Following criticism at the previous Piennes meeting the new circle had been levelled in the centre (by raising the one side 150mm) and some non slip paint applied to the pitting boxes – unfortunately not to large enough areas to include the pitman’s foot area but this is an easy change for next year. A tent was also in place alongside the line check area to provide shelter should the weather change.

As soon as the first round began (at 3:30 pm) it became clear that the standard of performances was going to be high. The first round saw 8 teams inside 3:26 with the fastest being Smith/Brown (GBR) who put in an excellent 3:17.4 using their new Mazniak gear with Maret/Perret (FRA) in second place with a 3:21.1 and Langworth/Campbell third on 3:22.0.

The second round was run at 5:30 and the semi final cut of continued to tumble. Maret/Perret chopped nearly 10 seconds off their already excellent time of 3:21.1 to record a truly wonderful 3:11.5 (circulating at 17.4 for 10) and Fisher/Straniak (AUT) put in a 3:15.6 closely followed by Ougen/Surugue on 3:17.2. Other improvements came from Surugue/Surugue FRA with 3:22.1 and Heaton/Broadhead (GBR) with 3:22.5 which now meant that the cut off for the semis was already 3:22.5 (and still one round to go !)

The third round began at 10:30 on the Sunday with both Maret/Perret and Fischer/Straniac electing not to fly. The second race was superb to watch with Zhuravlyov/Sosnovsky (UKR) coming in first on 3:17.4 followed by Surugue/Surugue on 3:18.4 and Muller/Saccavino on 3:19.1 – this is what racing is all about folks !. Langworth/Campbell chopped a little off to record a 3:21.5 and Metkemeijer/Metkemeijer (NED) put in a 3:22.3 to grab the final semi spot. Wakkerman/Vandeweerd (NED) were to miss out on the 9 semi places despite recording a 3:22.7 in the first round as were Heaton/Broadhead (GBR) with their second round 3:22.5 - the cut-off ending up at 3:22.3.

The semi-finals began at 13:00 and, once again, Smith/Brown and Maret/Perret showed their pace putting in a 3:17.9 and 3:15.4 respectively with Ougen/Surugue recording a 3:20.1 to hold 3^rd spot at that time. All three races were clean and all 9 teams recorded times – the slowest being a 3:34.4.

The second round of semis was more of a shambles. Smith/Brown missed a catch leaving a two up race for Surugue/Surugue who took advantage to record a 3:19.5 and grab third spot for the final. Maret/Perret elected not to fly and this resulted in Wakkerman/Vandeweerd being given a chance which resulted in a 3:27.3 to rise them one place in the overall results. In total there were four retirements, one disq and one d.n.f. in this round which did not live up to the level of the rest of the event.

The final eventually began at 5:30 following the 5 minutes training for each team. All models were away together with a fairly even first tank but disaster hit the British team of Smith/Brown at the first stop when Colin dropped the catch and lost about 4 to 5 laps retrieving the model at full stretch on the floor. The race continued with good flying from all three pilots and the British pair managed to pull a lap back at each stop so that, at the half way stage, Maret/Perret just led from Surugue/Surugue with Smith/Brown just two laps adrift. All three models were circulating at around 18.1 for 10 and each pilot received just one warning for either Whipping or Blocking. Disaster, however, hit the French teams on the final stop when Maret/Perret took off through the lines of Surugue/Surugue’s landing model taking both of them out of the race at 168 laps – Maret/Perret being disqualified. Smith/Brown were thus left to finish on their own in a time of 6:44.3 (what would it have been without the missed catch ????) and take their first international victory since switching to the Mazniak gear.

It became clear just how lucky everyone had been when the rain came down immediately after the event had finished – causing the prize-giving to be moved into the marquee. A good selection of trophies was presented to the winners with bottles of wine for all judges and officials. Our thanks must go to Gabriel Honnet for organising the event and to the French officials Jean Paul Perret and Bruno Delor who also put in a grand effort (in addition to both taking part in the racing)