Last weekend in the lovely Cēsis Olympic center skiing and biathlon complex ‘’Priekuļi’’ the legendary skateboarding event ‘’Priekuļi cup’’ was held, which was also 3rd round of Latvian downhill series 2013.
‘’Priekuļi cup’’ was famous skateboarding event in Baltic states in the 80-90’s in the last century and in few previous years ‘’Priekuļi cup’’ is back with a international longboarding race.
This time not only fastest Latvian racers competed (only our fastest female rider Anna Monika Gailīte was not present), but also guests from Belarus and Estonia.
On Saturday speed trap event was held from Saules kalns (Sun hill) – last years record 69km/h by Gustavs Gailītis was beaten by Jānis Jirgens (71km/h). To note – this definitely is not the fastest hill in Latvia, but it is legendary, that is why speed trap event was held there – in previous event ‘’Alpaca speed festival’’ riders reached speed approximately 80km/h.
After the speed trap, qualification was held for downhill – 4th race in a row Gailītis managed to qualify first, with Jānis Jirgens and Āris Muitnieks just behind. 4th surprisingly was masters divison rider and one of the most experienced riders Arguts Skudrēns.
Fastest junior was Liepāja city representative Toms Dreiblats, but fastest women – Zhanna Romanvoich from Belarus!
First day ended with a slide contest – Latvian and Belarus riders showing great sliding skills was a great show for other riders and spectators – Kaspars Balamovskis was crowned as the Slide master!
On Sunday all the finals where held and in a super tight heats ‘’Priekuļi cup 2013’’ champion in juniors was Kārlis Karlsons, 2nd Toms Dreiblat, 3rd Ernests Liepiņš, but 4th Estonian rider Ņikita Izratov.
In women group Belarus rider Zhanna Romanvoich dominated the race, with Elza Volonte taking second as the fastest Latvian rider. In a close 3rd was Līga Žvingule, but 4th – Elīza Marija Gailīte.
Masters division was dominated by legendary Arguts Skudrēns, 2nd Latvian masters champion 2013 Ints Barkāns and 4th Ģirts Vārtiņš.
In open group after super intense semi finals Gailītis, Muitinieks, Klāvs Balamovskis and Alvils Bijons got in the big final. After the start Gailītis was in the lead, but after some small mistakes in the middle of the course and other riders tried to pass him. Muitinieks succeeded and got his first win in a longboard competition! Balamovskis wasn’t so lucky and crashed in the last corner and finishing 4th for second year in a row. 2nd was Gailītis, 3rd Bijons, ending an awesome and emotional weekend in ‘’Priekuļi ‘’ complex!
Organizers Latvian skateboarding federation say big THANK YOU to every participant and all the sponsors – RIPO/longboarding.lv, ‘’Battery energy drink’’, ‘‘Fullbag skateboards’’, ‘’NRJ reklāmai’’, ‘’’stampa.lv’’, ‘’Corny gold’’, ‘’ZIMTS’’.
Next and last race of Latvian longboarding downhill series 2013 will be held on 14-15th September in Madona city, sports and recreation complex ‘’Smeceres Sils’’, where also slalom and skate&shoot competition races will be held!
Final positions:
1.Āris Muitinieks
2.Gustavs Gailītis
3.Alvils Bijons
4.Klāvs Balamovskis
5.Ints Barkāns
6.Kārlis Karlsons
7.Toms Dreiblats
8.Jānis Jirgens
9.Arguts Skudrēns
10.Ģirts Vārtiņš
11.Vlads Kuzminskis
12.Artjoms Smirnovs
13.Kaspars Balamovskis
14.Ritmārs Stivriņš
15.Oleg Ramanovicy
16.Andrejs Solncevs
17.Dāvis Andersons
18.Edžus Konošonoks
19.Alberts Viegliņš
20.Elīza Gailīte
21.Valdis Vītoliņš
22.Liene Bērziņa
23.Henrijs Geidāns
24.Līga Žvingule
25.Zhanna Romanovich
26.Ernests Liepiņš
27.Elza Volonte
28.Ņikita Izratov
29.Baiba Grunsberga
30.Salvis Skarainis
31.Aivars Kārkliņš
32.Aliaxei Litvinsky
33.Arta Skudrēna
2013 standings here.
