Ramon Alonso Captures World Champion Title

Competition flying concluded at the 24th World Aerobatic Championships in Granada, Spain at 20.56 on Tuesday, 3 July, with the final flight of the 2nd Unknown. Because the scores had to be manually entered into the scoring computer on the airfield, final results were not available until after midnight. Ramon Alonso of Spain became the World Aerobatic Champion and captured the Aresti Cup for the first time in his long aerobatic career. The competition was very intense all the way to the end of the event as his victory over Renaud Ecalle of France was by a 16 point margin out of nearly 10,000 points. Alonso flew a Sukhoi in the competition and was formerly a European Aerobatic Champion as well who has been on the competition scene for nearly two decades. A pilot for Iberia on the Airbus A-340, he is one of the most popular personalities on the aerobatic circuit whose warmth and generosity are well known (photo by Graham Hill). The Nesterov Trophy, awarded to the men's winning team, went to France with Spain in second place and Russia in third. The top women's team was Russia followed by the USA. Full results can be found at http://civaweb.mwebservices.net/