With Itch having taken out the first Australian round in the Red Bull Wreckers event last Saturday night at 1000 pound bend, the trans-Tasman battle is in full swing, and for those of you not lucky enough to be in Wellington for the opening heat of this international clash, here are some details on the thrills and spills of the evening – which saw Yels take out the winning spot.

Particular thanks to Anna at Red Bull and Sarah Burton for the awesome pics …

Bodega bar was at capacity as the crowds filled the bar to witness Wellington’s finest street artists battle head to head in New Zealand’s first Red Bull Wreckers Yard qualifier. The artists had to paint to theme and under a time limit to impress the judges; Simon Morse – artist, designer and tattooist, Xoe Hall – artist and operator of Manky Chops gallery and Arlo Edwards – artist and owner/operator of MYGALAXY gallery.

 
The crowd were equally impressed, cheering on each round winner. The judges were happy to see the trend of old school traditional writing styles merging with new school illustration.

 
‘Future’ was the final theme, artists YELZ and BMD (second place winner) painted under a twelve minute time constraint. “I was impressed with how much fun the artists had whilst still being very competitive. It was amazing to see what they came up with in twelve minutes, I was expecting to see a lot of half finished work but it was all very evolved” said Shea O’Neil of Sideroom.com

 
YELZ’s artwork won him Ironlak paints, Skullcandy premium headset and a limited edition G-shock watch, as well as return flights and accommodation to Melbourne for the Red Bull Wreckers Yard Grand Final on June 25^th,. YELZ will compete with the Auckland qualifier winner with both hoping they will be crowned the Wreckers Yard Trans-Tasman Champion

Red Bull Wreckers Yard Wellington Qualifier final results:
1^st place – YELZ
2^nd place – BMD
3^rd place tied – Drpnz & Juse 1

If your in Auckland next Saturday, be sure to check out the second round of goodness:

Who: Cinzah, Cracked Ink, Enu, Gasp, Liam Moore, One Kame, Peepshow and Stray
What: Red Bull Wreckers Yard Auckland Qualifier
Where: Neighbourhood Bar, 498 New North Road, Kingsland, Auckland, NZ 
When: Saturday 28^th May, 7pm, free entry

Check out the Red Bull Wreckers Yard site for more details on the events.