Manfred Ruhmer stormed back yesterday at the Hang Gliding World Championships in Laragne, to win the day by a massive margin.
He was a full nine minutes ahead of second place Christian Ciech (IT) and a massive 36 minutes ahead of third place Attila Bertok (HU).
It was a decisive comeback for the Austrian pilot who won the World Championships three times before retiring in 2004 to concentrate on flying his Swift. Following a move back to Icaro he returned to competition hang gliding earlier this year, and has been widely tipped to win the World Championship title again this year.
However, his relatively poor performance in Task 1 at the World Championships on Wednesday where he placed 16th had opened the door to the possibility that he wasn’t still at the top of his game. That door was firmly shut yesterday.
The 125 km out and return race saw 60 pilots in goal.
Follow the action online at www.chabre2009.blogspot.com. Results at www.chabre2009.com
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- Manfred Ruhmer takes his time to de-rig after coming in half an hour before the pack. Photo: Ed Ewing
