AJ Haiby 3 Peats at Bonelli
AJ Haiby stands atop the Skateboard podium followed by Capps, Silva, Dougherty and Sanchez. Photo: Amy Ozman
San Dimas, CA, USA - AJ Haiby took the victory today and earned his third win at the Bonelli NORAM making it the first 3 Peat ever in Downhill Skateboarding at this venue. AJ started racing Bonelli in 2011 and winning the first time he showed up and continued that streak to make history at Bonelli while collecting that SoCal money for his pocket.
It was a win that did not come easy this year due to his 8th place qualifying time. By the time he got to the semi final he stood there at the start and looked at the other racers and knew he was in a stacked heat with some of the best around the world. He would have to race Douglas Silva (BRA), Jason Sheriera (AUS), and Jimmy 'the Rad Train' Riha from the USA. After taking 2nd place behind Silva they would have to battle it out with Max Capps and Key Daugherty in the final.
Number one qualifier Douglas Silva was able to put the fastest time down on the track for the weekend and put himself into the final. With Silva in the lead and Capps, Hailby, and Daugherty on his tail heading into crash corner Silva and Capps took a late entry where they slid out and crashed into the hay. That allowed Haiby to take that clean inside line over the rough patch to the finish line for that 3rd win in a row. Silva and Capps were able to gather it up with Capps finishing second, Silva in 3rd and Dougherty finishing 4th.
Luna Takes Junior 2 at Bonelli for 2nd year in a Row 
Daniel Luna stands atop the Junior 2 Skateboard podium followed by Schardt, Ciabattini, Belcher and Ruiz. Photo: Amy Ozman
Luna layed down an outstanding qualifying time of 1:05.890 which was 3 seconds faster then second place Mike Schardt. Luna's time was faster then Haiby's time was in the open class. Luna won his 2nd in a row Junior 2 race here at Bonelli and is wishing he had one more year in the juniors so he could try to pull off the 3 peat like Haiby. Luna will be turning 18 at the end of this year which will automatically put him into the Open class for 2014. He is no strainger to the Open class and like we said he had a great qualifying time and finished 8th place overall in the Open class today.
Rayne Wins Womens Downhill 
Rachel Rayne stands atop the Womens Skateboard podium followed by Bruskoff and Yong. Photo: Amy Ozman
It was great to see the Women come out and play at Bonelli. On Saturday during qualifying Amanda Powell was the only women that entered the event. On Sunday there were three more women that entered the event to compete. To the surprise of many, Amanda did not show to compete on Sunday. We were sorry to hear that she came down with the flu. The remaining women competed in a heat race formant for three runs. Rayne finished the first heat in second and finished the other two heats in first place which allowed for the win. Rachel Bruskoff finishing in second and Rachel Yong making the final spot on the podium in Third.
Paproski Takes Junior 1 Downhill 
Greg Paproski stands atop the Junior 1 Skateboard podium. Photo: Amy Ozman
Greg Paproski was the only Junior 1 at the Bonelli event but he is an upcoming star that is not a stranger to the sport. He has competed around the world with some of the best. He has held his own and has shown that he can run with and beat some of the best. He is just chomping at the bit to show the Junior 2 class what he is all about.
John Rogers Wins in Street Luge
John Rogers stands atop the Street Luge podium followed by Barfield, Henderson, McIntyre and and Williams. Photo: Amy Ozman
John is no strainger to this course. He set the fastest qualifying time back in 2006 at a 1:04.139 which stands to this day. He already had his mind set to take the win this weekend. He layed down a qualifying time of 1:05.703 a little off his record but still about a second in a half faster then Mike McIntyre and about 2 seconds faster than Iron Man Henderson. This was Johns 3rd win since 2006.
With the finals being stacked with John Rogers, Mike McIntyre, Mark Barfield, and Keith Henderson John was able to put togeather a fierce run to lead the pack thru the corner with Henderson on his tail. Barfield was able to pull off some good speed coming out of the corner which allowed him to pass Henderson before the finish for a 2nd place finish.
Iron Man Henderson shows all how to win in Classic Luge 
Keith Henderson stands atop the Classic Luge podium followed by McIntyre, Williams, Paproski, and Peer. Photo: Amy Ozman
Keith did not have it easy even though he had the fastest qualifying time on Saturday. His first heat was a stacked one with Frank Williams last years Classic Luge World Champion, Kyle Castaneda the young fast one and the up coming star Will from Xtreme Board Shop. With Keith and Williams advancing to the finals they found themsheleves with Mike Paproski from the father-son team and Mike McIntyre which is know to carry his speed to the finsh. When all was said and done Keith with his monster push walked away at the start with Paproski. Heading into crash corner Paproski went in a little hot and crashed which allowed for McIntyre and Williams to take the two remaining spots on the podium.
Peer takes Downhill Inline 
Scott Peer stands atop the Inline podium followed by Merkert and Ellis. Photo: Amy Ozman
On Saturday it was Peer and Merkert qualifing for the event with Peer qualifying the fastest ahead of Merket by almost 2 seconds. On Sunday Craig registered to compete in the class where all three were place in the heat racing format. Peer was able to hold off the other two to take first place in all three heats to place him atop of the podium and Merkert in second. Ellis finished third and announced his patent on his Downhill Inline braking system.