Uitsig Outlaw: Race Recap

Written By: Tom Courly
Photos By: Tom Courly

It was about time.

When Disco Stu and Fat Ant organised the first outlaw at The Gem earlier this year, the bar and stoke were high. So for this time round, riders would blast down a different run. Some higher-speed corners guaranteed heavy sauce, slippage, and roasted nipples…

The event started much later than planned, as some were still curing their hangovers from the previous night’s braai at the Baboons headquarters. But once peeps began to show face, runs got under way.

Lee Cation & Scoot Smith (Canada), Kyle Wester (US of A), Spoky Woky (France), and Skittles (Down Under), made this outlaw the biggest international longboarding race in SA this year, and the SA boys were keen to mark their turf. The tailwind made the track faster than usual, but guys were still ripping the hill (and themselves) apart, even though some preferred a more mature approach with Hot Heels just around the corner. Moving on.

FIRST ROUND Went by way too fast, but the usual suspects were fighting for 1st. This included: Major Tom, Yannick ZBB, Mike Upham, Nick Hook, and the Internationals who seem to be natural born rippers.

REPO RUNS That’s right. 3-man heats. Top 2 make it through. Number 3 goes into a Repo Round with 7 other number 3s. The top two get the golden ticket back in the main race. This happens at the end of every round until the 3 ‘semi’ finals.

Mike Upham earns the title of Repo Revenge, claiming the top spot in all his Repo Runs. Too bad a drag-race tussle with Ricki Allardice got the better of him, leaving space for Nick Hook to blast past both of them just before the line. Yeh buddy!

SOME TIME LATER Drama unfolds with bodies going in the wrong directions and hay flying onto the track. The usual local rippers were being given a hard time by Kyle Wester and Lee Cation who showed no regards toward good manners, claiming first place in each of their rounds.

FINALS The finals once again went by in a flash, and we saw some of the fastest runs of the day. Major Tom put on a good show fighting the internationals, but unfortunately came off 3rd best meters from the finish. The other finals were pretty mellow, with guys finishing in the same order they had started. Here are the results:

Kings:
1 – Kyle Wester
2 – Lee Cation
3 – Major Tom

Prince:
1 – Yannick
2 – Raoul
3 – Nick Hook

Lobster:
1 – David Sim
2 – Skittles
3 – Scoot Smith (DNS)

AFTERPARTY Yoshi from Baboons had the bright idea to bring some beer kegs, which had nicely cooled down by the time the race was over. Beers were poured, roasties got the blue treatment (thanks Ricki), and smiles were the order of the day. Big thanks to Fat Ant, the Sagra Crew, and to Mike Upham for making this day possible. Thanks to Lee Cation for sponsoring the prizes.

Closing comment: What a rad event, filled with even rader people. Make sure to be there next time around, as The Gem will no longer be skate friendly in a few months. And to step it up once more, the next outlaw will happen at night!

Tom.