The 23-year-old French rider is ready to defend his KiteFoil World Series' leadership at Sardinia Grand Slam (October 6th-10th). The eve's Press Conference will be held at the Poetto beach in Cagliari on Wednesday, October 6th, at 11.00 am CET
“I can't wait to be at the Poetto. I know it will be a tight race, but I'm super excited: Cagliari, I'm coming”. Axel Mazella, 23, leader of KiteFoil World Series Men's Standing, is getting ready to defend his first position from the attack of the rivals at the Sardinia Grand Slam, IKA KiteFoil World Series' round-3, to be hosted by the Golfo degli Angeli's waters and 6th stop of the Poetto, iconic beach of Sardinia's capital, on October 6th-10th. The international event is organized by GLEsport in collaboration with the Chia Wind Club and the support of the Yacht Club Cagliari, under the aegis of World Sailing and IKA-International Kiteboarding Association.
Runner-up in World Series' opening round in Gizzeria last July, Mazella is back from great results in September: the European title in Montpellier and the success in World Series' round-2 in Traunsee. All these results surround Mazella with high expectations in Cagliari. "I'm pretty happy about the success at the European Championships and my leadership in IKA KiteFoil World Series' ranking. Cagliari is a really nice place for racing: I've been there already four times in my life and I've always enjoyed this place. I'm super excited about the competition with the other guys and I hope we're gonna have some good win".
Apparently, in his full maturity, Mazella looks for further improvements in every race and every training. "You always have something better to do, you can always push the limit more and more. If you stay in this kind of mind, you can go forward and forward. That's my goal and even if I'm already super high in my maturation, I hope I can go even forward". Axel, turning 24 next December, showed his talent in several places, but he feels home when he races in Sardinia. This special feeling blossomed at the 2015 Kite Foil Junior World Championships, before strengthening at Sardinia Grand Slam in 2017 and 2019. "I know this place really well about offshore: tricky, windy and super-gusty. I know what we can have over there and I'm preparing myself for this. It's a special place for me for sure because I've been crowned winner of the KiteFoil World Series in 2019 and also in 2017. I can say I've good memories over there and I'm pretty sure that I can have further good memories in the next years".
Of course, Mazella's rivals won't be in Cagliari in the guise of spectators. The French talent knows it well and points who are going to be his main opponents: "We just came back from Austria where I fought a lot with a Theo De Ramecourt, a French friend and a big competitor. Benoit Gomez is also super strong, as well as Denis Taradin who won the first stop in Gizzeria, in Italy. We're gonna have for sure a tight race". After two rounds, Mazella leads the 2021 KiteFoil World Series Men's Standing with 597 points, with a 6-point advantage on Russian Denis Taradin (591) and 9 on Theo De Ramecourt (588). Connor Bainbridge (576) and Martin Dolenc (561) round up the Top 5.
Waiting for landing in Sardinia, Axel tell his three words that perfectly describe the Golfo degli Angeli and the Poetto beach: “The first one is 'wild', cause it can be super strong, super gusty and wavy, and when the offshore mistral wind is coming it can be really wild. We already race there with small kite with 35-40 nodes and it was really tricky, The second adjective is 'sunny': every time I've been there, it was always sunny. We always had good temperature and some wind, I don't remember any day with clouds or rain. When I think about this place, it is always sunny. Finally, 'happiness': as I said, I won my first World championships in 2015 when I was eighteen years old, and every time I come there, I performed really well and I keep only good memories”.
Waiting for the champions to ride the waves, the eve's Press Conference of the Sardinia Grand Slam will be held at Sardinia Grand Slam Village (with entrance from Chiosco Il Nilo), 6th stop of the Poetto beach, on Wednesday, October 6th, at 11:00 am CET.