The race finale for the Speedrun Cup took place at Skywalk Paragling Hartebeespoort Dam and it turned out to be a nail bitting finish with 2nd and 3rd ranked racers fighting it out over a 182 km out-and-back XC course.
What is the Speedrun Cup all about?
Racers have to complete a medium range XC course with a maximum of two mandatory landing points. Racers can position fuel at these points to help them with their strategic planning. The first one to finish the route wins the race.
The Speedrun Cup intends to display the capabilities of different brands against each other when it comes to fuel efficiency, top speed, endurance, reliability and means to deal with rough air flying conditions. The Cup is also a means to bring new pilots into an environment whereby they can share the sky with experienced pilots and in doing so, learn what their gear is capable of.
The results…
First place with Eugene Cussons finishing the course in 2 hrs 17 minutes, breaking the Speedrun Cup average speed record of 66,7km/hr with a new record of 78km/hr. Eugene thus earns the overall points advantage of the 2021 season with 100 points, winning the cup. Eugene combined a new Dudek glider class with the Nirvana F200 XC.
Finishing in 2nd was Jaco Swanepoel with a time of 2 hrs 33 minutes. Jaco takes the 2nd spot in overall standings with this podium finish. His equipment combination was a Dudek hadron 3 and Nirvana Instinct 200
Finishing in 3rd place was Francois Theron with a time of 2 hrs 52 minutes. He also earns 33 overall points and gets the 3rd ranked position in the cup. His combination of equipment was a Dudek Warp combined with a Nirvana F200 XC – 2 blade.
Francois fought hard to close the distance between him and Jaco up to the Halfway point, and succeeded in doing so. However, due challenging conditions he experienced a failed take off attempt at which point Jaco capitalized, giving him the time advantage to build a sizeable time gap. By finishing in second place his overall points edged him just past Francois to a total of 36 points.
The final podium reflects a full house for Nirvana and Dudek at the close of the season.
With NRT and Dudek looming large in the Speedrun Cup, Team Redbull will be returning in season 2022 with a new line of gliders and machines to chase down the dominating NRT Dudek team.
