There was a certain degree of uncertainty before today’s racing. A narrow and short course and a lot of boats. But all credit to the drivers and observers who safely navigated races which saw 3 to 4 boats simultaneously powering around the turn in front of the crowds.
From my point of view, one of the the most unfortunate incidents of the day was when Adelaide Cox of New Zealand was doing a beautiful job of holding 2nd position in Junior girls when she fell and was taken out of the event with a broken ankle/foot.
I’ve Twittered all day with the results and some of the days’ action, but the final official results will be posted on the official worlds results. As I’m also doing the live commentary, I am limited in how much info I can Twitter during the races but I hope it gives those not in Belgium, a little taste of the action in Belgium.
Men’s F1 had to be the most riveting of the day with a sensational battle between Wayne Mawer and Todd Haig racing side by side. Mawer stealing ground on the straights and Haig gaining it all back on the inside line at the turns. A beautiful piece of driving by Randy Davis who was turning his Nordic on a sixpence.
Similarly Nico Bertels drove like a true professional and Dimitri Bertels skied in very fine style into a well deserved 3rd position just behind Mawer.
Stout lost touch with the leaders early on, as did Proctor. Darren Kirkland went in at the end of his first lap when he suffered from slack rope and that was the end of his chances with the front runners. His times during the race were up amongst some of the quickest laps.
Tomorrow is a rest day and I’m sure some teams will be inspecting the venue for round 2 on Tuesday – Genk. Genk will be rougher than today. Some say it’s worse than Viersel whilst others say it’s about the same.
Antwerp will be round 3 on Friday and the fastest race venue, then of course the final at Viersel will no doubt be an outstanding event with a massive atmosphere along with everything the Diamond Race offers and more. See official race dates & times here
As soon as photos, results and video footage is online, I shall let you know.
