Italian Open

After four tasks, the Italian Open finished today. Manfred Ruhmer won ahead of Alex Ploner and Christian Ciech. Best German pilot was Gerd Dönhuber (13th) and Jörg Bajewski (19th). For pictures and more details, have a look at Matjaz´ Blog. Well done Matjaz for not giving up after two bad days and finishing 3rd in the last task!  Results here.
In Ager, Blay Olmos Jr won the Spanish Nationals after six rounds ahead of Pedro Garcia and Joel Miron.
In Laragne at the Belgian Open, the British pilots rule. After two tasks, Grant Crossingham is ahead of Richard Lovelace and Malcolm Brown. Apparently Mart Bosman went down on the reserve when the cross bar of his Airborne C4 broke on final glide. Mart is ok, luckily no broken bones! Results here.
Meanwhile Ive been preparing for the Junior challenge in Greifenburg next week, a great hang gliding comp where some friends and I will coach new pilots, show them XC tactics and competition routines.
Also, I had been to Bayern Plus for a fun interview. Sorry - it is just in German! It was live, so no time for mistakes or long pauses. The presenter, Mr Küffner, had been flying planes and helicopters, so he knew which questions to ask about hang gliding. When he asked about our world championship team titles, he asked if we were flying "formations" - a nice idea.
This weekend, I will keep my fingers crossed for Sebastian Vettel at the Grand Prix at Hockenheim in Germany. At the moment, he ranks 3rd behind Fernando Alonso and his team mate Mark Webber.