the final round of ‘Jet Waves’ – the IFWA Freeride World Championships. Mauricio A. Brandão was on hand to take in the action. The ultimate round of the twelfth Jet Waves championship kicked off on Friday 22 October. All riders went head-to-head in the qualifiers in a do-or-die bid to secure their place in the next round. The excitement and tension was palpable as the riders fought it out on the water, cheered along by the crowds. After a day of fierce competition, the fourteen best riders were deposited into the next stage of the competition, leaving two open spots which were up for grabs in the ‘Last Chance’ knockout round, held on Saturday morning.And so as dawn broke across the sands of the city of Piçarras, and with all to play for, the ten remaining riders duelled it out for those last two places. Octavio Bortoncello risked it all and landed his first ever back flip in competition, Leandro Vieira was on good form and André Martins also gave a great performance, but in the end the spots were won by riders Leonardo Caldoncelli and Antonio Farias. Both had out performed their fellow competitors with an electric mix of surfing and stunts.
The Top Sixteen Riders
Qualifying Rounds Onto the next stage, and the riders were paired against each other in elimination rounds. Frenchman Maxime Baroero out skied Webert Hipólito with relative ease, Argentine Riva Mariano battled with Alexandre Sampaio (Xan) but just lost out. Leandro Vieira was knocked out by Ross Champion, Tiago Geitens won against André Silveira, and the prodigy Alexandre Buneder prevailed over the Brazilian Leonardo Caldoncelli. By the end of the day the coveted quarter-final places had been filled, ready for Sunday’s competing. Qualifiying
But there would be no rest for the eliminated and competing riders alike. The city of Piçarras is seamed by a river, which became the central location of the Saturday night festivities. Local jet ski hero and competitor, Alexandre Lenzi, opened up the evening with a number of high speed passes along the river, complete with an array of crowd pleasing tricks. Watching from the bridge over the river and from bleachers set up on the banks, onlookers continued to cheer as a purpose built ramp was put in place with a large horseshoe frame around it – which was then set on fire. The flaming jump became the main attraction with many of the riders mounting their skis and tricking through the fire. From hot ramps to scorching women, and the much anticipated Jet Waves Girl contest went into full swing. To the delight of the masses, two dozen girls strutted their stuff down the catwalk in the battle to be crowned top totty (pictured). A panel of judges had been personally assembled by the Mayor of Piçarras and included the Women of the Department of Sports, ESPN Formiga, Marcelo ‘Tchello’ Brandão and Pierre Maixent. They had a tough task on their hand but were finally able to pick out the three winners from the enticing entrants. The Morning After Sunday morning brought with it the start of the quarter-finals, and a few sore heads.In the opening round, Frenchman Maxime Baroero classily manoeuvred his ski to defeat the Argentine champion, Mariano Riva. The second round saw Lenzi cross skis with Ross Champion, two time IFWA World Champion. The action was breathtaking with both riders putting in runs of an identical high calibre, but Ross performance was cut short after misjudging a landing that put him on the sand. Having damaged his machine, the victory went to Lenzi.
The watery battle between top Brazilian freerider Bruno Jacob and Tiago Geitens was intense, but in the end it was Tiago who tamed the surf and took the win.In the last of the quarter-finals, the great champion Pierre Maixent faced and defeated Alexander Buneder, with heroic efforts being made by both men. Semi Finals
The Semi’s The tension was building as the first of the semi-finals played out on the water. Alexandre Lenzi exploded onto the surf, riding every wave he could and getting phenomenal height off the peaks. His opponent M. Baroero also put in a memorable performance, but it was not enough to defeat the tenacious Lenzi. Come the second semi-final and disappointingly, Tiago Geitens fell victim to technical problems and was not able to ski, leaving Pierre Maixent to enter the finals unchallenged. The Final
The moment had come. Three-time champion Pierre Maixent was to butt horns with the equally talented Alessander Lenzi, who was competing in front of his home crowd. The Frenchman put in a world class routine, but it was the local boy who’s height off the waves were unparalleled, and peppered with an array of tricks and gigantic back flips. To the delight of the Santa Catarina crowds, Lenzi took the top spot in the last stage of the Jet Waves championship. Pretty as a picture The competition over, it was time to hand out the awards. To the winners of the final stage of the 12th Jet Waves championship, special trophies were presented in the form of oil paintings, that depicted trophies, painted by the renowned artist Luciano Martins. 1) Alessander Lenzi (Brazil) 2) Pierre Maixent (France) 3) Maxime Baroeiro (France) The Big One In terms of the overall championship, Pierre had accrued enough points to take the IFWA big win, adding to his previous championship titles of 2005, 2006 and 2007. Fellow Frenchman Maxime Baroeiro took the silver and the Brazilian Tiago Geitens earned a more-than-respectable third place.
Hailed as one of the top freestyle competitions in the world, the dynamic display did not fail to disappoint. A huge congrats to all the riders who took to the waves and of course to the crowds who came from afar to cheer on the action. The Final Champion Standings 1) Pierre Maixent (France) 2) Maxime Baroeiro (France) 3) Tiago Geitens (Brazil) 4) Ross Champion (Usa) 5) Marc Sickerling (Germany) |
