Thursday 8 October 2015

Joe Baldwin bags victory at ‘Shred O Grande Freeride 2′...

Joe took a fantastic win in Spain recently & here he tells us all about it:

Joe on the first corner in the final heat (his race-face is definitely on here)...
"The steep top section sling-shotted you into this right-left combo. The line you hit is between the manhole covers and the massive crack in the road. This road is brutal to race because there is no room for error. Miss your line and you might get bucked off your board by an unruly manhole cover, apocalyptic earth fissure or a random wave in the asphalt. The final corner was the most technically difficult I’ve skated in a long time. Once you linked 2 apexes between a shrub, a depressed manhole cover and a janky curb you had to bank really hard to the next righty where you had literally half a second to breathe before you set up the pre-drift initiation. If you slid to early, you had too much speed to make the corner when you hooked up. If you slid too late you were in the hay. If you slid just right, you still had to hunt for the apex hidden by bushes. I took the win at this event after some brutal knockout racing rules. You had to win your qualifying heats to reach the finals. 

You won or you lost, simple. Amazing roots-style race trace from Shred O Grande. 
I’d give this track a Gnar Factor 8/10 and a Tech Factor 7/10."

Joe at the back of the line-up... he says "Had to make a crazy pass to take the win!"
 Many thanks for taking the time to tell us about it Joe, we really appreciate it & all of us at SMB Bearings Ltd send you our love & congratulations on your success.
Joe's victory even made the papers!  If your Spanish is up to it, you can check out the full story here :-)