Sebastian Kawa Wins Race 2

Race 2 Winners Tilo Holighaus 3rd, Stefan Langer 2nd, Sebastian Kawa 1st.

The soaring conditions were weak before the start so the task was changed to 168km Task B. The fleet were able to climb well above the starting altitude of 1700m to 2400m. This meant that they were able to descend before the start.

First turnpoint was on the mountain ridge, but the next turnpoint was over the Mogello valley and rain wasn't expected in that area. Didier Hauss crossed the line first, followed by the main body of sailplanes very close behind.

The first leg started over lower valleys to the main ridge. They continued on the first leg across a wide valley towards the highway to Florence. They descended below 1300m with Sebastien Kawa in the lead of the main pack ans with Luka Znidarsic well in the lead overall. At this point they were on the top of the ridge but needed to find a climb.

Two groups stopped to climb but Georgio Galetto continued on track. Luka was now followed by Galetto and Stefan Langer. This group were now below 1000m and, without a climb, they headed to the pass where they looked for an energy source on the southern side of the ridge.

The main group stayed above 1100m and were able to overtake Luka's group who were now below 800m. Luka and Giorgio were forced to look for a climb in the centre of the valley. Soon they were forced to start their engines and their races were over.

The main group led by Kawa all found a slow climb together and continued along the ridge at about 1200m. As they reached the end of the ridge, they climbed above 1300m. They had to cross the Mugello Valley where the forecast was for a higher cloud base of 1600m.

Mike Young was now in the lead but lower at 1150m. The fleet had now split into three groups with Jon Gatfield in the rear.

The fleet led by Sebastian Kawa rounded the first trunpoint. The second leg was 12km crossing a valley.

The first pilots to reach the second turnpoint were Tilo Holighaus, Alberto Sironi, Kawa, Lukasz Grabowski, Thomas Gostner and Mike Young who was 300m higher. They continued on track along the valley at no more than 1000m. They needed to climb to cross the mountains at the end of the leg.

Competition Director Brian Spreckley said, 'We expected it to be difficult, but not this difficult.'

Now half way along the 66km third leg, Tilo was in the lead followed by Sironi, Kawa and Grabawski.

As they reached the end of the valley and crossed the highway from Bologna to Florence, they were faced with rising land leading to a mountain ridge that they had to climb.

Tilo Holighaus finished 3rd gaining 7 points.

The leaders were now able to climb to over 1500m and only had 40km to go to the finish line. It was now a race to the finish. They had to gain enough altitude to cross over into the Pavullo valley. From Pavullo the sky had scattered cumulus, but on the mountain pass there was much more cloud.

Tilo was still in the lead followed by Sironi and Mike Young. Kawa took a different route and was in a strong position. He decided to hug the ridge and climbed to 1300m and headed directly to the final turnpoint with 25km to the finish line. He was 5km behind the leaders but 200m higher, enabling him to speed up and close the gap.

Meanwhile, Stefan Langer was higher but 10km behind and northeast of the track. But, at 1500m, he had the possibility to gain on the leaders as he started on his final glide.

As the race reached the finish, Tilo and his group were still in the lead. But it was now a race between Kawa, Langer and the leading group who were closer to the finish but lower and still needed to climb some more.

If Kawa or Langer encountered strong sink, they would loose their height advantage. If not, they would be in a good position to jump in front and win the day.

In the end, Kawa romped home in first place and Stefan Langer took 2nd place followed by Tilo Holighaus in 3rd place.

See the full results at https://sgpfinal23.sgp.aero/results

Sean Young