The race was tight and fair down the APAC mountain and the show hasn’t failed to come along the day. Drafting became an important key of the strategy in the top section and keeping your mind focused in the last turns was one of the critical point to take care if if you did not want to blow your run.
Thiago Lessa confirmed his domination on the track, winning the Open class and leaving away any chances to be passed by Carlos Paixao in the last turns. Douglas Silva was nearly crossing the finish line in the third position, but a fast Pepe La Porte made the pass gaining a deserved third place.
F: How did the final run go down?
T: The final run was very tight and crazy, more than I was expecting. “Guto” Paixao and “Dalua” Silva pushed out in front of me and it was hard to get both, but I kept tucking and passed Dalua before and Carlos after the fast S. I took the risk to lead the pack but I did my moves properly and even if we had some contact with the others, I took the best line keeping close the door for any pass.
F: Did you expect this result or did you fear anyone?
T: I’m not surprised for the results, I really believed in it but, you never know, everything can happen in a race and last time I crashed while pushing, so I was taking care not to go over my limit on this one, being more calm and confident.
F: Will we see you this weekend in Colombia for the last run of the SouthAM Championship?
T: Yes I will go to Colombia keeping testing my new brand of wheels this year.
The Brazilian Melissa Brogni, as well, confirmed what she showed during the qualifications as she gained her victory in the last turns where she kept more grip than Luana Campos, crossing the line as first with Luana in second position. The other Luana, Luana Chaves Dos Santos Silva followed the girls in third position completing the podium for the Women class.
Luge brought its fair amount of adrenalin too: Ryan Farmer kept focus and got the top spot on the podium despite the fastest qualifying time of William Stephenson on the game. Alexandre Machado was on fire on this race too but wasn’t able to overtake the gringos in the finals and he concluded with a solid 3rd place.
F: William's qualification time did not scare you yesterday: How was the final run down the APAC?
R: I knew William high top speed was no joke but after watching from behind in several practice runs I understood I was faster in the turns and as being a lightweight rider I'm no stranger to playing the draft game. Alexandre was a wild card. His push was incredible and he'd easily gained almost 20 feet on me in the first straight. Coming into the fastest chicane I watched them both apexing it too early, giving me a nice exit speed into a solid double draft pass. With William working on getting around Alexandre it gave me enough time to close the doors and secure my first World Cup win.
Adriano Silveira is the winner of the Master class followed by Leonardo Discacciati and Silon Garcia in third place. In Junior class Murilo Arauj won the race followed by Bruno Vieira Vidal and Arthur Mikai Junqueira De Oliveira
