The 2005 Open International at Piennes was held over the bank holiday at the end on May (28th-29th) and what a fantastic weekend we had weather-wise. After a few meetings over there with dodgy weather we found ourselves sheltering from the sun for a change with temperatures up to around the 30 mark and virtually no wind whatsoever.
A total of 19 teams participated (4 British teams in attendance) and the first two sets of heats were held on the Saturday afternoon with the final round of heats on the Sunday morning.
The first round saw the French teams dominating and filling the top 5 places. Picard/Perret were fastest with a 3:16.6 followed closely by Bucci/Perret on 3:17.1. Ougen/Surugue were incredibly quick in the air with their carbon wing retract model but slower pitting reduced them to a 3:18.3. No lightning quick times in the first round but 5 French teams on 3:20 or better is pretty impressive.
The second round saw no quick times at all - the two Swiss teams of Borer/Studer and Muller/Saccavino being quickest with 3:24.3 and 3:24.8 respectively.
The third round saw a few changes with a superb 3:08.1 being put in by Ougen/Surugue, a 4:14.7 by Smith/Brown (GBR) and a 3:15.9 by Fischer/Straniak (AUS)
The semifinalists were therefore made up of 6 French, 1 British, 1 Austrian and 1 Italian team (Martini/Menozzi)
In the first round of semis it was Piccard/Perret who led the way with a 3:13.3 followed by Fischer/Straniak on 3:15.6 and Smith/Brown on 3:17.8 but the second round saw a fantastic 3:07.3 from Ougen/Surugue to ensure top spot. Piccard/Perret put in a superb 3:11.8 to grab second spot and no-one else could better Fischer/Straniak’s 3:15.6 for the third final place.
The final started with all three teams going well and away together at the start but disaster struck the Austrian pair at the first stop with the model running in (and out of the race)
Ougen/Surugue’s model was clearly faster in the air and, despite superb pitting by Claire Perret it was to be Roland and Tierry’s day building up a 9 lap lead by the end of the final and finishing in a truly superb 6:31.7. Their gear is certainly impressive and looks good for top results during the 2005 season.
All in all it was a great weekend with good racing, very few reflies (and non in the semis !!) and the weather was the best we have had for years. Thanks to the French organisation team and all the prizes that were given out (and thanks for the Wine - Jean Paul !!)
Andy Whorton
Results :-
| NAME Surname | Nation | Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Heat 3 | Semi 1 | Semi 2 | Final | |||||||||||||
| 1 | OUGEN T / SURUGUE R | FRA | 3 | : | 18,3 | 3 | : | 27,1 | 3 | : | 08,1 | 35 laps | 3 | : | 07,3 | 6 | : | 31,7 | ||
| 2 | PICARD F/ PERRET C | FRA | 3 | : | 16,6 | 3 | : | 32,9 | 3 | : | 13,3 | 3 | : | 11,8 | 6 | : | 47,3 | |||
| 3 | FISCHER J /STRANIAK H | AUT | 54 laps | 3 | : | 40,3 | 3 | : | 15,9 | 3 | : | 15,6 | 57 laps | DISQ | ||||||
| 4 | MARET J / GILBERT R | FRA | 3 | : | 19,6 | 3 | : | 32,6 | 3 | : | 19,8 | 3 | : | 18,1 | 3 | : | 16,7 | |||
| 5 | SMITH S / BROWN C | GBR | 3 | : | 22,4 | 3 | : | 29,7 | 3 | : | 14,7 | 3 | : | 17,8 | 3 | : | 27,0 | |||
| 6 | KOLLAR S / BELYS M | FRA | 3 | : | 43,4 | 3 | : | 28,2 | 3 | : | 20,2 | 3 | : | 21,3 | 3 | : | 43,7 | |||
| 7 | BUCCI L / PERRET J | FRA | 3 | : | 17,1 | DISQ | 34 laps | 51 laps | 3 | : | 23,0 | |||||||||
| 8 | MARTINI G / MENOZZI M | ITA | 17 laps | DISQ | 3 | : | 20,2 | 3 | : | 26,9 | 3 | : | 27,8 | |||||||
| 9 | BILLON E / CONSTANT P | FRA | 3 | : | 20,0 | 68 laps | 3 | : | 20,1 | 3 | : | 28,5 | 36 laps | |||||||
| 10 | BORER H / STUDER H | SUI | 3 | : | 20,6 | 3 | : | 24,3 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | MULLER R / SACCAVINO C | SUI | 3 | : | 21,5 | 3 | : | 24,8 | DISQ | |||||||||||
| 12 | DESSAUCY L / DESSAUCY J | BEL | 3 | : | 27,5 | 3 | : | 42,7 | 3 | : | 21,7 | |||||||||
| 13 | FRY D / WHORTON A | GBR | 3 | : | 45,8 | 3 | : | 26,6 | DISQ | |||||||||||
| 14 | BARKER C / NORTH M | GBR | 3 | : | 30,7 |
4 |
: | 14,8 | 3 | : | 54,5 | |||||||||
| 15 | MILES R/ YELDHAM G | GBR | 98 laps | 3 | : | 43,9 | 22 laps | |||||||||||||
| 16 | SACCAVINO M / SACCAVINO V | SUI | 16 laps | 3 | : | 46,8 | DISQ | |||||||||||||
| 17 | BINDEL C / PERRET M | FRA | 3 | : | 53,9 | 4 | : | 43,0 | 3 | : | 50,2 | |||||||||
| 18 | OLIJVE E / SCHOT F | NED | 54 laps | DISQ | 4 | : | 31,8 | |||||||||||||
| 19 | SIRJACQUES R / PETER S | FRA | 63 laps | 23 laps | 9 laps | |||||||||||||||