After seven racing days at Żar, the winner of SGP Poland is is Łukasz Grabowski. Marek Sawczuk took 2nd place, and Tilo Holighaus 3rd. Congratulations to the winner and all the competitors. Łukasz gained 40 points ahead of Marek on 26 and Tilo with 24 points.
Łukasz will be heading to the SGP Finals in Pavullo in September 2023 joining the top two pilots from SGP Sweden Stefan Langer and Klaus Kalmbach.
SGP Lithuania begins on 29 May followed by SGP Italy on 5 June. So stay tuned for more exciting racing.
Sailplane Grand Prix Poland
8 14 May Żar
1 P Łukasz Grabowski JS-1C 18 40
2 Marek Sawczuk ASG29E 26
3 3V Tilo Holighaus Ventus-3T 24
Full results at poland22.sgp.aero/results
THE RACES
The first race of SPG Poland at Żar took place in beautiful weather sunny with cumulus to 2200m.
The task was set towards the south-east following the mountains to Jaworzyna, Vielka Raca, Giewont and Kocierz. The route gave the competitors the opportunity to try their hand at the Tatra Mountains.
Seven of the registered contestants finished the 377km course. Stanisław Biela won today taking 8 points after coming across the finish line with a task speed of 113.2 kph. He was followed by Łukasz Grabowski at 113.1 kph and Marek Sawczuk at 106.3 kph.
Race 2
The second race on 15 May also had good weather with a similar cloud base. A 380km task was set. Five of the eight SGP competitors completed the task lead by Łukasz Grabowski for his first day win with a speed of 104.7 kph to take 6 points, putting him at the lead of the field after two races. Marek Sawczuk and Zdzisław Bednarczuk took 2nd and 3rd positions. German Tilo Holighaus, the only non Pole in the contest, took 4th place.
The weather forecast was for good cumulus conditions, but the weather en route turned out to be difficult. Thermals were cycling quickly with windy and difficult soaring lower down. But with cloud bases up to 2750m the pilots who were able to stay high did well.
Race 3
The task was 305km under weakening conditions. Zdzisław Bednarczuk won the day completing the task at 93.9 kph. Tilo Holighaus took 2nd place followed by Bogdan Dorozko.
Race 4
After a one day break due to the weather the 4th race was run on 18 May. The conditions were demanding with blue skies, weak and broken thermals and strong winds up high. The task was 214km. Again only five competitors reached the finish line. Łukasz finished in 1st place at 86.3 kph putting him firmly in the lead with 20 points after four days.
Race 5
The task was shorter at 157km. Łukasz won his third day putting him in a very strong position to win the contest with two more race days to go.
Race 6
The weather improved again and it was a beautiful day of flying in Żar.
The task was set a bit longer at 192 km via VELKY CHOC, ZAKOPANE and KOCIERZ.
Łukasz won his fourth day putting him on 34 points for the contest. Marek Sawczuk, on 2nd place overall had 24 points with Tilo Holighaus in 3rd place with 15 points. At 10 points behind Łukasz, Marek would need to win the final day and Łukasz not score at all to change the top positions on the final day.
Race 7
The task was 215km and Tilo won the day putting him in 3rd place and the end of seven great racing days. Marek came 6th on the day but still gained 2 points, enough to keep Tilo at bay and take 2nd place overall. Łukasz Grabowski came in second gaining an additional 6 points and giving him an impressive 40 points. Łukasz won SGP Poland in style and qualifies for the final in Pavullo.
For full results go to poland22.sgp.aero/results
