January 2013 came
around! It’s a new year. The Hawaii Winter Outlaw Series is on event 5 out of
6. “ NOOOOOOOO! Don’t End!” …. You may
be screaming in your head, but not to worry… the last two events are epic ones!
On Jan. 19, 2013… The
3rd annual Hawaiian Death Slalom x BDRCX edition went down on the
beautiful North Shore of Oahu. The sun was shining, the weather was sweet… and
20+ racers were ready for another great event!
Wheel turners
gathered at a beach park close to the race course to get signed up and briefed
on how the event was going to go down. Riders had a bunch of questions about
how the obstacles I had brought in my truck ( kickers, cones, planks of wood,
ect) were going to be set up... but I figured id let them wait till we got to
the hill to see how the course would be.
So, we headed over to
the hill, lugged all the obstacles up the closed road… then I made the
announcement that id be making up the race course on the spot. Instantly
everyone started telling me how they wanted the course…. But I just mozied on
up the hill placing cones, ramps and Ollie obstacles anywhere I thought looked
challenging. Once finished the course was EPIC.
Racers had to run and
jump on their boards to start. Then once on board there were two kickers to
greet them. Following the interesting start riders are forced to weave through
a series of tight cones… many forcing them to drift to stay on course. As soon
as the road starts to flatten out they are greeted with a series of kickers,
banked cone corners and barriers of wood to Ollie/early grab/ run over. All
terrain skaters had the advantage!
The course was set,
riders got to test ride it for a bit, a 1 vs 1 race bracket was set up… and
HawaiiDeathSlalom BDRCX got under way!
From round one we saw
some entertaining racing! Some heats with multiple passes in the cone section,
others with kicker crashes, some event with tangle ups at the starting board
grab. But no matter if racers won or lost every one was stoked and amped to
ride the course more!
Moving onto the next
round we have our top 16 riders left and heats are stacked like always. There
is also still a nice mix of speedboards and dub kicks in the brackets so it’ll
be fun to see which plank o wood will win!
Run, Early grab or Ollie... they all work.
Another round of
intense battles were had, and we were onto our top 8! Rhys vs Maika, Macho vs
Toa, Dante vs KJ and Miles vs Nikko.
At this point of the
event it looked all racers had a planned strategy planned out in their head...
A place to pass, to sand bang or not to sand bag, block the other rider… but
applying what they had planned in the heat of the moment seemed to be a
challenge for most.
The ones that held it
together and kept their line the cleanest, moved on to the semi finals!
Heats were Maika
McWayne vs Dante Alston and Toa Nanpei vs Nikko Kamanuwai. All SHREDDERS, 3 dub
kicks, 1 speedboard.
First off down the
hill was Maika and Dante. Both of them started quick and made it through the
first kicker smooth. They went into the cone section close. Dante was able to
force his was into the perfect lines, pushing Maika wide making him slide out. From
there Dante held a solid gap for the rest of the heat.
The start line kicker
Next up was Toa and
Nikko. These two also had a clean start and went side by side into the cone
section. Toa held it together through the close racing but Nikko slid out
trying to stay on his ass. BUT Nikko jumped up and went charging down the hill
to chase Toa… no giving up! Once the riders came into the first Ollie obstacle
Nikko closed the gap. Once they made it over, Nikko made the swoop in the next
cone section, forcing Toa to miss a cone. Both riders were neck and neck at the
finish but Nikko moved onto the final.
We fixed up the course
for the last round, then our finalist headed back up the hill.
First down the hill
was the Consi’s. Maika vs Toa. These two both stayed on board and kept it clean
through out the course. A flawless consi! But making it down first, steezing it
out all day, was Toa Nanpei!
Now for the finals.
Nikko vs Dante. Both riders are quick to run to their boards off the start.
Making it over the kickers with no problem. Nikko gets into the turney cone
section first, but its not long before Dante makes a pass on the inside. Nikko
is able to hold it together and make it inside Dante by the next cones…. BUT
the quick maneuvering threw Nikko off a bit forcing him to drop a hand and
slide out. Nikko was quick to get back on board, but It wasn’t enough. Dante
got a gap flying fast and clean down the rest of the course to come across the
finish in 1st place, with the only speed board in the finals! HIS 3rd HWOS SERIES WIN THIS SEASON.
Dante has now claimed half of the series. There’s no stopping this kid!
Following the finals
riders skated the course a little more before cleaning up. Then we headed down
the hill and across the street to the beach for some awards. All of our top
riders were STOKED on the schwag and cash they received thanks to our ALWAYS
supportive sponsors. Completes, decks, trucks, wheels, gloves, glasses, tees…
everything any skater could dream of getting. Plus some!
One more Hawaii
Winter Outlaw Series event SUCCESSFUL. One more to go for this season!
Thanks to all the riders
for showing up, helping carry ramps and shredding.
See you guys at The
Festival of Sugar and Love 5!
H.W.O.S 5- Hawaiian
Death Slalom x BDRCX
1st Dante
Alston
2nd Nikko
Kamanuwai
3rd Toa
Nanpei
4th Maika
McWayne
a HUGE mahalos to…
CALIBER TRUCK CO
Blood Orange Bushings
Landyachtz
Bear Trucks
Hawgs Wheels
Rayne
Orangatang
808 Skate
Rip City Skate
Magic Bearings
WheelTurnerHawaii.com
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