The Grom Bomb Splashdown

Hopkin Skate seems to be the local hangout for all the grom skaters these days, we have seen numbers rise dramaticly every month with more and more kids getting stoked on longboarding. Every school holidays the shop is jam packed with kids frothing on the skate gear, meeting up for sessions and just general stoke. There are so many kids around the Sydney area ready to shred these days it's not funny. Kam and myself have put together a few ride days in the past few weeks teaching about racing techniques, and we figured it was time to organize a small race for them.

With the school holidays coming to an end, we thought it would be cool to let them finish it off with a race through a fun little bike path not too far from the Hop Shop. The track was nothing too intense, it was about 300m long with a chicane, average speeds and a tight 90 degree right hand turn at the bottom. It was the perfect track for those who are new to the whole racing scene and the spot was very grom-friendly.

As the date drew closer, the weather forecast were little grim. We were in for some wet weather, however this was not going to stop us. One big part of downhill skateboard racing is on race day you have to skate, not matter what the conditions are like. This being the first race for many people who attended, it was great to see how confident everyone was with skating in the wet and slippery conditions. Every single person there looked solid on their board, knew how to handle the slippery conditions and used solid breaking techniques to negotiate the final corner with other riders in close proximity.

We had 22 show up to battle out, with a 1-on-1 format. Whoever won their heat made it through to the next round with the loser being eliminated. The finals and consolation finals however were run as a 3-man heat due to the numbers in the racing brackets. Each heat as exciting to watch, as all the skaters were racing full-boar into the final corner with many slips and stacks. Nearly everyone there was drenched and covered in mud from slipping out on the final corner. Watching a lot of new faces pick up the game and dial in the track with confidence was rad to see, as the heats moved on skaters figured out their lines and breaking techniques to get around the final corner after a solid drafting battle through the chicanes and take victory to move on to the next round.

In the consolation final it was Caspian, Alex G and Tim racing for 4th, 5th and 6th position. Caspian was solid and made it through the corner to win the consi and take 4th place, with Alex and Tim crashing behind and scrambling for their boards. Alex just managed to cross the line for 5th and Time took 6th. In the finals it was all-out carnage. Hunter, Liam and Grant had all been skating solid all day and made it to the final round, and all 3 of them came barreling into the final corner at full speed in a tight little pack. Hunter was out in front but managed to slip out and crashed into the mud, however he had blocked the line in his crash with the 2 following skaters sliding right into him. This then turned out in Hunter's favour as he was the first one back up and managed to cross the line first to take the win with Liam following for 2nd place and Grant taking 3rd. The smile on Hunter's face was enormous, as it was his first ever race. Stoked to see him skating solid all day, out in front in every single heat. Hopefully we will see these groms out on a racetrack soon skating against some of Australia's best.

Big thanks to Orangatang and Sector 9 for supplying wheels and stickers to 1st and 2nd place, and thanks to Hopkin for dishing out a skate tool for 3rd and a few packets of bearings for 4th, 5th, and 6th place. Those guys will really need them after a soggy day of racing (and seized bearings).

After it was done, we figured it would be fair to send all the guys who were out in the first round back up the top for a china bomb. As they had to sit out and watch the rest of the racing we could see they were all still keen to skate. Mackenzie was the first across the line and scored himself a new packet of bearings.

Stoked to see so many turn up despite the crappy weather, and big thanks goes to Kam and Arvin for helping out on the day. Hopefully we can get more of these smaller introductory events happening across the country to further expand our already rapidly growing sport!

Words by Jackson Shapiera

Video Edit - Cameron Kite