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"World Cup Aksaray, Turkey 2023"
Summary written by Ruth Jessop
With a forecast for cloudless blue skies and less wind (but still from the north), a 91km, three turnpoint task, taking the pilots north, was set.
The wind on launch was frequently over the back so, with an hour to go, it was hard to climb up to those who had launched early.
This split the gaggle into two groups, one over the volcano and one on the flats. Some pilots got so high above the volcano that looking down on it, it looked like a training hill.
Petr Kostrhun got very close to achieving his life’s ambition of becoming an astronaut - his vario recorded 4524m, above the volcano!
At that height the temperature dropped. For Anca Tabara, ‘It was like an internal fight, the body wanted to go down because it was so cold, the head wanted to climb and keep on racing!’
However, eventually everyone managed to get high for the start of the race, with more or less the same altitude, albeit in 3 groups
It was complex racing with good lines and really sinky ones. Around turn point 1 the thermals were anaemic, there was big sink, and it was easy to get stuck. Those that didn’t, pushed on and took the lead.
There were also some really strong climbs that benefited those that found them. Stan Radzikowski and Petr Kostrhun took a different line and got a climb just after the first turn point which allowed them to carry on flying in a straight line leaving the others to wallow in sink.
There was big sink over the dam just before the final turn point which put everyone into mega-cautious mode. This is where most of the leading gaggle behind Stan divided into two groups, those on the optimum line pulled ahead.
Surprisingly, the first half of final glide saw more lift than anyone planned for. The wind switched to the SW, so most pilots took a conservative approach to goal and arrived in orbit. Many pilots arrived above the goal at 1300m AGL.
It was a day of highs and lows. The biggest climb was 7m/s (Marcos Rosenkjer) and the biggest sink was 9.6m/s (Thomas GURY).
In the words of Joshua Phillips, ‘it was a super fun day of competition flying!’
The first 92 pilots made goal, and thus all flew the same distance, and gained the same distance points. Today’s winner is therefore the one with a combination of the best speed points and lead out points.
Top 3 speed point winners – the fastest pilots round the course
02:10:32: Stan RADZIKOWSKI flying at an average speed of 38.5 km/h
02:11:39: Selever BOGDAN - TUDOR
02:11:59: Takuo IWASAKI
Top 3 leading point baggers – those who were in the lead the most
166.8: Stan RADZIKOWSKI
153.8: Daniel TYRKAS
149.8: Petr KOSTRHUN
Top 3 in the task
1: Stan RADZIKOWSKI
2: Selever BOGDAN - TUDOR
3: Takuo IWASAKI
Best newcomer: Markus ANDERS (10)
Top 3 ladies in the task
1: Alexia FISCHER
2: Jenny O'NEIL
3: Laura PUENTE POZA
Top 3 teams in the task
1: Ozone
2: Air'G Products
3: Niviuk 1
In the team competition the top two pilots in each team are scored and the second one gives the ranking. The highest placed second team pilot was Daniel TYRKAS flying for team Ozone.
Tomorrow the armbands will once again be worn by:
Yellow armband (overall race leader): Stan RADZIKOWSKI
Rose armband (leading lady): Alexia FISCHER
Green armband (most leading points): Stan RADZIKOWSKI
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