Big scores & magnificent WA surf bless Drug Aware Pro

ASP 6 Star Prime WQS Mens Event
ASP 6 Star Prime WQS Womens Event
Surfers Point, Margaret River
26 March - 1 April 2007

Big scores and magnificent surf bless Day Four of Drug Aware Pro Margaret River

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 29 March, 2007 : - - The skies cleared, winds moderated from the offshore and fanned the swell to greet many of the world’s best male and female surfers today, with perfect four-to-six-foot (1.5-2m) surf on Day Four of the Drug Aware Pro Margaret River, Surfers Point, Western Australia.

With top-seeded surfers all in action, competitors knew that excellent scores were the only pathway through today’s heats. There were numerous outstanding performances, with 9-point-plus rides common throughout the day.

In the Men’s contest, former World Champion from 2000, CJ Hobgood (USA/Florida), set the scene early with a 9-point ride, but even that was not enough to win the heat against fellow Fosters ASP World Tour surfer Michael Campbell. Both surfers selected numerous excellent waves and progressed through the four-man heat format, with Campbell winning and Hobgood in second.

Following his heat, Hobgood commented on the conditions: “These are some of the best waves on the World Qualifying Series for sure. It’s a pleasure to surf heats when the waves are this good. It would be great if it stays like this throughout the event.” Campbell won the Margaret River event in 2003 and the super-competitor, known by his peers as the “Ginja Ninja”, looks set to be hard to beat this year.

Satisfied with his performance today, Campbell said: “I love it here at Margaret River. I always feel comfortable in the line-up and the swells that hit these outer reefs have extra energy compared to many of the locations we surf. Obviously I’d love to make the final and win, but this is a really tough field and there’s a long way to go until Sunday’s final. In surfing you can be surfing great one heat and then in the next things can easily go wrong. I’ll just stay focused and give it my best.”

The day’s highest-scoring heat winner today was Northern Beaches’ Sydney surfer Luke Stedman. Incredibly, Stedman caught only two waves in his heat, but posting scores of 8.00 and 9.57, that was all he needed to progress through in first place (as final heat tallies are scored on each surfer’s top two scoring rides).

“I had a great time out there,” Stedman said. “I’m not sure about my competitors, but I certainly enjoyed those two rides. The heat was a little wave-starved and I knew I was out in front throughout because the others in my heat simply couldn’t find the really good waves.”

Neco Padaratz (Bra), another former Margaret River contest champion (2004), was in great form today. Padaratz scored 16.57 out of a possible 20 comprehensively defeat Flynn Novac (Haw).

Today’s surfing action also saw the girls enter the water.

Their break, on the southern reef known as ‘Southside’, also delivered excellent conditions for Rounds One and Two of their event. Possibly the biggest upset of the day occurred in Heat One of Round Two of the women’s contest, with local West Australian surfer Claire Bevilacqua (City Beach) eliminated in third place behind Juliana Quint (Bra) and Nikita Robb (Zaf).

Later in the round, the Drug Aware Pro’s highest-ranked surfer (across both the men’s and women’s competitions), World No. 2 Melanie Redman-Carr kept the local hopes well and truly alive by easily winning her heat. Other girls to excel in the long peeling righthand reef waves at Southside, included former World Champion (2004) Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), Jacqueline Silva (Bra) and Karina Petroni (USA).

One of the most anticipated heats of the day was local favourite Jake Paterson’s (Yallingup, WA) appearance in the final heat of Round Three. The local hero, who recently announced his retirement from Fosters ASP World Tour, showed the crowd his surfing prowess, proving his capabilities of winning here this year. He produced a polished performance which saw him comfortably defeat Hank Gaskell (Hawaii).

Relaxed after his win today, Paterson said: “It’s easy to compete now. There’s no pressure at all on me and I’m out there simply having fun. I love it like this and it’s the start of a whole new part of my life.”

Melanie Redman Carr : photo Robertson/ASP

Tomorrow’s surf conditions are expected to drop slightly, but will still be clean early for another big day of competition on both the Mainbreak for the Men’s contest and the Southside break for the Women’s.

Spectator Information

Tomorrow’s action kicks off at Surfers Point from 7.00am. Entry is free from Monday to Thursday (March 26 to 19) and from Friday to Sunday (March 30 to April 1) is only $8 per person or $15 for families (two adults, two children under 12). Children six and under are admitted free. Ticket includes free bus transfers to and from Surfers Point. Parking is free.

For further information on the 2007 Drug Aware Pro Margaret River presented by O’Neill, and to watch the event live online, go to www.drugawarepro.com.

Major sponsors of the event include Healthway / Drug Aware, Tourism Western Australia, EventsCorp and O’Neill. Support sponsors include Department of Sport & Recreation, Chill by Brownes, Tooheys Extra Dry, Odyssey 2020, Coca-Cola, Leeuwin Estate, Nova 93.7, The Sunday Times, Margarets Beach Resort, MR Law, Shire of Augusta Margaret River, Tracks Magazine, Surftech, srosurf.com, Surfersvillage, Surfing WA and ASP Australasia.