Sanford Zirkle took the top prize for the second year in a row at the 2010 In Your Face Airboarding Race, narrowly beating street luge racers and extreme riverboarders in his quest to retain his status as the US Airboarding champ.
Racers came from all over the country to compete in this year's Airboard race, and despite very cold temps and heavy snow, the competition was heated from the start.
The course was set up with challenging slalom gates that airboarders had to navigate their way around while flying down the mountain at 35-40mph, culminating in a difficult left turn onto a long straightaway to the finish.
As it was in last year's event and the FLRC's, there were 3 separate events with points awarded for 1st (12), 2nd (7) and 3rd (5), with the overall winners being decided after all 3 events.
The plan was to have a timed speed race, a boardercross race, and a team race, but with a lower turnout than expected because of the blizzard in the region, the team race was scrapped in favor of removing the slalom gates and a mass-start, winner take all race.
SLALOM SPEED RACE
The speed race started the day off, and would set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. The course started out with two fairly lazy turns at the top followed by 3 very tight and fast turns as the course dropped over the edge, and ended with a hard left onto a straightaway to the finish.
Many racers clipped gates or slid much further sideways than they were expecting, given it was groomed but soft, as they'd just groomed about a foot of new powder.
Alicia Monahan flies down the fast Airboard course
After everybody had a chance to take a practice run, the times counted, with nearly all of them improving in the first round. Peter Lamka's 34.97 in the first round was enough to hold off all challengers, whose times in the second round improved but were not enough to knock him out of the top spot.
Speed Race Times:
- Peter Lamka (34.97)
- Neil Orta (35.21)
- David Auld (35.25)
- Josh Galt (35.34)
- Sanford Zirkle (35.42)
Peter Lamka slides into the finish to win the Airboard slalom speed race
BOARDERCROSS
The speed race times seeded the brackets for the boardercross, and since the numbers were low (only 11 of the expected 20+ competitors were able to make it to the event) there were only 3 heats followed by 2 semi-final heats and a finals with 4 racers.
Peter Lamka leads Sanford Zirkle through a turn during the semi-final heat of boardercross
Some controversy erupted after the final was all but set, with Peter Lamka and Sanford Zirkle advancing in their heat, and David Auld winning his.
But racers disagreed on who the final racer should be, Stephan Zirkle or Brandon Hagy, as there had been a lot of contact at the top in their heat, which led to Alicia Monahan missing a gate. So despite her finishing right on Auld's heels, she was out (it was a 15 second penalty for missing a gate).
Hagy had finished 3rd in the heat, as Zirkle had slammed into the final gate pole (that pole gave him trouble all day) and finished fourth. So Hagy thought that he was in the final.
But Josh Galt, who was running the event, had been taking video from the midpoint of the course, and after reviewing it, made the call that Hagy had actually missed the first gate as well, as he'd been in 4th at that point behind the pack and in a cloud of snow.
So Galt made the ruling that Stephan Zirkle was in the final, as he had not missed any gates. It was a ruling that would change the boardercross final, and the IYF Airboarding event overall.
It was also incorrect, as later video review and discussion with officials with a better view of the alleged missed gate were able to confirm.
In the final, Stephan Zirkle played the role of physical enforcer for the second year in a row, helping his dad Sanford by initiating contact with Peter Lamka in the final turn which caused a pileup - David Auld narrowly escaped from it but Sanford Zirkle missed entirely, and sped away free down the homestretch. Lamka recovered but was not able to catch up, and he finished in 4th.
Boardercross Results:
- Sanford Zirkle (38.67)
- David Auld
- Stephan Zirkle
- Peter Lamka
EXTREME DOWNHILL (MASS START)
With the team race concept not able to work because there were not enough numbers, the decision was made to remove the slalom gates and have a mass-start, winner-takes-all downhill race.
Racers mentally prepared for what was likely to be mass carnage and low
visibility, given that 10 airboarders would be hauling down a steep,
very powdery and fast slope. Josh Galt pulled up the gates and set up to get the best shots of the final corner, which promised to be wildly entertaining.
When the GO! signal was given, Lamka got off the line first and hit the snow in the lead, with Sanford Zirkle hot on his heels. At the corner, Zirkle took the inside line and shot ahead of Lamka, beating him in the sprint to the finish while the rest of the pack collided in a cloud of snowdust and finished far behind.
Extreme Race Results:
- Sanford Zirkle
- Peter Lamka
- Chris McBride
- Alicia Monahan
- Kevin Yount
The win sealed the 2010 In Your Face Airboarding Race championship for Zirkle and Lamka landed in 2nd, with David Auld accumulating enough points from his 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the other events to take 3rd overall.
L-R: David Auld (3rd), Sanford Zirkle (1st), Peter Lamka (2nd)
