Sarah Quita Offringa und Antoine Albeau gewinnen den ersten PWA Slalom des Jahres 2015 nach 2 kompletten Eliminations bei den Herren, bzw. 4 Wettfahrten bei den Damen. Antoine Albeau startet damit perfekt in die neue Saison und ist vom Start auf dem Weg zum Hattrick. Sarah-Quita Offringa ist auch in diesem Jahr die Dame die es zu schlagen gilt.
Nach einem wolkigen und relativ kühlen Start in den Tag setzte sich doch noch Sonne und die damit verbundene Thermik am Strand von Ulsan durch. Direkt wurde mit der 3. Elimination der Herren gestartet, doch die Windbedingungen stellten sich als zu leicht heraus und schnell wurde zu den Damen gewechselt. 2 Eliminations konnten die Mädels noch durchziehen und Lena Erdil war kurz davor ihren ersten PWA Slalomsieg einzufahren. Elimination 3 ging an die Türkin, doch feiern war noch nicht drin denn auch eine letzte Wettfahrt sollte sich noch ausgehen. Sarah-Quita Offringa “cruiste” hier nicht nur zum Sieg des Winners Final, sondern darf sich über ihren nächsten Eventsieg freuen. Einige Highlight Bilder des Tages findet ihr unten – den kompletten Bericht des Tages sowie Elimination Ladders auf www.pwaworldtour.com
Sarah Quita Offringa (Starboard/NeilPryde) and Antoine Albeau (RRD/NeilPryde) successfully fend off the rest of the fleet on a windy closing day of the 2015 Ulsan PWA World Cup. As the day started of cool and overcast, there was no guarantee the thermal winds would actually come through. But the Jinha Beach wind machine switched back on around lunchtime, setting the stage for another round of slalom fireworks.
The men started their 3rd elimination but the conditions have been too light to compete and yesterday’s standings remained as they were with Antoine Albeau (RRD/Neil Pryde) winning the first title of the year, Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic/North Sails) in second and Josh Angulo (Angulo/Gun Sails) in third.
With the men’s competition wrapped up, the bay belonged to the girls for the rest of the afternoon and as luck would have it, conditions just seemed to get better and better. It was Erdil who lead the pack in elimination 3 , snatching victory from under Offringa’s nose and with it pole position in the event. But Erdil would have to hold off on celebrating, as the wind was still pumping and the call was made to do one more round. Right from the start, it was Offringa who dictated the pace, while Erdil didn’t have the best of starts. Offringa extended her lead throughout the race, with Cousin in second and Erdil watching her hopes for the event title shatter from third position. Offringa’s first position in the fleet was never in any danger and the Aruban crossed the finish line not only the winner of the heat, but of the event as well. Check out the highlight pictures of the day below and have a look at www.pwaworldtour.com for the full press release.
And there you have it. The 2015 PWA slalom season has got off to a flying start, with Antoine Albeau taking a first step to a world title hat trick in the men’s fleet, and Sara Quita Offringa proving she’s the woman to beat on the women’s side. With two rounds completed for the men and four for the women, the event’s top 10 and the current overall rankings are as follows
Men
1. Antoine Albeau (RRD/Neil Pryde)
2. Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic/North Sails)
3. Josh Angulo (Angulo/Gun Sails)
4. Ross Williams (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic) | 5. Pascal Toselli (99 NoveNove/Point-7) | 6. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard/Point-7) | 7. Matteo Iachino (Fanatic/North Sails) | 8. Arnon Dagan (RRD/NeilPryde) | 9. Marco Lang (Fanatic/North Sails) | 10. Steve Allen (Starboard/Severne)
Women
1. Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard/NeilPryde/Maui Ultra Fins/Mystic)
2. Lena Erdil (Patrik/Point-7/Mystic/AL360)
3. Fulya Ünlü (Starboard/Severne)
4. Delphine Cousin (Starboard/Gun Sails) | 5. Cagla Kubat (Starboard/Severne) | 6. Ayako Suzuki (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic) | 7. María Andrés (Fanatic/Gun Sails/Mystic/AL360) | 8. Marion Mortefon (Patrik/Gun Sails) | 9. Mio Anayama (Starboard/NeilPryde) | 10. Marion Dusart (Patrik/Gun Sails/Flymount)
Text: Axel van Weel / PWA Worldtour – pics by Eric Bellande / PWA
