Paragliding World Championship in Malcesine on Lake Garda
Claudio Chiarani
Angela Trawoeger
Creator, photographer and content manager
Thursday September 6th 2007: wind coming from the north, cold, cloudy sky and hearts full of hope for a successful event. Thirty-three pilots for the second italian competition following events in Voss, Zell am See, Omegna and Villeneuve.
The Hungarian Pàl Takàts was leading with 879 points in front of Hernan Pitocco (877) and the Spanish Horacio Llorens (851).
The north wind blew all day at Lake Garda, and the day ended with some flights of “Speed Riding”, some paraglider and tandem flights, and the hope that the next day will have better conditions for the event. However, the next day the north wind was still blustering, but fortunately in the afternoon the wind dropped down and, even if the sky was covered with big black clouds, the party was able to start and the first Solo races began; Felix Rodriguez won against Antoine Montant and Pàl Takàts.
The Italians were, at this stage, behind in the classifications.
September 8th: the sky was clear. The regular north wind blew, and conditions were perfect for the boats taking part in the famous race “Centomiglia del Garda” where the Catamaran “Tommy Hilfinger” was most impressive. In the early afternoon the wind dropped down and the jury opened the racing.
Sunday 9th September Malcesine and Adrenalina offered a great day: the competition started with Synchro and followed with Solo flights.
In the sky the performances of the pilots took the breath of the spectators away, especially in the third race with the Base Jumping of the “Mucho Base Team”: Simone Mocellini, Maurizio Di Palma, Miguel Prencipe and the californian Gary. The day ended with prize-giving at 18.30 and everyone was on stage to celebrate the win of Felix Rodriguez who finished in front of Antoine Montant and Pàl Takàts. The Hungarian still leads the World Cup classification with 1074 points followed by Hernan Pitocco (1063, here only eighth ), and by the winner Rodriguez (1046).
In the Synchro event “Satisfaction” were placed in front of “Sol Tribal”, “Just Acro Team” and “Against the Grain” and the final classification was won by Hernan Pitocco and Lorens in front of Kezi and Tàkàts and the pairs Renato-Renato, Lopes and Curreca.
On the stage to give the prize was Luca Basso, president of the Italian Free Flight Association, which announced its intention to create a working party to promote acrobatics. With the opening of a bottle of Champagne the party started with some spectators were still looking up in the sky for the last paragliders. For Malcesine and for Adrenalina, the party still hasn’t finished and, God willing, there will always be amazing paragliding here to watch and to participate in.
Thank you to everybody and we’ll see you in 2008.
Ranking
- Felix Rodriguez, Spagna
- Antoine Montant, Francia
- Pál Takáts, Ungheria
Synchro
- “Team SATisfaction” Hernan Pitocco e Horacio Lorens (147,46 punti)
- “Just Acro Team” Gabor Kezi e Pál Takáts (145,68 punti)
- “Sol Tribal” Renato Lopes e Renato Curreca (128,19 punti)
