Lausanne, 08 June 2000

World Pilot Ranking System update -

The latest WPRS see changes to hang gliding, paragliding and speed gliding. There are no changes to Class 2. In addition there is a new ranking category for precision paraggliding.

Hang gliding sees the addition of the Japanese HG nationals and no competitions deleted. However there is a change in the top 10 as a result of a correction as Alvaro Sandoli (alias Nene Rotor) (BRA) was listed under both names, with the scores combined he is now in equal 9th place with Steve Moyes (AUS) and Pedro Matos (BRA). Andre Wolf's (BRA) remains in 1st place on 258 points, 6 points ahead of Betinho Schmitz (BRA) in 2nd place, Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) is 3rd (225 points), Alan Barnes (GBR) 4th, Oelg Bondarchuk (UKR) 5th and Richard Walbec (FRA), who has only 3 competitions counting is in 6th place. Joel Rebbechi (AUS) maintains 7th place ahead of Jim Lee (USA) in 8th. Francoise Mocellin (FRA) still leads the female rankings in 42nd place overall (100 points), with Kari Castle (USA) 2nd and Tove Heaney (AUS) 3rd. There are 431 pilots ranked.

In speed gliding the WHGS 1998 New Zealand event has been deleted and John Smith (NZL) heads the ranking ahead of Karl Ewing (AUS), with Betinho Schmitz (BRA) in 3rd place, Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR) climbs to 4th from 6th, Joel Rebbechi (AUS) upto 5th from 10th, Geoff Dosetter ((NZL) to 6th from 13th. Callum Fisher (NZL) drops to 7th from 3rd, , Max Weiner (GER) climbs to 8th from 16th, Clint Fraser (NZL) and Lopes Rubens (BRA) are equal 9th.

The paragliding rankings see the addition of the Slovenian Open and Pre-PWC Greece. There are no changes in the top 8 places with Steve Cox (SUI) maintaining first place on 214 points. Ondrej Dupal's (CZE) win at the Slovenian open brings him to 9th place (from 36th) and he pushes Martin Brunn (AUT) to 10th place. Petra Krausova (CZE) still leads the female rankings and has climbed to 26th place overall, with Andrea Joubert (RSA) 2nd and Noriko Mizunuma (JPN) 3rd. There are currently 566 pilots ranked.

There are no changes in the top three placings of the paragliding nation ranking (exlcuding precision events). However following the Slovenian Nationals Slovenia jump from 17th to 4th in the paragliding nation rankings, and Slovakia from 10th to 9th. Germany (5th), South Africa (6th) and the Czech Republic (7th) all fall a place. France maintains 8th place, but Great Britain falls from 7th to 12th and italy from 9th to 10th. Full details of the nations rankings can be found on the World Pilot Ranking System website. Pilots should check that their personal record shows the correct nationality, particularly as there are a few pilots of unknown nationality. All amendments should be e-mailed to Sarah Fenwick (civl@ukonline.co.uk).

The first Precision (accuracy) Paragliding ranking has been published, however as yet only shows the results of the Slovenian Accuracy Open with matjaz Sluga (SLO) in first place, ahead of Dusan Gorenc (SLO) and David Sluga (SLO). Adreja Erzen (SLO) is top placed female in 24th place overall.

With the forthcoming Category 1 Championships requiring all pilots to have placed in the top 2/3rd overall of a Category 1 or Category 2 event in the previous 3 years a full list of qualified pilots will be posted to the CIVL website in the near future.

Full rankings can be found on the FAI/CIVL website at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/.

Results not received yet, and therefore not included:
Pre PWC Austria (PG)

Forthcoming hang gliding competitions (class 1 unless otherwise indicated) that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 1: Female World Championships, Greece; European Championships, Austria (class 1 & 2); World Speed gliding Championships, Greece.
Category 2: Finnish HG Open; Spanish Open; Pre-World Air Games; Red Bull Speed Run; Icelandic HG Open; German Open (class 1 & 2); British HG Open, France (class 1 & 2); Dutch HG Championships, Italy (class 1 & 2); Brasilian Masters;

Forthcoming paragliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 1: European Championships, Germany.
Category 2: PWC's - Granada, Portugal, Mieussy and Chamonix; Pre-PWC's - France; German Open; Alpen Adria Open, Austrai; Nordic Open, France; British PG Open, Spain; Aeolia Open, Greece; Finnish PG Open.

Accuracy (precision events):
Category 1: World Accuracy Championships, UK
Category 2: Nantanya, Israel

Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/competitions/comp_schedule.asp

Any queries/questions regarding the World Pilot Ranking SCheme should be sent to Sarah Fenwick, e-mail civl@ukonline.co.uk, tel/fax +44 1983 523003

Information and an application form for CIVL category 2 sanctioning are available on the CIVL website (www.fai.org/hang_gliding/) or from Sarah Fenwick (e-mail civl@ukonline.co.uk).

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