by : Jean-Louis MONNET

The final two legs of the Grand Prix 2nd Series were successfully completed in 2000, one in P.R. China (Lake Taihu, Wuxian) and the other in Japan (Motegi).

Organising events in foreign countries is not always easy, especially when you are not familiar with local habits…

The Grand Prix aircraft were scheduled to depart around 20 August so they would arrive Shanghai seaport on 27 September, ensuring ample time for customs clearance and reassembly before the first public flying day.

Or at least, that's what we thought…

Of course, once you realise that customs closes at midnight 30 September for one week of national holidays, you regret that aircraft did not depart a little earlier and you just live on your nerves and race against time in last-minute operations.

A trip to Asia with 12 aircraft and 17 pilots is not a simple logistic operation, but curiously, everything worked very well in the end thanks to the efforts of Trans-Link, our freight forwarder, and a good co-operation by the Chinese authorities.

The competition took place over Lake Taihu, a famous tourist region close to Suzhou. Needless to say, aircraft flying over the lake with a flotilla of Chinese junks in the background was visually spectacular and a show in itself.

The Chinese people also appreciated the displays, with around 150,000 spectators attending the competition and over 120,000 coming for the final show which was, in addition, broadcast live during 2 hours by the National TV in mainland China (CCTV-1) and also abroad (CCTV-4)…

Just a billion potential viewers…

Jurgis KAIRYS took the lead, ahead of Peter BESENYEI and Viktor TCHMAL

SKY BOX, second to none with their 4-ship formation flying inverted, were unfortunately disqualified as their solo pilot infringed the public deadline. A stupid mistake that cost them the final title because as they were not participating in Japan they had no opportunity to make additional points.

The new FAI Grand Prix World Champions are:

These 3 pilots really dominated all events and deserve this ranking. Of course, BESENYEI will hand his crown won in 1998 over to KAIRYS but they are all great champions and fantastic showmen.

The competition between formation teams is developing nicely, without any doubt, and has brought a new attractive potential to the Grand Prix.

The SUKHOI DUO, featuring Paul Bonhomme and Steve Jones, did exactly the same in their first loop face to the public misjudging a strong turning wind due to a storm passing nearby.

These two disqualifications gave the advantage to the French formation team APACHE who were performing for the first time with SU26 and they just loved it… Not the disqualification of their competitors, of course, but this aircraft in close formation.

We were back again in Japan, on this fabulous Motegi racetrack where the spectators, pilots and organisers, feel part of the same family, sharing intense moments of extraordinary flying in a spectacular arena.

The public know that Twin Ring Motegi is a very special location, and each year the number of spectators grow (50,000 this year although our aircraft could not, for this time, use the pit area).

Very well organised as usual, with a fantastic demonstration of live broadcast on a giant screen with several inboard cameras in each aircraft, controlled from the ground. This Grand Prix is certainly setting up the technical standards for future aerobatic contests.

Peter BESENYEI made a demonstration that was nearly rated the perfect flight (91,2%) and won ahead of Jurgis KAIRYS and Viktor TCHMAL who were very close behind.

SUKHOI DUO were brilliant and won the gold ahead of APACHE who came with only two pilots and SPACE KNIGHTS who, with their 3 AcroEze, have a nice aircraft for a show but perhaps too limited for competition.

PROSPECTIVE

LOCATIONS

After 4 years, the Grand Prix is well established in China and in Japan. This is where we now have some of our best events and there is no doubt that Asia is the future of our sport.

Of course it means that we need to have different sets of aircraft, because even now we cannot do a round the world operation with one set only, especially if we want to use sea-freight for budget reasons.

FORMATION TEAMS

This part of the Grand Prix will be maintained and developed, as initially scheduled when this new competition was launched in 1996.

JET AIRCRAFT

Now, it is time to introduce jet aircraft, as per our initial plan proposed 5 years ago. We are happy to unveil here that the first Grand Prix with jet aircraft should be held with the support of a major aircraft manufacturer in summer 2001. This will certainly open new and interesting windows in the sky of air sports…