Greg Qualifies 1st In Lisbon, 2nd in Final by 4 Tenths!
19.5.2008
The ninth annual Lisbon Downtown race was held Saturday with racers taking to the infamous cobblestone streets and stairways winding down the old city from the Castello de Sao Jorge. As cats scrambled off the race track citizens watched from their laundry filled balconies to see Steve Peat, indisputably the King of Lisbon, take his 7th consecutive win with teammate Greg Minnaar in second, just 0.46secs behind him after qualifying first.
The downtown event takes place on Saturday with four scheduled practice runs, a semi-final and the final. Practice for the race had its ups and downs. Things went smooth for Greg but Peaty suffered a mechanical in his first run, and dislocated his finger in his last run.
IN the semi final Greg showed he meant business by finishing 2 seconds clear of second place Steve Peat. "My run was solid, but kind of hard because photographers step into the course and it's hard to set up for your lines. I managed to hit everything I wanted, and some sections I just rolled through really well."
IN the final, starting last, Greg set great pace but made a couple of errors, especially in the hairpin turn on the stairs when he lost momentum running wide. "The race was good today. I think Steve was lucky! I had to fake a mistake to let the old boy win! Actually, things went pretty good. I felt a bit of pressure from the old man. I made a little mistake on top and a costly mistake at the bottom, but that's racing and that's how it goes. I'm happy for Steve today, winning 7 times in a row!”
Peat says, "I’m stoked!! It's luck! I don't know why I get good luck here, but I did. After practice and qualifier I really didn't think I could win today. I knew everyone was fast, especially Greg. My qualifier was shocking. I really had to focus, but I've been in this situation before and I can deal with it. I'm really happy to take my Santa Cruz V-10 to my 7th win here!"
FINAL RESULTS:
1: Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:40.43
2: Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:40.89
3: Filip Polc (Kenda Tomac) 1:42.76
4: Sam Hill (Team Monster Energy Iron Horse) 1:43.38
5: Cedric Gracia (Commencal) 1:43.86
Semi Final Results:
1: Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:41.89
2: Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:43.74
3: Filip Polc (Kenda Tomac) 1:43.94
4: Roger Gonzalez (Spain) 1:44.01
5: Emanuel Pombo (Portugal) 1:44.10