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"World Cup Aksaray, Turkey 2023"
Summary written by Ruth Jessop
With another day of blue, cloudless skies, a 94 km, four-turn point task was set. The route took the pilots anticlockwise round the volcano, with an unusual concentric circles final race to End of Speed section.
There was a strong northeast wind between turn points 1 and 2 so the pilots got low. They managed to drift with the thermal and get up to 3000m just after turn point 2. Initially it seemed like mission impossible. A lot of pilots didn’t manage to climb and landed.
Those who weren’t concentrating on their landing were busy admiring the tornado kicking off ahead of the leaders.
The leaders spread out after turn point 2 due to the strong winds blowing the thermals, making it difficult to find anything.
From turn point 2 to 3 they went on a long glide following the best lifty lines as there were not many thermals.
Next came the concentric circles finale to the race. The idea was to touch the second last turn point, back out to the last turn point, then cruise into goal.
3-400m off the ground it was very windy. Some of the lead gaggle who had crossed ESS found themselves without enough height to then make goal.
Cristian Deacu went into survival mode. He was a little higher than the others. He drifted back down the course line, blown by the southeast wind, finally ending up 13.5 km from goal.
The paragliding world watched and waited for a full hour and twenty-six minutes for him to make goal. He finally touched down into the goal field at 17.40 to claim his second Paragliding World Cup task win!
The first 41 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
02:10:08: Cristian DEACU flying at an average speed of 39.6 km/h
02:10:39: Loïs GOUTAGNY
02:10:43: Petr KOSTRHUN
Top 3 leading point baggers – those who were in the lead the most
132.2: Cristian DEACU
130.6: Selever BOGDAN-TUDOR
128.8: Petr KOSTRHUN
Top 3 in the task
1: Cristian DEACU
2: Petr KOSTRHUN
3: Alexandre JOFRESA
Best newcomer: Ho PAK SHING (9)
Top 3 ladies in the task
1: Alexia FISCHER
2: Jenny O'NEIL
3: Jun YOMO
Top 3 teams in the task
1: Chinese Taipei Gliding Sports Association
2: Ozone
3: Kortel Design
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 Michal TALAVAŠEK flying for team Chinese Taipei Gliding Sports Association.
Tomorrow the armbands will, once again, be:
Yellow armband (overall race leader): Stan RADZIKOWSKI
Rose armband (leading lady): Alexia FISCHER
Green armband (most leading points): Stan RADZIKOWSKI
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