GKA Kite-Surf World Cup Ibiraquera 2024 - Tour heads to Ibiraquera for penultimate stop
by Ian MacKinnon 19 Oct 2024 02:56 AEDT
19-26 October 2024
Gemma Soloman - GKA23 Cauipe Strapless day 2 © Svetlana Romantsova
The Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour is set to debut in the Brazilian break of Ibiraquera, where the Kite-Surf discipline makes its penultimate call of the season.
The Ibiraquera stop is scheduled to be the first of two back-to-back calls in Brazil, after which the 2024 Kite-Surf world champions will be crowned.
Cape Verde-bred Airton Cozzolino (ITA) and France's Capucine Delannoy head the standings but their leads over rivals have shrunk after both were beaten at the last tour stop in Dakhla, Morocco.
Cozzolino clinched his crown in Brazil last year after a title race that went down to the wire. He opened the defence of his crown with a big win at the start of the season on home waters in Cape Verde.
Campaign faltered
But in Sylt, Germany, his campaign faltered when he was out in the semi-final and only managed fifth place overall. Again in Dakhla Cozzolino was edged out into third place, cutting his rankings lead heading to Ibiraquera.
Two-time and former world champion, Australia's James Carew, stormed back from an 18-month injury break and took back-to-back wins in Germany and Morocco that moved him up the rankings to fourth.
Carew missed the opening stop of the year, but with five stops scheduled in total he will be able to discard that score, putting him in a strong position for the title.
In Brazil, locals Gabriel Benetton, Pedro Matos and Sebastian Ribeiro will be expecting that home-water advantage will give them a leg up and keep their challenges on track. Benetton was the sensation of Sylt, where he took second place.
Brazilian was imperious
Spain's Matchu Lopes, who won the event in Rio de Janeiro last year, also needs a good outing in Ibiraquera, where the event may be fought out in a mixed Kite-Surf format of pure surfing and strapless-freestyle. But Lopes suffered an early exit in Dakhla.
Capucine Delannoy also won in Brazil last year, but world champion Moona Whyte (USA) had done enough earlier in the season to take her fourth world title. After winning in Cape Verde in February, though,Whyte stepped back from competition for the rest of the year.
In Dakha, Kesiane Rodrigues (BRA) was imperious and defeated Delannoy in the final. That moved the Brazilian to second in the rankings and she is looking forward to battling on home waters.
Switzerland's Camille Losserand dropped down the order to third when she finished fifth in Morocco, but at the top only a few points separate the top riders, leaving little room slip-ups in Ibiraquera. Join us for all the action here.