The first stop of the Brazilian Wakeboard tour 2002 took place in the city of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerias. This is the 6th annual wakeboard tour in Brazil and is organized by the Brazilian Wakeboard Association. This year the tour will have 5 stops from north to south of Brazil. Locations will include Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Manaus (in the middle of the Rain Florest in the Amazonas River) and Rio de Janeiro. The championship will be held in the Lagoa dos Inlgeses (Lagoon of the English). This is an old mine of steel from a British company that is filled with water. It is for sure on of the bests stops of the Brazilian tour.
For the first stop, the ambience, the weather and the quality of the crowd was outstanding. More than 2000 people were in attendence. After the eliminatory on Saturday a party was held from 8:00 till 2:00 at the site. Live Dj's, trance music, free red bull were all in effect.
The event had 47 riders form 6 different states form Brazil, in 7 different divisions. It was a complete success. On Saturday, Luis Fernando Guerreiro, made the crowd crazy after attempting the first TS FS 720 ever in a finals heat in Brazil. Fabio de La Rosa, the youngest rider in the Pro division, with just 16 years, had his second victory in the Brazilian tour. Even having a fall in the end of the second pass, Fabinho rode very well stiking all the tricks very high. In second place, for the first time in Brazilian Tour was Luiz Fernando Geurreiro. In third, after being away for more than six months of the Brazilian Tour, was Rafael Kamogawa. As always, he rode with super style and a new hair cut. The local rider, Felipe Penna, in his debut in the Pro division got fourth place. He was super stoked, being one of the organizers of this stop.
Not only were the pro riders looking for good results for this stop and points for the ranking, but three places to compete in the Latin American X-games was decided on as well. The Latin American X-Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro, in Lagoa Rodrigo de Fretias March 21 - 24. Only four sports compete on it. Wake, Bike, In Line and Skate. Brazil has eight places for riders. Five of them has been decided by their places in the 2001 Brazilian Ranking. The other three were decided in this stop of Belo Horizonte.
The three riders that qualified for the X-games were:
