“Viva Lobitos!!” cheered the announcer to an ecstatic crowd as Peruvian Sofia Mulanovich took the stage to claim her trophy at the Movistar Peru Classic presented by Rip Curl. The national hero of Peru took out Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) in the final to claim her first Peru Classic title. “It’s a dream, I’ve always wanted to win at home, parallel to winning a world title!” Sofia said onstage, in English then in Spanish for all her fans. With the title race getting tighter with every completed event, it was anyone’s game at Lobitos. The competition heated up in the semi-finals with close results in both heats.  Coco Ho (HAW) fell to Stephanie by .37 of a point and Sofia edged out Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) by .07 of a point, setting up the local and the two-time title defender.Thousands gathered on the beach at Lobitos to cheer on Peru’s national hero. Red and white flags rippled in the wind as conditions improved for the final day of competition, with three-to-four foot surf (1-1.5 metre) and good wind direction. The finalists paddled out with great anticipation, but after a long lull, the clock was refreshed, restarting the heat for a full 35 minutes after the competitors sat in the water for a long lull, without either surfer catching a wave. The surfers traded waves with the rule of priority in place, giving both Sofia and Stephanie an opportunity to earn points despite lulls in between wave sets. The lead traded hands several times throughout the heat, but it was ultimately Sofia that would take the win with 15 out of 20 possible points. Stephanie, a competitor with consistently high results is happy with her second place finish before heading to Hawaii. “Definitely been pretty consistent with making Finals,” Gilmore said in a release. “Obviously I was looking for another win. But in a way, it is pretty special to see Sofia (Mulanovich) win, like, it is crazy. There are thousands of people on the beach here in the middle of nowhere, it is just phenomenal. To make another Final felt good. I had a lot of fun. It was good to see Sofia up there and not Silvana (Lima) or Coco (Ho), it is going to make the ratings really interesting and it’s keeping things really tight and close between everyone. It is going to be an exciting finish in Hawaii.”While the competition on the WCT tour is absolutely flaming, the camaraderie is as warm as ever, “I know it was a bit of a mission coming here from Manquay every day with the wind,” Sofia told her competitors,  “but we really appreciate that you guys are here, and we love you too.” The surfers will pack their boards and meet again on the Hawaiian islands, first at Sunset Beach for the Gidget Pro, before finishing in Honolua, Maui. Don’t miss this epic race for the 2009 world title!MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC FINAL RESULTS:1 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 15.002 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.74 MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC SEMIFINAL RESULTS:SF 1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.60 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 15.17SF 2: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 16.27 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.20 MOVISTAR PERU CLASSIC QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:QF 1: Coco Ho (HAW) 14.74 def. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 10.16QF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 9.27 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 6.60QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.16 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 6.83QF 4: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 10.67 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 10.17 ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR TOP 5 (After Movistar Peru Classic):1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 4765 pts2 – Silvana Lima (BRA) 4188 pts3 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 3891 pts4 – Coco Ho (HAW) 3679 pts5 – Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 3043 pts