When the going got fast, Kyle Croxall got going faster.
After struggling through the early rounds of the second race in the 2012 Red Bull Crashed Ice series in Valkenburg, The Netherlands on Saturday, the 19 Wing Comox firefighter put it all together in the final heat to win his second straight race.
Croxall, the runner-up in 2011, widened his lead at the top of the 2012 world championship standings with the spectacular come-from-behind victory in front of 25,000 frenzied spectators on the most difficult Red Bull Crashed Ice track ever built. (Racers accelerated to over 70 km/h, and the start ramp had a frightening seven-metre drop on a 50-degree angle).
Organizers say Croxall struggled through training and was not among the favourites before the race on the 575-meter long artificial ice track with its steep ramps and challenging obstacles and trailed behind Kilian Braun of Switzerland, the fastest qualifier, and his younger brother Scott.
But the 23-year-old Croxall, a bull of a man weighing 97 kilograms, came
out on top once again. After knocking defending champion Arttu Pihlainen out in the semifinals, Croxall was the only one of four finalists to stay on his feet in the final. The Canadian stayed close on the heels of Fabian Mels in a high-speed showdown and took advantage of his chance when the towering German stumbled late in the race.
“I guess I just wanted to win this more than anyone else,” said Croxall, who had struggled on Friday with only the 17th fastest time after injuring his shoulder in a heavy crash. “Everyone’s improving so much and it’s getting harder all the time.” It was Croxall's second straight race win after taking the Jan. 14 season opener in Saint Paul and fourth career victory.
In his first career podium. Finland’s Paavo Klintrup, an outstanding jumper, took third while Scott Croxall, who appeared headed for his first win after posting a series of crushing victories in each of the four-man heats from the Round of 64 to the finals, was fourth after breaking a skate blade near the top of the run in the final.
Croxall now leads the four-race series standings with 2,000 points while Mels is second with 1,250 and Pihlainen third with 1,160. Scott Croxall and Klintrup are tied for fourth with 1,100 points.
Next stop in the 2012 world championships is Feb. 17-18 in Are, Sweden. The series wraps up March 16-17 in Quebec. For more, Google Red Bull Crashed Ice.