PWC Algodonales XC PG

The second task in Algodonales, Spain, continues the first day for the Czech expedition! Today, Jan Jareš crossed the speedway finish line in 4th place, for which we congratulate him! Well done Honzo!

Petr Kostrhun is riding a wave of happiness and although he was sometimes afraid of the consequences of his decision, which he did not find entirely happy, he eventually discovered that the decisions of others were probably even worse and he still remained above everyone. In the end, Petr finished in 7th place, moving up to

"INTERIM OVERALL 2ND PLACE" Well done Petra!

Ondra Pohořelský and Michal Talavašek did not do badly at all and all our pilots are looking forward to the next racing days.

At the finish line, an unexpected situation occurred, as Bogdan Bialka gave the other pilot 2 minutes at the finish line and the first group 6 minutes! This is completely unique in PWC races.

According to one of our pilots, it looked like this:

"Today, an interesting mood at the finish line, with perhaps everyone, with a few exceptions, had a sour face because Bogdan missed us by a steamer and a half. The locals looked the most contrite. The task was very demanding with hard-to-read lines and tricky intervals. Like an hourglass. I saw a few beautiful top covers around me, firmly leaning on the lines (klapance, author's note). Spinning here is quite uncomfortable, as if no one was really tired after the winter. Personally, I think we're still doing well and I'm looking forward to the next tasks."

What can be said with certainty after today?

We hold second place!

We have balanced pilots across the starting field.

Kosťa is smiling the second day after the flight!

A watershed moment for cloud flying

The third task, especially its start, was very nourishing for many pilots. Several pilots in the lee of the start tore the submarine apart when they settled in the bushes just below the start. When the situation indicated an early cancellation of the task, suddenly the conditions turned 180 °, everything started working and most of the pilots jumped into the air. However, some did not make it.

The first problem in the air occurred before the air launch opened, when a cloud over the launch area turned off the thermals and a large part of the field dropped 800 meters in altitude. However, Honza Jareš was not surprised by this moment, as he was one of the few who benefited from the situation.

Subsequently, a situation occurred that has consequences a day later, when it is a free day and it is time to resolve the protests. A whole large group of pilots was sucked into the cloud. Some immediately began a fast and clear descent, but some took advantage of the situation and subsequently flew with a lead of up to 500 altitude meters. The cloud bases were at 2000 m, some pilots (a total of 10 pieces, flew up to 200 m higher).

The race director received several protests today. The race director told the Czech team that he would not address the flight in the clouds, as there is no evidence for such a flight (according to the current 2023 PWC rules, which were agreed upon at the race safety briefing, the pilot reported for the flight in the clouds must provide evidence and prove that he was not in it). The Czech team is therefore filing a protest against the race director.

The protests were eventually accepted and there will likely be some precedent regarding cloud flying. We will keep you informed about everything.

And this teaches us a lesson for race organizers that it is imperative that pilots fly and fly and fly – no days off and no time for complaining!

Task 3, which was finally started at 15:30, reached the finish line quite a lot of pilots, unfortunately Ondra Pohořelský finished 50 m before the finish line. From a good position due to a bad decision on the final glide, he not only finished at the end of the starting field, but also now he is sinking (a great effort to land on the strip with half a meter of grass downwind in the way). Damn 50 m, but you don't want to sink into a submarine!

A watershed moment for cloud flying

The third task, especially its start, was very nourishing for many pilots. Several pilots in the lee of the start tore the submarine apart when they settled in the bushes just below the start. When the situation indicated an early cancellation of the task, suddenly the conditions turned 180 °, everything started working and most of the pilots jumped into the air. However, some did not make it.

The first problem in the air occurred before the air launch opened, when a cloud over the launch area turned off the thermals and a large part of the field dropped 800 meters in altitude. However, Honza Jareš was not surprised by this moment, as he was one of the few who benefited from the situation.

Subsequently, a situation occurred that has consequences a day later, when it is a free day and it is time to resolve the protests. A whole large group of pilots was sucked into the cloud. Some immediately began a fast and clear descent, but some took advantage of the situation and subsequently flew with a lead of up to 500 altitude meters. The cloud bases were at 2000 m, some pilots (a total of 10 pieces, flew up to 200 m higher).

The race director received several protests today. The race director told the Czech team that he would not address the flight in the clouds, as there is no evidence for such a flight (according to the current 2023 PWC rules, which were agreed upon at the race safety briefing, the pilot reported for the flight in the clouds must provide evidence and prove that he was not in it). The Czech team is therefore filing a protest against the race director.

The protests were eventually accepted and there will likely be some precedent regarding cloud flying. We will keep you informed about everything.

And this teaches us a lesson for race organizers that it is imperative that pilots fly and fly and fly – no days off and no time for complaining!

Task 3, which was finally started at 15:30, reached the finish line quite a lot of pilots, unfortunately Ondra Pohořelský finished 50 m before the finish line. From a good position due to a bad decision on the final glide, he not only finished at the end of the starting field, but also now he is sinking (a great effort to land on the strip with half a meter of grass downwind in the way). Damn 50 m, but you don't want to sink into a submarine!

It's there! Peter Kostrhun He's back, he's in the saddle, and we have a crate!

The bone is 3!

Today was a ride, and two pilots almost collided in the climb – they were spinning so vehemently that Kosťa almost looked at Ondra Pohořelský. into the submarine. Almost!

From the penultimate turning point before the ESS and the finish line, it kicked off today Michal Talavašek and flew a good distance ahead of everyone, above everyone for a while, below them for a while, and then got stuck on our live tracking.

In the first group, Kosťa and Ondra Pohořelský, who was in front for a long time today, were very tactically following behind him.

Before the last turning point, it was quite hot and oppressive. The first group preferred to increase their altitude to avoid what happened to several pilots, including Honorin Hamard - to put it prosaically - to avoid getting burned.

Andy Talia flew incredibly into the ESS, Baptise Lambert also stepped into the speed properly, but for us the most important moment was Kosťa flying through the ESS in 4th place and Ondry Pohořelský a little behind him. Then the leading points were announced and we waited, waited and finally it happened - with great piloting throughout the race, Kosťa flew the bronze medal (today 5th place) and Ondra 13th place (today 11th).

Michal Talavašek beat us live and unfortunately didn't make it to ESS today and didn't make it up the last climb - he finished just before ESS, 106th place overall, and Honza Jareš crossed the finish line today in 35th place, 36th overall.

The guys are celebrating, bringing home some nice points for the WPRS, the team leader is satisfied and Kosťa commented on this race as follows:

"This race was like shopping at Lidl for someone: 'Do you have a card? Are you collecting points?'"

Dear guys, thanks for the beautiful show! We had fun!