This update sees some major changes at the top of the rankings with several competitions being added and deleted.
HANG GLIDING
Competitions added are the South African Champs, Buenos Aires Flatlander and the Bogong Cup.
Deleted are the US Nationals 00, 2000 Europeans, Dutch Open 00, British Open St Andre,German Open 00, Norwegian Open 00.
Gerolf Heinrichs (AUT) takes over 1st place from 4th, 8 points ahead of Rohan Holtkamp (AUS) who is catapulted to 2nd place from 10th. Paris Williams leaps into the top 10 in 3rd place from 12th and Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR) slips another place to joint 4th place with Gordon Rigg (GBR) who gains a place. Betinho Schmitz (BRA) returns to the top 10 in 6th place leaving Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) in only 7th place - the first time since July 2001 he has not lead the rankings. Attila Bertok (HUN) leaps 6 places to joint 8th with Antoine Boisselier (FRA). Mario Alonzi (FRA) makes up the 10th place.
In the nations rankings the top 3 stay the same, France, Austria and GBR but Australia takes 4th place from the USA.
Results not yet received (and therefore not included in WPRS yet) are the Andradas (Brazilian) Nationals.
PARAGLIDING
Competitions deleted from the paragliding rankings are: Aeolia Open 00 (Greece), PWC Portugal 00, Canadian Nats 00, Zimbabwe Open 00.
Competitions added are the PWC in Mexico, Colombian Champs, Canarian Open, and the Zicosur (Chile).
There is again an upset, with Jean-Marc Caron (FRA) claiming 1st place from 8th, and Alex Hofer rockets into 2nd place from 18th. Steve Cox (SUI) drops to 3rd and Hans Bollinger (SUI) stays 4th. Christian Tamegger (AUT) slides to 5th from 2nd to be equal with Shoichiro Tadano, also leaping up from 18th. Patrick Berod and Joos Achim (GER) drop a place to 6th and 7th, Marc-Antoine Arnold (FRA) moves into 9th place from 11th and Juraj Kleja (SVK) jumps 5 places to complete the top 10.
In the team competitions, France still leads but Australia moves into 2nd place. The USA continues its rise to make 3rd place, Austria is relegated to 4th place, Germany in 5th and GBR slides to 6th place from 3rd. Other big movers are Slovenia up 4 places to 13th and Japan up 7 to 16th.
Results not yet received (and therefore not included in WPRS yet) - the NZ PG Champs.
Full details of the rankings (PG and HG) can be found on the World Pilot Ranking System website: http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/
Pilots should check that their personal record shows the correct nationality, particularly as there are still a number of hang glider and paraglider pilots of unknown nationality.
FORTHCOMING COMPETITIONS
Forthcoming hang gliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 1; European Champs; Womens World Championships.
Category 2: Valadares Open; Swedish Open; Remember Eva (Hungary) Canadian
Championships; Flytec Championships; Wallaby Open; Millau Classic; Open Dutch Champs; Brazilian Open; Red Bull Vertigo.
Forthcoming paragliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 1; European Champs, Slovenia; PG Worlds (Portugal) 2003
Category 2 Champs: Australian Nationals; Il Real Minas, Valadares; Manilla
Open; Wallaby Open; Canadian Open Nationals; Swiss Open; Slovenian Open; Nordic Cup (Austria); Southern California Open; Iberian Open (Portugal); PWC Monte Cornizzola; Portuguese Open; PWC Morzine; PWC Turkey; PWC Mung Yeong. Red Bull Vertigo.
Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page:
http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp
Any queries/questions regarding the World Pilot Ranking Scheme should be sent to Paula Bowyer, e-mail paula@fai.org.
Information and an application form for CIVL category 2 sanctioning are available on the CIVL website http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/ or from Paula Bowyer, paula@fai.org
All amendments should be e-mailed to Paula Bowyer (paula@fai.org) Full details of the rankings can be found on the FAI/CIVL website at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/
