Canadians Top the Red Bull Crashed Ice Edmonton Event

Scott Croxall’s Living the Dream team came from far behind in the standings to win the 2015 Ice Cross Downhill World Championship in dramatic fashion on Friday with the Canadian ace also having strong chances to win the individual title in Saturday’s main event after posting a fast qualifying time.

EDMONTON, Canada – Canada’s Living the Dream won the 2015 team competition of the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship with a stirring victory in an action-packed season finale in Edmonton on Friday down the challenging, turn-filled 415-meter long obstacle course. Racing in front of 15,000 enthusiastic spectators, Scott Croxall led Canadian teammates Kyle Croxall, Adam Horst and American Cameron Naasz to their second straight team win and the overall championship with 2,360 points. Prestige Worldwide took second overall with 2,250 points after falling to a disappointing fifth in Edmonton while Team Finland took third overall.

It was a sweet-tasting victory for the Canada-USA team, which had worked hard in the off-season after taking a tantalizing second place last year behind Couch Garden Crew and third place in 2014. But it was a bitter defeat for Prestige Worldwide, a Canada-USA-French team made up of Dean Moriarity, Reed Whiting, Tristan Dugerdil, and Pacôme Schmitt that had been the dominant force all season and had the fastest time in Qualifying, but squandered a 440-point lead in the final race with a disappointing fifth place finish.

“We couldn’t be happier,” said Scott Croxall. “It feels really good. We had a great season. We’re just so happy we pulled it together. Our tactic was just to try to get out in front and have some big bodies like me and Kyle up front blocking the way while Adam and Cameron kept up the pressure in the middle. It worked well.”

In Friday’s final race, Living the Dream had to pull out all the stops in front of the big home crowd against surprise package Hill Bombers. The Canada-USA underdogs made up of Dylan Moriarty, Dan Witty, Tyler Witty and Daniel Guolla pushed Living the Dream to the limits in the final with Moriarity and Johnson cleverly getting in front of Kyle Croxall early in the course and holding him behind them to the finish. But Scott Croxall was in a league of his own, powering out to a big lead that he never relinquished, to guide his team to an 18-15 victory.

The Bergy Bunch, a USA-Canada team featuring Matt Johnson, Daniel Bergeson, Michael Lulianello and Tommy Mertz, had knocked out favorites Prestige Worldwide in the quarter-finals and then won the small final against Team Finland to take third place.

Earlier on Friday, Marco Dallago posted the fastest qualifying time in the International Shootout with Scott Croxall in second. Croxall holds a 500-point lead in the individual competition, with his older brother Kyle in second and Dean Moriarity in third, and could win the overall championship on Saturday if he finishes third or higher.

Team Results Edmonton: 1. Living the Dream (Scott Croxall, Kyle Croxall, Cameron Naasz, Adam Horst), 2. Hill Bombers (Dylan Moriarity, Dan Witty, Tyler Witty, Daniel Guolla) 3. The Bergy Bunch (Daniel Bergeson, Matt Johnson, Michael Iulianello, Tommy Mertz), 4. Team Finland (Miikka Jouhkimainen, Toni Heikkilae, Paavo Klintrup), 5. Prestige Worldwide (Dean Moriarity, Reed Whiting, Tristan Dugerdil, Pacôme Schmitt)

Final 2015 Team Standings:1. Living the Dream (2360 points), 2. Prestige Worldwide (2,250), 3. Team Finland (1,550), 4. Ice Crew (1,540), 5. Hill Bombers (1,460)

Pictures: Joerg Mitter, Balazs Gardi, Andreas Langreiter