After finishing fourth in the last year’s CHALLENGEFAMILY World Bonus, Belgian Pieter Heemeryck has started his 2019 season very strong and therefore he is in a strong lead at the current rankings. After two wins, CHALLENGEDAYTONA and CHALLENGESALOU, he is on a total of 500 points now. At the women’s rankings there are three leaders at this early stage of the season: Radka Kahlefeldt, Sarah Haskins and Judith Corachan Vaquera. All of them have 250 points.
Heemeryck is on a hot streak after he both took the win at CHALLENGEDAYTONA and CHALLENGESALOU. ,,I’m just trying to give it my best every single race and of course a good ranking at the CHALLENGEFAMILY World Bonus will follow then. For me this bonus is not a specific target, but it’s great to see there is a nice battle between all the pros in the field to become the number one.”
It’s Heemeryck who sees that not only European, but also athletes from all over the world are interested in the CHALLENGEFAMILY World Bonus. ,,While there are more and more Challenges outside of Europe, there are even more foreign athletes who are trying to make it into the rankings. I’m pretty sure the World Bonus will be even more exciting than last year.”
‘THECHAMPIONSHIP has my full attention’
The Belgian pro is not sure what the new rules for points distribution will do for this year’s rankings. ,,If you win a Long Distance, you earn three times as many points than if you win a Middle Distance. To be honest I think THECHAMPIONSHIP will be a determinant race, so this one has my full attention.”
With Heemeryck in the lead, it’s Luke McKenzie who comes in second place with 250 points. Max Neumann comes in third with 200 points, but has to share this third position with Andrew Starykowicz and Pablo Dapena which both have 200 points as well.
Women’s ranking
At the women’s ranking there are three leaders at this point: Czech Radka Kahlefeldt, American Sarah Haskins and Spanish Judith Corachan Vaquera all have 250 points, closely followed by Mirinda Carfrae, Alicia Kaye and Daniela Bleymehl with 200 points each of them.
Next race
Next race to earn points for the CHALLENGEFAMILY World Bonus will be CHALLENGEGRANCANARIA, which will be held on April 27th.
CHALLENGEFAMILY World Bonus Explained
The $165,000 end-of-season bonus pays five deep across both male and female professional fields, with the top-ranked pro taking home $30,000. Second place claims a bonus of $20,000. Third, fourth, and fifth positions pay $15,000, $12,000, and $5,000 respectively. Ranking is decided through a fair points system based on placings earned. In the event of a tie, the prize money is averaged between the two athletes and their corresponding finish positions.
