Joel Parkinson is crispy black and smoking about now, and he needs help, because he's been struck by lightning twice in the past two weeks. Somebody needs to yank his ass inside and batten down the hatches--and quickly-- if they want to keep his title hopes alive. Because Mick Fanning, the man behind that lighting storm, is still looming, and right about now it looks like Parko just put a metal driver in his hand as the clouds are growing darker.

Fanning just won again at the Quiksilver Pro in France, defeating his mate Bede Durbidge in the Final with the same laser-sharp attack he's been bringing all year. While early on this season Mick's flashes looked pretty out there on the horizon, they weren't threatening anything or anyone. Up until last week Fanning had gone without a win since 2007, the year he won his title. But after back-to-back direct hits at Trestles and Les Bourdains in the span of a week, he's jolted this season's title race back to life with only three events left to go.

"It's back on for sure," says Fanning. "I'm just phsyced on heading into the rest of the season."

Fanning has pulled away from the rest of those giving chase with his wins, making it a two horse race now. Fanning was trailing Parko by more than 900 points heading into France, he now trails him by a scant 146 points as the tour heads to Spain.

Both CJ Hobgood and Kelly Slater were dealt serious blows today by failing to capitalize on Parko's second-straight early loss. Hobgood lost to Ben Dunn in the fourth round. Slater, meanwhile, made it to the quarterfinals, where Portugal's Tiago Pires--a frequent thorn in his side--defeated him in a close one.


Tiago is one of the only surfers who actually beat Slater last year during his amazing title run. Before his loss today, Slater was cautiously optimistic after Parko's loss on Saturday, "I don't smell blood yet," he said. "I'm still trying to find him in the forest."

Slater looked rattled by the loss. He knows now some clear-cutting will be necessary in Mundaka if he wants to keep his title hopes from fading to total blackness. Both he and CJ Hobgood have had success at Mundaka in the past, but the problem now is they're both chasing two surfers instead of one. The Australians must have a total meltdown for either to get his foot in the door.

In the meantime, Parko and Mick will be trying to slam it on each other.

Things just got a lot more interesting.

Results of Quiksilver Pro France 2009

1. Mick Fanning
2. Bede Durbidge
3. Patrick Beven, Tiago Pires
5. Ben Dunn, Bobby Martinez, Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 (After Quiksilver Pro France):

1 - Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5896 points

2 - Mick Fanning (AUS) 5750 points

3 - C.J. Hobgood (USA) 4872 points

4 - Bede Durbidge (AUS) 4792 points

5 - Kelly Slater (USA) 4638 points

6 - Adriano de Souza (BRA) 4573 points

7 - Taj Burrow (AUS) 4417 points

8 - Damien Hobgood (USA) 4384 points

9 - Bobby Martinez (USA) 4314 points

10 - Taylor Knox (USA) 4216 points

The 2009 ASP tour is shaping up to be a tale of two seasons. That's certainly how Mick Fanning, Kelly Slater and CJ Hobgood are viewing it now after Joel Parkinson exited stage left early over in France today.

Parko lost to local boy Patrick Beven, who is surfing in his hometown. While Beven looked comfortable in the small beachbreak conditions, Parko's tender ankle--despite his denials--looked to be hampering him.

Joan Duru seemed determined to back Beven up in the very next heat against Kelly Slater. He opened their match up with a 9.0 score. But Slater kept his composure and came firing back with one of his most inspiring performances of the season, destroying the small stuff on his little 5'10".

Mick Fanning looked laser sharp, too, while disposing of highly-touted wild card Julian Wilson in the small stuff. Fanning, hot off his Trestles win, is best positioned to catch Parko since he's currently in the number 2 slot in the rankings. He faces Jordy Smith next.

It's not a good time to be Parko with the Fanning and Slater threats are looming.

Slater will face Michel Bourez next, and payback will be fueling his fire since he lost to the Tahitian here two years ago. But Kelly is also trying to break through a mental barrier of sorts, because he's only won in France one time, and that was eons ago. Slater won his first ever ASP event at Hossegor way back in 1992 (do the math on that) defeating Gary Elkerton in the final of the Rip Curl Pro Landes. For what it's worth, Bourez was six at the time.

With the swell dropping word on the street is the event will finish tomorrow in more lackluster conditions, so advantage seems to be tilting toward the Floridians like Slater and Hobgood. But if we've learned anything this year it's that nobody can be taken lightly.


QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)
Heat 2: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 4: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Patrick Beven (FRA)
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 6: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Heat 8: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)

Both CJ Hobgood and Mick Fanning got back on track over at the Quiksilver pro in France, getting through their Round Two (losers round) heats in dominating fashion. Fanning's was sent to the losers round after an especially close shave in Round One. In that heat, all three competitors ended up within a one point range, but Fanning was stuck right in the middle between Kekoa Bacalso of Hawaii, who finished thrid, and Wild Card Patrick Beven of France, who won that heat.

Hobgood was still rattled by his board swiping incident during Round One, but has apparently shaken it off, having secured an alternate board. The alternate was a board he gave and signed for the guys at Euro Glass last year. Given his crisis, they were cool with him borrowing it off the wall.

Damien Hobgood ripping his way straight into Round Three during his first heat at the Quik Pro in France. CJ had a tougher time working his way to Round Three after his boards were stolen. Apparently, he had a tough time finding somebody who who's similar in size, weight, and surfing ability who rides similar boards...hmm. Photo: ASP/Scholtz via Getty Images.

Hobgood had a close one against Alain Riou of Tahiti, but came out ahead. While Fanning dusted Gabriel Villaran in his second round heat. There was a big upset though, with Adriano de Souza finally getting shot down early by a pumped up Phillip MacDaonald. Macca looked solid in the punchy beachbreak, as he usually does when there's some juice flowing.

Notable survivors of Round Two include Bobby Martinez, Fred Patacchia and Bede Durbidge. But both Timmy Reyes and Chris Ward were eliminated. The event is on hold today.

Round Three Match Ups:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Nic Muscroft (AUS)

Heat 2: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)

Heat 3: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)

Heat 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)

Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Greg Emslie (ZAF)

Heat 6: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)

Heat 7: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)

Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Patrick Beven (FRA)

Heat 9: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Joan Duru (FRA)

Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)

Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)

Heat 12: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)

Heat 13: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Julian Wilson (AUS)

Heat 14: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)

Heat 15: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)

Heat 16: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Chris Davidson (AUS)

The days leading up to the Quik Pro France have been eventful to say the least. According to reports on ESPN and STAB magazine, the current world tour number four, CJ Hobgood, had his entire quiver stolen while he slept last night in his French pad. Right now, CJ isn't holding any grudges, but he does want his boards back and has offered a 1,500 Euro reward for their return. There's no word right now what boards CJ will be riding when he goes up against last year's winner, Ace Buchan, and Marlon Lipke in his round one heat when the event starts.

Unfortunately, the drama doesn't end with swiped boards and cash rewards as Josh Kerr has reportedly done some damage to his ankle during a freesurf. There's no word yet on the extent of his injury, but he's posted a photo on his Twitter account of the bum foot, which is wrapped and bound in ice. We hope the injury is not as severe as the photo suggests.