Welcome to the first Sailplane Grand Prix Newsletter.
We plan to make this a regular feature – hopefully monthly – to keep everyone updated as to what is happening with the Grand Prix.
This Grand Prix will be held in New Zealand in December 2007. The choice of the site has yet to be confirmed by Gliding New Zealand but is expected to be either Omarama or Wanaka. Why is there a choice? Well, the race could easily be held at Omarama, but there is now more to the Grand Prix than just the race and we need to be sure that the public spectacle of the Grand Prix can be achieved.
Class The 2007 2nd FAI WSGP will be flown in the FAI 15M class.
Qualifying The pilots placing 1st and 2nd at each Qualifying Grand Prix (QGP) race during 2006 will automatically qualify for the 2nd FAI WSGP. This will give us 18 pilots. The extra 2 places (and any places created by withdrawals) will be filled in ranked order of all the 3rd placed pilots from all the 2006 QGP races. The ranking of these pilots will be taken from their positions on the IGC Ranking list at the end of the last day of the QGP race in Australia.
Other Air Sports Invitations have been extended to other Air Sports to join us at the 2nd FAI WSGP 2007 and to run their own competitions at the same time.
Eight further QGP races are planned for 2006, starting with Slovakia in April and finishing with Australia and South Africa in December. The dates, locations and email contacts of these QGPs will be published on the IGC website and in a separate SGP Newsletter.
Entries Entries in the QGP races are open to all pilots who meet the minimum standards set out in the Grand Prix Rules. Pilots who have already flown in a QGP, but not qualified for the 2nd FAI WSGP, may enter as many other QGP races as they wish. The Organisers of each QGP are required to make at least five places available for foreign pilots. If, at the end of the registration deadline the minimum number of foreign pilots is not reached, the Organisers may allocate the vacant places to national pilots based on an entry procedure of their choosing. The total number of entries at a QGP may not exceed 20.
Scoring Scoring of the QGP for 2006 will be done using Place Scores with a maximum of 10 points for the winner, 8 for second and so on for those who finish. Outlanders score ‘0’. This was tried in Omarama and, while it is frustrating for pilots to see ‘zero’ after a hard days work, the safety benefits are significant – there is no pressure on pilots to try and fly the last 100metres further than someone else – so pilots unable to get home can concentrate on landing safely in a suitable airstrip or field. Organisers may also offer a bonus points for the first pilot rounding a nominated turn point.
Bureau Support The Bureau is determined that the “race” be presented in the same style and format every time we run a Grand Prix. To help Organisers produce consistent QGP races we are working on ensuring that someone experienced with the Grand Prix race is at each QGP event.
Media and Marketing Many of you have now seen the promotional DVD from the QGP race in New Zealand in January. The integration of marketing and graphics and imagery from inside and outside the sailplanes was impressive. Combined with a high quality and consistent format “race” we now have the opportunity to take gliding to the world and engage people with our sport.
Future Presentations of the Grand Prix Race We are determined that the focus for 2006 must now be to present the Grand Prix race to the gliding community so that it is understood and supported. It is anticipated that this should be achieved by using the Internet as the communication medium. For Grand Prix events in 2007 and beyond a wider presentation capability will be sought. We are in discussions with a number of organisations to see how this can best be achieved.
Logo We are also working on a logo – with the intention of having this ready to be used as part of the marketing for the 2nd FAI WSGP 2007.
IGC Bureau GP Expert Roland Stuck is the nominated Bureau “co-ordinator” for the Grand Prix. He will be working with all the Organisers for 2006 to assist them in preparing for their QGP races.
The Grand Prix is an exciting concept that has suddenly created significant traction with the media. We now have to harness this opportunity to give us the best chance to make this work for gliding and the gliding community.
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
March 31st, 2006