Reimer On Top Again
Kevin Reimer negotiates the esses in Argonay. Photo Bob Ozman
Argonay, France- Kevin Reimer picked right up where he left off in Germany by recording the fastest time in the first round of qualifying for Saturday's Graveyard Call World Cup. 83 of the 102 competitors competing in Downhill Skateboarding recorded qualifying times before heavy rains came in and washed out the rest of the afternoon's time trials.
The weather forecast is calling for a 50% chance of rain on Friday so race officials are hoping to run the remaining 19 riders through their time trials in the morning. Reimer recorded a time of 2:08.113 to lead Thursday's qualifying.
Evren Ozan currently sits in second position. Photo Bob Ozman
2009 Junior World Champion Evren Ozan turned in an impressive time of 2:08.672 that has him currently in second place. Ozan seems to really be enjoying the tight and technical Argonay course. Stefan Ruefli currently sits in third place with a 2:09.484 second run. Christoph Batt currently holds on to the number four position with a 2:10.448. Christoph Haller rounds out the top five with a 2:10.661.
Christoph Batt currently holds onto the fourth spot. Photo Bob Ozman
The Graveyard course is the most technical course the IGSA World Cup Series visits all year. Today it really took it's toll on many of the IGSA's top ranked riders. Erik Lundberg, Jackson Shapiera, Douglas Silva, Ramon Konigshausen, and Scoot Smith all suffered crashes on their qualifying runs. Patrick Switzer's qualifying run was disallowed due to a technical violation. All of them are hoping for dry weather tomorrow so they can improve their grid positions and in Switzer's case so that he can just make the race. Only the top 64 qualifying times will make it into Saturday's final. Due to the narrow nature of the tracks' upper section, the race will be run using the 2-man Dual format. Saturday's race promises to be an epic head to head showdown.
Graveyard Call
Run #1 Qualifying Leaders
1. Kevin Reimer, Canada 2:08.113
2. Evren Ozan, United States 2:08.672
3. Stefan Ruefli, Switzerland 2:09.484
4. Christoph Batt, Switzerland 2:10.448
5. Christoph Haller, Switzerland 2:10.661
6. Mischo Erban, Canada 2:11.079
7. Adam Persson, Sweden 2:11.752
8. Haakon Wegge, Norway 2:12.514
9. Patrick Aldinger, Germany 2:12.844
10. Audun Guneriussen, Norway 2:13.031