Photo Barbara Britvin
Teolo, Italy - Patrick Switzer retained his number one qualifying position that he earned on Friday when none of the top five riders were able to improve their time. Yesterday's number two qualifier Ramon Konigshausen crashed on his run while Maxim Garant-Rousseau, Jackson Shapiera and Alex Tongue all went slower than they had on Friday.
Only two skaters that ended up in he top ten were able to improve on their Friday times. James Kelly posted a time of 2:01.781 to move into the number eight spot and Nicholas Robert ran a 2:02.231 to move into the tenth starting position.
Padova Grand Prix
Downhill Skateboard Qualifying
1. Patrick Switzer, Canada 1:58.801
2. Ramon Konigshausen, Switzerland 1:59.465
3. Maxim Garant-Rousseau, Canada 2:01.112
4. Jackson Shapiera, Australia 2:01.300
5. Alex Tongue, United States 2:01.401
6. Torbjorn Sunde, Norway 2:01.434
7. Luke Melo, Canada 2:01.701
8. James Kelly, United States 2:01.781
9. Adam Persson, Sweden 2:01.901
10. Nicolas Robert, Norway 2:02.231
After working through the field it came down to the final six. After posting a time of 1:59.779 the previous day, Mahdzan came down and uncorked a 1:57.290! The time was not only the quickest of the day so far but also enough for him to unseat Stephenson as the pole sitter. In order first Muller, then Insul winner Labarthe, then reighning World Cup Series Champion Eliot and finally Kozakov winner Echegaray all tried and failed to match Mahdzan's time.
Now only Stephenson stood in the way of Mahdzan winning his first ever World Cup pole position. As Stephenson approached the line he seemed to be carrying a lot of speed and everyone held their breath waiting for the time to appear on the scoreboard. Finally the time appeared and Stephenson had run a 1:56.949! It was enough for him to take back the number one spot in what was undoubtedly one of the most exciting final qualifying sessions of all time!
Padova Grand Prix
Street Luge Qualifying
1. Will Stephenson, Great Britain 1:56.949
2. Abdil Mahdzan, Malaysia 1:57.290
3. Mikel Echegaray, Spain 1:57.359
4. Yvon Labarthe, Switzerland 1:58.425
5. Peter Eliot, Great Britain 1:58.686
6. Michael Muller, Austria 1:59.214
7. Russel Naude, South Africa 2:00.128
8. Jan Miquel, Spain 2:00.345
9. Cedric Robert, Switzerland 2:00.821
10. Alexander Frischauf, Austria 2:01.530
Classic Luge Qualifying
1. Michael Serek, Austria 2:01.186
2. Mikel Echegaray, Spain 2:01.427
3. Cedric Robert, Switzerland 2:01.748
4. Yvon Labarthe, Switzerland 2:01.808
5. Russell Naude, South Africa 2:02.144
6. Fabien Prual, France 2:04.008
7. Georg Klotzbaerg, Austria 2:04.171
8. Matteo Demarchi, Spain 2:04.810
9. Alexander Frischauf, Austria 2:05.271
10. Scott Peer, United States 2:06.401
Women's Downhill Skateboard Qualifying
1. Katie Neilson, Canada 2:06.852
2. Marie Bougard, France 2:11.425
3. Tamara Prader, Switzerland 2:14.508
4. Rebekka Gemperle, Switzerland 2:16.731
5. Fee Bucheler, Germany 2:20.054
6. Anni Lindenmaier, Germany 2:22.606
Jr I Downhill Skateboard Qualifying
1. Gero Kalb, Germany 2:28.138
Jr II Downhill Skateboard Qualifying
1. Spencer Smith, United States 2:04.293
2. Pierre Conan, France 2:05.592
3. Pablo Fouz Rey, Spain 2:06.766
4. Gabin Piton, France 2:07.737
5. Stefano Sturaro, Italy 2:12.069
6. Felix Carbonell, Spain 2:15.280
7. Andrea Moreni, Italy 2:16.343
8. Marcus Aldinucci, Italy 2:17.791