Sebastian Kawa wins the Grand Prix Final in Saint-Auban.
In a very exciting and well-competed Grand Prix Final in Saint-Auban, Sebastian Kawa, with the AS 33 Es, was able to crown his catch-up race with the overall victory. In the end, only 1 point separated him from second place.
From September 3rd to 11th the FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Final took place in Saint-Auban in France.
Here the best-placed pilots from the qualifications competed against each other in the French Alps. Record world champion Sebastian Kawa and Werner Amann competed here with the AS 33. After Sebastian and Werner had already performed well on the second day of training with 1st and 3rd place, Kawa said he was thrilled with the climb performance of the AS 33 Es.
Day 1
On the first official scoring day, Kawa was able to fly directly to the second daily place of the 313 km task with an average speed of 127,5 km/h. Werner Amann landed with his “WG” on the 7th daily place and could credit 3 points on his total account.
Day 2
On the second day, Kawa and Amann were 5th and 19th after the 271 km task, which meant 5 points for Kawa and a loss of points to 1st place.
Day 3
The third day was characterized by an exciting race for the victory. With an average of 136 km/h, Kawa came home in second place for the day. Only 34 seconds separated the first three finishers. Kawa’s gap in the overall standings was now 9 points. Amann ended up in 12th place with 131.5 km/h.
Day 4
Day 4 then brought a surge of excitement to the duel for overall victory. The overall leader Mario Kiesling was not able to finish the task, while Sebastian Kawa flew with 118.7 km/h to the second place of the day. Now the overall situation was tight, as Mario Kiesling with 30 points was only 1 point ahead of Sebastian Kawa with 29 points. Werner Amann was in 10th place of the day due to his 105 seconds penalty after exceeding the start speed.
Day 5
On day 5 Kawa managed to win the day. With 100.1 km/h on the 254 km task, he prevailed over the competitors. Mario Kiesling ended up in 2nd place for the day, which meant that Kawa was now leading by 1 point. Marius Pluscauskas managed a good 4th place with his ASG 29E on this day.
This was followed by a neutralized day, which promised a thriller for the last day.
Sebastian Kawa led the field with 39 points, while Mario Kiesling lurked behind him with 38 points. The third-place finisher with 22 points was outside the striking distance for an overall victory and so it came down to a duel between the two on the final day of scoring.
Day 6
Day 6 was then marked by a low completion rate. Only 9 pilots managed to score on this day. Among them neither Sebastian Kawa nor Mario Kiesling. For Kiesling the task ended after 246 km, Kawa on the other hand had to take the engine 13 km before the finish. This shrank the lead over the third-placed rider, but the overall victory could no longer be taken away from Kawa. Werner Amann was one of the 9 pilots finishing the task and was able to add another 3 points to his account.
Gratulujemy zwycięstwa Sebastian and Congratulations to all pilots for these great performances and this exciting competition!
Picture from https://www.facebook.com/faisgp/