WAG Dubai: Germans looking good in air balloons racing

The German pair of Sven Gohler and Markus Pieper was battling each other at the end of the opening day of the Hot Air Balloons (AX) at the 2015 FAI World Air Games.

Wednesday’s opening day of the competition was delayed due to tough winds and the field of 69 pilots and their ballooning equipment had to be shifted at the last minute to the Sheikh Rashid School for Boys in Nad Al Sheba.

In Hot Air Balloons, competitors are required to carry out several tasks as dictated by the lead pilot. Participants are awarded points based on the accurateness of the tasks accompanied.

The race commenced after 8 am on Wednesday and all 69 pilots in their colourful balloons set out to chase the lead pilot in a ‘Hare and Hound’ task.

In this task, the competitors have to tag the movements of the lead balloon and try and place a streamer on the ‘X’ marked by the lead.

While Gohler and Pieper were separated by a mere 102 points, with 2,741 and 2639 points respectively, while American pilot Johnny Petrean followed in third with 2,528 points.

Yudai Fujita of Japan was in fourth position overall with 2,435 points and Philippe De Cock of Belgium was in fifth with 2,433 points.

Meanwhile, France continued their surge towards the top of the
medals standings with the addition of a few more medals to their tally.

The French pilots were the strongest in the Paragliding Aerobatics Solo and Synchro divisions with good friends Tim Alongi and Eliot Nochez leading the way.

Tim Alongi and Eliot Nochez won the gold and silver in the Paragliding Aerobatics Solo category leaving Horacio Llorens of Spain for the bronze medal.

Alongi and Nochez then teamed up in their VRL Team outfit to bag the silver in the Paragliding Aerobatics Synchro category behind the Twisted Boys team of Theo de Blic of France and Horacio Llorens of Spain, while the Swiss team of David Geiser and Jeremy Peclard took the bronze medal.

Bruce de Chastel bagged the first gold medal for Australia as he claimed the top position in the Aeromodelling F3T or Semi-Scale Pylon Racing. The silver medal went to Mario Muller of Germany, and Paolo Mucedola of Italy came in third to take the bronze.

In Pylon Racing, pilots go head-to-head in their radio controlled model aircraft that fly through a course of pylons, similar to what occurs in a full-scale Red Bull Air Race.

Each pilot goes through a knock-out competition with the best two meeting in the final, while the other two semi-finalists battle for the bronze medal.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, the fourth edition of the World Air Games is being held in 23 different disciplines at various dropzones in Dubai.

The main venue for the competition is the Skydive Dubai dropzone where activities will be held daily till the finals on December 12 (Saturday).

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