Having a diverse team that spans the spectrum of the skateboarding world is something we have always taken great pride in. Our mantra as a brand is "Skate Everything" so having a solid group of homies to reflect and support this message has been a goal since day one. This past weekend we were incredibly fortunate to make it up to Munnsville, NY where Gravity Fest 11 was going down to hang out with three of Team Bustin's top dogs, Pepe Laporte, William Royce, and Jacsen Kutik. Each of the homies had an incredibly unique approach to any skating that they did throughout the weekend but one thing was constant throughout: skateboarding was always about having the most fun no matter what the costs.
Jacsen Kutik
Jacsen is ferocious. The dedication to his craft that this young man has is out of this world and is unmatched by any individual we have ever met. The longer he has been a part of the Bustin Family the more and more this passion has been steered toward All Around Skateboarding. It finally came to head when Jacsen announced that he needed a set of leathers because he was ready to suit up and race with the other big dogs.
Over the past few months, Jacsen has scheduled one of his five days dedicated to skate practice strictly to perfecting his downhill skill sets. The hours of persistence paid off because when he arrived to Munnsville, homie was ready to rock and roll. With a few helpful pointers from his teammates his shred sled was tuned up and ready to tame the windy IDF race track.
We are so proud of Jacsen's performance and courage to get out and straight charge every single run he took. He always asks why there are no other kids his age to race against and he has made it his personal mission to show that there is no age limit to skateboarding. Entering this race was not just a personal thing for Jacsen, he wanted to do it to prove to every other grom out there that they can safely enjoy downhill skateboarding as well.
William Royce
If you have ever had the chance to hang out with Will at any point, you know that this dude is 100% committed to making the most out of every single situation he finds him self in. Perhaps the best evidence of this is how a 10 hour drive to Munnsville ended up taking us nearly 2 days as we stopped at any skate park that was even remotely hittable on the way up to the race track. It was never a question of should we stop but rather when is the next skate park break??
There aren't many competitive bones in Will's body but that doesn't mean he still isn't a force to reckon with come race day. The stand up slider we all have come to love is replaced by an apex seeking machine almost as if a switch was flipped as soon as those leathers get zipped up.
Winning the race isn't everything to Bill Rice but you better believe that he "wins" by literally taking every single run possible via the U-Haul shuttle. While most riders take at least one or two runs off to preserve their legs for the real deal, Will considers every run the real deal and wouldn't miss out on smashing the race course every single chance he gets for anything.
Pepe Laporte
This dude is genuinely the nicest and most sincere person you will ever meet. Hailing from Brazil where champions seem to be breed, Pepe takes his downhill skating very serious as he puts in massive amounts of training to ensure that he is a contender at every single stop of the IDF circuit. Year in and year out, Pepe's name pops up near the top of the standings and never seems to drop to far out of contention for the World Title.
Skateboarding takes Pepe all around the world to some of the most gorgeous settings imaginable but somehow even this is not enough to distract him from being prepped for race day. His vision to line up the fastest route down the road and then actually being able to execute it is among the top in the world.
The second you meet Pepe you can see the flame that burns in his eyes representing the passion he has for downhill skateboarding. He has made it his life mission to compete, and to ultimately win a World Championship one day and we are firm believers that the day is coming very soon for our homie! No matter what, Pepe recognizes that skating is simply about having fun and he is set to bask in that aspect as he trots the globe chasing his dreams.
The race results are NOT the criteria that we judge Team Bustin on. We are so amped on all of our Bustin Family and could not be more proud of each of these 3 homies for getting out and supporting the skateboarding community. Make sure that you follow each of these dudes as they continue their separate journeys that we are sure will bring them back together come next race season.