The second stop on the 2011 ASP World Title Race, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford wrapped up the event in dramatic fashion in firing 6-to-10 foot (2-3 metre) waves at Victoria’s, iconic amphitheatre. Reigning 10-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, FL), 39, retained his No. 1 position on the ASP World Title Race with an equal 5th place finish at the event.

Slater, who fell to dangerous Brazilian Adriano de Souza (BRA), 24, in their Quarterfinals bout, admitted that he struggled to find a rhythm at the 2011 Rip Curl Pro, but his equal 5th place finish still earned the Floridian enough points to maintain his position as the frontrunner for the 2011 ASP World Title after the second of 11 events on this year’s schedule.

“We’re two events in and I’ve got a 1st and a 5th so I’m averaging about a 3rd, you want to be there and higher,” Slater said. “These kind of waves favor the best guys, the guys you’re going to expect to be at the top at the end of the year and all those guys are still in the event. A 5th isn’t that bad a result, but when all the guys who you expect to be in the world title hunt finish higher than you it feels like a 17th.”

Slater will surf next week at the upcoming ASP PRIME Nike Lowers Pro which runs from May 3 through 7, 2011.