The second day of the Arica Chilean Challenge trials went up a gear today as some of the top seeds hit the water and put on a show in front of a mammoth crowd.
May 21st is a very important day in the history of Arica as the City celebrated with traditional dancers and parades.
The last four heats of the second round featured some outstanding performances with Adam Morley (South Africa) Renato Arellano (Chile) Bruno Kuster (Brazil) & Cristobal Sciaraffia (Chile) all dominating the line up with heat wins.
Round three introduced the trials top seeds and the intensity of the competition lifted with the GQS frontrunners all vying for valuable points and a place in the main event.
Reunion Islands Charlie Chaplet set the standard early with deep tubes and stylish positioning to move into the quarters.
Sam Bennett (Australia) was coming off a win in the Peruvian 6 Star GQS and struggled to find his rhythm in his first ever surf at El Gringo and finished third behind Chaplet and Roberto Bruno (Brazil)
"Yes it wasn't the best game plan but I trained down the coast at Iquique for a week before arriving yesterday" said Bennett.
Others to impress today included Hugo Pinheiro (Portugal) Emiliano Tabare (Argentina) Kalani Lattanzi (Brazil) and Australians Mitch Rawlins, Tom Rigby and Chase O'Leary who all secured spots in the quarters.
The highlights of the day was undoubtedly the ten point rides from both Tom Rigby and Josh Garner who twisted and turned through deep multi section tubes and emerged to the cheers of the crowd.
"Its insane out there" said Garner.
" This wave is so consistently good its ridiculous"
Results from the quarters were as follows
Quarter 1
Charly Chapelet Reunion 1
Danton Correa Chile 4
Emiliano Tabare Argentina 2
Julien Miremont France 3
Quarter 2
Hugo Pinheiro Portugal 4
Roberto Bruno Brazil 2
Kalani Lattanzi Brazil 3
Jones Russell Australia 1
Quarter 3
Chase O'Leary Australia 4
Renato Arellano Chile 2
Thomas Rigby Australia 1
Josh Garner Australia 3
Quarter 4
Mitch Rawlins Australia 1
Ardiel Jimenez Canary Is 4
David Phillips Hawaii 3
Alan Munoz Chile 2
When the dust settled the semi finals were decided and the following 8 riders will compete tomorrow for the 7 and join the Top 23 riders in the world and two wildcards in the main event.
Semi 1
Charly Chapelet Reunion
Emiliano Tabare Argentina
Jones Russell Australia
Roberto Bruno Brazil
Semi 2
Thomas Rigby Australia
Renato Arellano Chile
Mitch Rawlins Australia
Alan Munoz Chile
There is a strong chance that the first round of the GSS will get underway tomorrow immediately after the trials wraps up so stay tuned for a call at 8am local time for a possible 9am start.
The event will be webcast at ibaworldtour.com/live and redbull.tv
For regular updates go to the IBA facebook page where you can win World Tour paraphernalia just for joining facebook.com/ibaworldtour
When the contest is off, fans can have fun playing the wave of the event on YouRiding BODYBOARDING online game bit.ly/iPzzYj youriding.com/bodyboarding.
MUSIC// - Unouomedude - Frequency 7 - Frequency
