PKRA - Lake and Kalinina take charge in Turkey

Bryan Lake and Elena Kalinina are the standouts of today’s Burn Slalom World Cup in Burc beach Istanbul. They both won three races giving Lake the points lead and Elena is a close second behind Boenniger. The winds were fairly strong in the morning and gradually dropped off in the afternoon when the racers used their biggest kites. Two more exciting days of slalom racing remain and the chase for the Turkey Slalom World Cup is still wide open.



The racing format remained the same with three heats in the first round, two semifinals and a final. The first two races were done with 4 men finals and last two with 6 men giving more riders a chance to compete for a top spot. All the races were exciting with lead changes, crashes, tangles and spectacular finishes.



The first men’s final of the day was between Lake, Smith, Gruber and Bridge. At the start Lake was in third and accelerated to the front of the pack to reach the first mark first. Bryan kept his lead all the way to the finish followed by Smith. It was on the last leg that Gruber made a mistake, he hit a wave and crashed and allowed Bridge to move into 3rd.
of Men,s final of Race #4

The second final featured Lake, Kerneur, Smith and Cakir. Once again Lake started in the back and on the second leg of the race accelerated to the front of the pack by passing all three riders. Kerneur tried to challenge him on the 3rd leg but Lake was too fast. The battle for third was between Cakir and Smith, but Smith crashed hard and Cakir was unable to close the gap with Kerneur.

of Men,s final of Race #5

The third final had Lake, Smith, Kerneur, Bacher, gruber, Cakir and Vannucci. This was after the lunch break when the seeding was redone and the competition changed to a 6 men format. Lake got a redress to advance to the final in the previous semifinal when he tangled in the previous semifinal. With 7 men at the start the action was much tougher; Lake and Kerneur were able to break from the pack early and get the lead and stayed away from the rest of the fleet. Vannucci got his best result staying in from of Smith.



The last final of the day started with a little controversy because in the semifinal Cakir was disqualified at the last mark when he tangle with Vannucci on the last mark and Vannucci advanced to the final. The last race of the day was the most exciting with Oliver Bridge winning in front of Lake and Vannucci got another 3rd place in from of Kerneur.

The women’s races were dominated by Elena Kalinina who stayed in front for three races and probably would have won a fourth if she had not gone to the wrong mark and not completed the course. Boenniger got another win and is still the point’s leader. Ozturk and Ceylan the top Turkish riders are still battling for the 3rd place overall.



This was one of the most intense days of racing we have ever had on the PKRA, with many lead changes, challenging conditions and extremely competitive racers. Two more days of competition still remain before we crown the winners of the Burn Slalom World Cup. Keep tuning into the and follow us on and .