WGC Uvalde in 18m, 20m Multiseat and Open classes is underway with racing each day from 18 - 31 August. There are five Australian pilots competing Geoff Brown in Open Class, Matthew Scutter and Lumpy Patterson in 18m Class and Adam Woolley and Keith Gateley in 20m Two Seat Class.
Lumpy Patterson winning Race 6 in 18m class
After 12 competition days Adam Woolley and Keith Gately finished in 4th place pipped at the post by the Austrian duo Lutz & Janowitsch who took 3rd place just 14 points ahead of Adam and Keith in 20m 2 Seat Class. First place was taken by the leaders throughout the competition Americans, Arnold & Striedieck with Pols Rubaj & Matkowski in 2nd place.
In 18m Class Matthew Scutter won the final day but this was not enough to change the overall positions. He finished in 5th place with the Germans Stefan Langer and Simon Simon Schröder taking the top two championship positions. Christophe Abadie from France took 3rd place.
Geoff Brown finished second from the bottom in Open class which was won by Germans Felipe Levin and Michael Sommer in 1st and 2nd places and Laurent Aboulin from France in 3rd place.
Lumpy Patterson beat American Sean Fidler to the post to win the day in 18m class. He completed the 575.48km racing task at 125.3kph. The day was complicated by showers and shadow. The pilots who made the best selection of clouds and path between the showers did best.
Matthew Scutter finished in 8th place but the two Germans Simon Schroder and Stefan Langer were finally knocked off their podium position for the day finishing in 12th and 14th places. They retain their positions at the top of the 18m table. Matthew has moved up one place to 4th overall.
In 20m class, Adam and Keith finished in 13th place completing the 623.25km task at 125kph. They moved down two positions to 4th place overall but are only 160 points behind the leaders with six more days to go.
Race 5
In 20m class, Adam and Keith flew the 4 hour AAT completing a distance of 416.45 km at 125.88 kph. This brought them home in 3rd place for the day and moved the back up into 2nd place overall. They are just 93 points behind the leaders USA team, Arnold & Striedieck.
In 18m Matthew had a problem with his GPS and flarm which caused him to fall behind on the final leg. He finished 12th on the day and moved down two championship places to 5th place overall. Lumpy did not have the best day finishing near the bottom of the table and is now in 18th position overall.
In Open Class Geoff Brown has so far not improved his overall position.
At this point in the contest it is the consitent pilots who will progress. Any errors or technical probles such as Matthew experienced will be punishing. Of course there is always the weather that can change things. We still have lots more exciting racing to come.
Adam Woolley and Keith Gateley after winning Race 3.
Race 4
After four racing days Matthew Scutter is in a strong position in 4th place in 18m class just one point behind Uys jonker in 3rd position. The German duo Stefan Langer and Simon Schroder have the top two positions, but Matthew is well in reach of a podium position at this stage. Lumpy Patterson finished in 13th place keeping his overall position in a field of 32 pilots.
In 20m class Adam and Keith finished in 6th place. They have dropped one position overall to 4th position, but they too are very much in the runnig for a podium place.
Geoff Brown in Open class is scoring well but near th bottom of the scoring table. However, there are many more races to come.
Race 3
Adam Woolley and Keith Gateley won the third race at WGC uvaled in 20m Two Seat class. They completed the 3h 45m AAT task 448.44 km at 111.7 kph to gain 1000 points. They are now in 2nd place overall just 30 poiints behind American pilots Arnold & Striedieck.
In 18m class, Matthew Scutter has also got off to a good start to the contest. After three races he is in 6th plave overall. Also in 18m class, Lumpy Patterson took 3rd place in Race 2.
The championships finishes on 31 August and there are many more race days to come.
Regular updates will be published here during the contest with full coverage in the next edition of Gliging Australia Magazine. You can keep up to date with the full results at soaringspot.com. and at wgc2024uvalde.com
Geoff Brown on the grid at Uvalde in Open Class.
