World Cup News

Konigshausen Wins Maryhill!!!

Goldendale, WA, USA- Ramon Konigshausen earned his first ever IGSA World Cup victory today at the Abec 11 Maryhill Festival of Speed.   The tough final round featured a controversial last corner crash that resulted in the disqualification of second place finisher Martin Siegrist.

The Open Downhill skateboarding race saw a number of the favorites eliminated early.  Both Mischo Erban and Scoot Smith went out in the second round.  Saturday's King of the Hill winner James Kelly and defending Maryhill Champion Zak Maytum were eliminated in the third round when the two collided in Seismic Cowzer Corner while running in first and second position.

In the semi-finals Andrew Chapman and Graham Buksa tangled in the final corner.  There was a mad scramble among the two riders to gather up their boards and get to the finish since whoever would finish in third would advance to the finals.  Chapman ran about 6 meters (20') down the track before getting back on his board to cross the finish line first.  Buksa got on his board almost immediately and finished about 1 meter (3') behind,  He protested to the IGSA officials and pointed out that the rule book states, "CRASH RESTART: When returning to the track after a crash, the racer must place their vehicle on the track nearest to the point where it had come to rest."  After reviewing video of the incident, Buksa's protest was upheld and he was moved up to third place and into the finals.

The final was a battle from start to finish between the number one qualifier Konigshausen, Buksa, number three qualifier Zen Shikaze, number five qualifier Siegrist, Tim Del Rosario-Rijos, and Maryhill Rat Billy Meiners.  As they entered the final corner Konigshausen was in the lead, Shikaze was second, Siegrist was third and Del Rosario-Rojas was fourth running in a tight bunch.  As they entered the corner, Siegrist attempted to pass Shikaze in a small gap to the inside.  Siegrist ended up touching Shikaze with both of his hands causing Shikaze to lose traction.  Shikaze ended up crashing hard as a result and finishing last.  Siegrist finished in second place followed by Del Rosario-Rijos, Miners and Buksa. 

Following the incident, the IGSA officials viewed numerous photos and videos of the crash.  Even though the IGSA Officials did not feel Siegrist had intentionally pushed Shikaze, it was determined that Siegrist caused the incident.  The IGSA rule book states, "Overtaking competitors assume the responsibility of avoiding the lead competitor.  A racer who violates the
passing protocol will be penalized."   For this reason, Siegrist was disqualified and placed last (6th) in the heat.  Tim Del  Rosario-Rojas was moved up to second and Billy Meiners to third.  Graham  Buksa was scored in fourth and Shikazi in fifth.

Photo Sequence of the last corner incident