Tropical flash flooding ruined the race, but the results were enough to guarantee Pender Har-bour longboarder Scott "Scoot" Smith the 2008 International Gravity Sports Association (IGSA) championship.
Smith's eighth-place finish at the Malarrara Pro Teutonia World Cup race in Teutonia, Brazil clinched his victory as 2008's total points leader. The three-day event was limited to racing on just one day (Oct. 24), since heavy rain and thunderstorms created unsafe conditions and precluded racing on the following two days.
Smith also won this year's designated "world championship" race, the Maryhill Festival of Speed held in Goldendale, Wash. in August, making him the world's undisputed downhill skateboarding champ.
"The only real risk was that last year's winner, Kevin Reimer, would win again," said Eric Basil, owner of Silverfish Longboarding. Despite being "rough, bumpy and undulating," the Teutonia course's straightaways make it potentially the fastest in the world, Basil said. Had rain not washed out the three-day event, a new world speed record was a possibility, he added.
"Smith has an extremely clean tuck, but does he have enough weight [to win]? We all wanted to find out," Basil said of the lean-built Smith. "Maybe next year."
The race results were awarded based on the first day's qualifying run results. Brazil's Douglas Silva earned victory with a run of just over 1:20. Vancouver's Kevin Reimer finished second with 1:23.46, while Brazil's Alves Everton finished third with 1:24.20. Smith finished 10th with a time of 1:25.85.
Over the 11 races so far this season, Smith, 21, has won three races, finished second twice and placed third once, to reach 1,783 points, 76 more than second place Reimer, who no longer has any mathematical chance of beating Smith in the standings. Results are calculated using a rider's four best races, and Canadians now hold the top three spots in the standings, with only South Africa's Hot Heels race remaining to round out the season in December.
"Last summer, the Canadian invasion began talk about earth-shaking," Basil said. "The Canadians showed up and turned the world on its ears."
