ARE (Sweden) – World champion Arttu Pihlainen of Finland put his title defense back on track with a series of brilliant runs down the steepest Red Bull Crashed Ice course ever built, taking top honors in qualifying and leading 64 of the world’s most fearless skaters into Saturday’s finals with an victory in his heat. Kyle Croxall, a Canadian firefighter who leads the championship with 2 wins, had a dismal night and qualified in 21st position.
Germany’s Fabian Mels, in second place overall, also struggled in his four-man heat on the fastest track ever with second place that was only just good enough to advance to the 64-man finals. 10 Swedes – most racing for the first time down the ice track filled with jumps, bumps and hairpin turns - qualified by finishing first or second in their four-man heats.
An enthusiastic crowd in the snow covered winter sports resort of Are cheered their local Swedish heroes down the high-speed 420-meter track with its frightening 60-meter vertical drop. But the crowd booed a controversial decision to disqualify Martin Linqvist. He had beaten Canada’s Jim de Paoli for second place after they bumped into each other but the Swede was later DQ’d for the physical encounter. Team Sweden protested the ruling.
Pihlainen, a Finnish gym teacher said he liked the Are track with its high 60-degree angle Wall that riders have to navigate even though he crashed into a side board at one point on a high-speed turn. “I almost fell because my skate got caught in a rut. It’s nice having the fastest qualifying time but that won’t matter in the finals. I’ve got tight races ahead of me.”
The sport of Ice Cross Downhill demands a combination of agility, skating prowess and fearlessness going downhill. On Saturday the top two of each heat will advance and the field of 64 is whittled down through four rounds to a final four racing for victory in the final.
