Spain’s Ramon Alonso, who finished second in Thursday’s qualifying for the Al Ain International Aerobatics Championship, continued to exert his dominance over the world-class field as he clocked up an impressive total of 88.73 on day one of counted scoring – an impressive improvement of 22 points over his qualifying total.
However, Russia’s female competitor and top scorer in qualifying, Svetlana Kapanina, led the day’s leader board with an impressive 86.43 but due to an infringement during her routine, had a 20 second penalty imposed to her overall total, pushing her back into second.
With the Championship entering its final day of competition on Saturday, all eyes will be on the world’s top two as they continue to battle it out for the lion’s share of the US$100,000 prize purse.
Tipped as the strongest field to date, a host of the world’s best professional solo pilots from eight countries battle it out in a combination of classic aerobatics – a series of unlimited classic manoeuvres performed against the clock, known as ‘AR,’ or Aerobatics Race – and a three-minute freestyle section referred to as ‘AF’, or Aerobatics Freestyle.
Scored on innovation and entertainment criteria, the pilot with the lowest aggregate time wins the day’s flight, and the pilot with the lowest time from the two days of competition flights wins the overall Championship. Scores received for the ‘AF’ are converted direct to seconds and subtracted from the pilots’ ‘AR’ programme times.
The level of competition on show in Al Ain as well as the breath and depth of the display field is the cornerstone of the event’s regional and international appeal. The Championship, the largest in its history, has cemented its position as one of the key sporting events in Abu Dhabi’s burgeoning portfolio.
"The Championship attracts tourists and aerospace fans from all over the world every year who come to support their favourite teams and pilots. It is one of Al Ain's main tourist attractions and continues to go from strength-to-strength," said Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority – which organises the event with the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, and in conjunction with the World Air Sports Federation.
"The efforts of the organisers, the Championship’s continuing growth and significance on the global aerobatics circuit and its innovation and diversity has made it a benchmark gathering for international pilots to participate at the highest levels.
“This year’s breathtaking aerobatic performances by military and civilian aircraft, helicopters and remote control planes only add to the excitement of the four day event."
And Chief Judge, Quinton Hawthorne of South Africa, believes that spectators in Al Ain will witness some of the best aerobatic flying seen anywhere in the world.
“The competition today was extremely slick as demonstrated by the really low scores clocked up by the pilots. This Championship is really too close to call, the results really only came down to time and even then there was nothing in it between the top few. We saw some really stunning and polished flying today, there is so much more to come.”
The Al Ain International Aerobatics Championship - which is being held under the patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces – has attracted 110 aircraft and is expecting 130,000 spectators.
