IGSA California Downhill Series Finals, 2007

The fifth and final race of the IGSA California Downhill Series was held on Saturday, May 19th.  It was another great day of racing at Bonelli Park with clear skies and warm temperatures.  21 Downhill Skateboarders battled it out in Downhill Skateboarding. John Rogers won all three of his heats to take the victory. He was closely followed by Roland Sumile in second and Georges Siddiqi in third. Danny Conner finished a very respectable fourth place coming back from a broken ankle that has kept him on the sidelines for over a month. A surprising Tom Hammond, who has been MIA from IGSA events for the past four years took fifth. Jimmy Flindt was a DNS in the final after finishing second in his semi final and then crashing hard in the runout. The reports are that Jimmy is okay and just suffering from some bad bruises and body aches. John Rogers also clinched the California Downhill Series Championship with his victory. Sumile finished the Championship in second and Conner in third.
 

In the Junior Downhill Skateboard Class for skaters 17 and under, it was Pete Eubank taking the victory and earning a new Sector 9 race deck. Josh Natividad finished second and Nick Natividad battled was third. Bret McCausiano and Dustin Hampton crashed hard in the second heat but, fortunately, neither skater was injured. There were a total of six juniors racing in the class. Nick Natividad earned the California Downhill Series Championship. Josh Natividad finished in second and Riley Meehan finished the Championship in third.

Brian Lee of Salt Lake City, UT took his second consecutive victory over John Rogers in the Open Street Luge Class. Matt Thiede finished third and Justin Tolman was fourth. Lee seems to have figured out something about the Bonelli course that is giving him some increased speed the past two races. However, even with two consecutive victories, it wasn't enough for Lee to beat Rogers in the Championship points. Rogers clinched his second consecutive California Downhill Series Championship with Lee a close second and Justin Tolman in third.
 
In Classic Luge, it was Riley Meehan earning the victory over Matt Thiede and Justin Tolman. The seven riders all rode together in three heats to determine the winner. Tolman's third place finish was enough for him to earn the Series Championship. Riley Meehan finished the Championship in second and Scott Peer was third.
 

Junior Street Luge and Classic Luge were all about Christian Conaway and Kyle Castenada. Both of these junior racers are on fire and getting faster with each race. Conaway took the victories and Series Championships in both classes but Castenada was always close and pushing hard. In one of the heats, the IGSA officials had to revert to video tape to confirm that Conaway had earned victory by only about two inches! Look for these two to resume their battle next season.
 
The Downhill Inline Skaters have proven to be a small but very dedicated group of California Downhill Series supporters.  Both Dave Lambert and Warren Focke showed their dedication by flying down from the Bay Area in the morning and immediately flying back after their races!  They didn’t even have time to stay for the awards ceremony!  Both Lambert and Focke were chasing Scott Peer for the Series Championship.  When it came down to the racing, it couldn’t have been any closer.  After three heats of racing, Peer and Lambert were tied in points!  The tie was broken based on qualifying times and since Peer was the number one qualifier, he earned the victory and the Series Championship, followed by Lambert and Focke.
 
In the Gravity Bike Class, Noah Rutherford beat Adam Cox.  Rutherford rode uncontested to victory in the Fairing Class.  Rutherford won both Class Championships by a wide margin.  Tabitha Collins was a no-show but still earned the Junior Gravity Bike Class Championship.
 
The IGSA would like to thank Sector 9, Random X Boardshop and Silverfish Longboarding.com for all of their generous support of the 2006-2007 California Downhill Series. The next racing season will start at Bonelli Park on October 27th.

Silverifish photogs were all out of town for this race, so we extend kudos to photographer Annette Wright for some great shots and to Bob Ozman for shooting some action shots and the podiums, while running an event with Marcus Rietema!  Check out the Event Gallery , for the podium shots and all these, in larger format.