Whitewater Grand Prix!

The  2012 Whitewater Grand Prix has come to an end this week in Chile. A massively huge thanks to Patrick Camblin for his inspiring and ambitious dream and pulling together this fantastic event together with Emily Meredith!! Also shot on the media crew, who did a fantastic job capturing the epicness! In last shot to the most amazing bus driver Carlos, we could not have a Grand Prix without him!

STAGE 1
The White Water Grand Prix started with an epicly epic first stage on the Rio Gol Gol, 300km south of Pucon. A rain front covered the valley and gave the river a juicy flow! The race course was a 4 to 5 minutes course with 6 main drops followed closely after each other, including a 20-footer closely after the start and ending at Princessa another sick 20-foot waterfall.

The day before the race the river came up heaps and the consequences of massing up your lines were getting bigger! Everybody had two race runs spread over two days. After the first stage Mike Dawson (NZL) and Nouria Newman (FRA) came out on top and in the lead for the 2012 White Water Grand Pirx!

Videos of stage 1!

STAGE 2
The second stage of the Whitewater Grand Prix was held on an intense course on the Rio Puesco. The rain was still poring down and provided juicy flows in the whole area. This intimidating and technical course challenged all of the competitors and provided a tight race.

At the end of the day Eric Deguil (FRA) managed to get the top spot, closely followed by Evan Garcia (USA) and Todd Wells (USA). In the chicks Nouria Newmann (FRA) crushed it again in her second run, taking her second win in the WWGP.  I (Martina Wegman) placed second and Katrina van Wijk (CAN) in third.

Videos of stage 2!

STAGE 3
River Levels have risen like crazy and the original giant slalom course planned for race 3 was no longer an option. The stage 3 site was set for the Rio Nevados. This is one of the most epic creeks around. Super clean slides drops and boogie water. The course included a sick 15 foot drop into a rowdy slide with a narrow must make slot at the bottom for a fast line.

Team Liquid Logic paddler Isaac Levinson (USA) ended up styling the stout course and taking first place ahead of Dane Jackson (USA) with Frenchman Eric Deguil coming in 3rd place. The women were crushing it. Nouria Newman posted a super fast time coming in 1st. I got in 2nd with Katrina Van Wijk in 3rd.

Video of stage 3!

STAGE 4
The second to last and last stage of the Whitewater Grand Prix were held on the Fualeufu deep in Patagonia. Both stages where totally different than the previous but equally as epic! Stage four and five were held on a pushy and unpredictable roller-coaster ride down the minefield of massive waves and huge holes.

Stage four was an exciting boater cross down the infamous Meso y Menos rapid on burly big blue whitewater! The field was stout and the boatercross was definitely a hard race to win! In the end the men final was packed with the current 5 overall leaders of Eric Deguil, Todd Wells, Isaac Levinson, Evan Garcia & Youngster Dane Jackson. It was Dane Jackson who took the win and became a hot contender for winning the 2012 Grand Prix. The chicks’ race was also on fire, with tight lines and tight racing. In the end it was Katrina Van Wijk who took the win, with me in second and Nouria Newmann in third place, but still on the leading score board.

Video of stage 4!

STAGE 5

Tiredness and soar bodies definitely hit some of the competitors after the 4 stages, but couldn’t dampen the spirit as people were super fired up for the last race, stage 5! On an overcast Friday the 2012 Whitewater Grand Prix came to an end in tight to the wire enduro race on a massively high Futaleufu River.

The general mood was amping as each paddler knew where they stood and who they had to beat to move up places before the race. This set the scene of a hugely competitive race with numerous mini battles taking place throughout the pack.

Dane Jackson dominated his way to the finish line to not only claim stage 5 but also to be crowned as the Whitewater Grand Prix Champion for the 2nd consecutive time. Eric Deguil fought hard with Evan Garcia to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively in the race & overall in the standings. Isaac Levinson & Todd Wells rounded out the top 5.

In the women French flyer Nouria Newman showed why she had won 3 out of the previous 4 stages and fought hard for this stage title and the overall.

Check out www.whitewatergrandprix.com for the video of stage 5 and the latest news about the WWGP. Also check out www.facebook.com/whitewatergrandprix for tons of amazing shots and updates!