FRENCH PILOTS WIN GORDON BENNETT
09 Sep 2009
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Rolland and Leys, winners of the 2009 Gordon Bennett Coupe.
THE French team of Sébastien Rolland and Vincent Leys
have won the Gordon Bennett Coupe race for gas balloons, flying 1,587km in just
over 85 hours non-stop.
At noon today (Wednesday) the 53rd Coupe Aéronautique
Gordon Bennett, the famous international FAI aeronautical gas balloon race named
after the US Media tycoon James Gordon Bennett, came to a fantastic close
with the final landing of the 16th competitor in Portugal, barely 20km
from the most western tip of the European Continent, and only 4km
from the Atlantic ocean.
Rolland and Leys took off from Geneva last Saturday (6th)
at 22:42 and flew 1,587km in 85h12min to the final victory in the race. 16
gas-balloon teams from 8 nations took off from Geneva during a dramatic
night-launch in perfect weather conditions.
Of the 16 balloons:
• 2
landed in France
• 1
landed in Italy / Sardegna
• 2
landed in Spain / on the Balearic Island of Menorca
• 3
landed in Algeria
• 5
landed in Spain / Mainland
• and
3 landed in Portugal
This was after long and dramatic overwater flights over
the Mediterranean sea in which several World Records were broken. The three
balloons which landed in Algeria also made the first ever intercontinental gas
balloon flight between Europe and Africa.
Full results can be seen at the official race website.
After more than 4 days on the watch, the competition
director Markus Haggeney and his team are pleased to see this race come to
a happy and perfect close. Competitors are expected back in Geneva
for the official
prize-giving ceremony on Saturday 12 September 12.
Final positions of the 16 gas balloons in the race. Red lines show their routes, tracked by satellite. Winners couldn't go any further west!
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