France Holds On to its FAI Aerobatic World Championships Titles - Rob Holland Freestyle World Champion for the Third Consecutive Time

France takes home all gold medals at the 28th FAI World Aerobatics Championships: general rankings, team ranking, individual male and individual female.

After ten days of a particularly challenging competition French pilot Capitaine Alexandre Orlowski (France - left) is the new World Champion.

The French female pilot Aude Lemordant (left) also takes gold at the women’s competition. She finishes sixth in general rankings, just behind Orlowski, Mikhail Mamistov (Russia) Castor Fantoba (Spain), Gerald Cooper (Great Britain) and Capitaine François Rallet (France).

For the first time in the history of the FAI World Aerobatic Championships, Rob Holland from USA has won the Final Freestyle three times in a row (2011, 2013, 2015).

Rankings

France repeats its success of the last championships in 2013: they take home all the gold medals.

Team Rankings

1. France
2. Russia
3. United States of America

Individual rankings

Rob Holland from USA

1. Alexandre Orlowski (FRA)
2. Mikhail Mamistov (RUS)
3. Castor Fantoba (ESP)

Female rankings

1. Aude Lemordant (FRA)
2. Svetlana Kapanina (RUS)
3. Melissa Pemberton (USA)

Six of the French pilots finished among the top 11: Capitaine François Rallet (5), Aude Lemordant (6), Mikaël Brageot (7), Baptiste Vignes (9) and Simon de la Bretèche (11).

Final Freestyle programme

1. Robert Holland (USA)
2. Martin Sonka (CZE)
3. Castor Fantoba (ESP)

All the results are available on the CIVA results website.

A particularly tight competition but the French pilots were well trained

Although the French pilots were very well ranked at the end of the first programs, the general rankings were disturbed after the first Free Unknown program. During this flight, Capitaine Alexandre Orlowski, until then far ahead in rankings, made a mistake. Aude Lemordant, French female pilot also well ranked, did not have a clear flight. The French’s rivals also flew very nice flights, in particular the pilots from USA, Great Britain, Russia and Spain, who were closing the gap.

Friday 28th should have been the day of the second Unknown program but unfortunately the weather conditions grounded the competitors.

The French are therefore the official world champions after three programs.

Saturday 29: Freestyle programme and air show

On Saturday the Freestyle competition - not part of the general classification - took place, as well as a great air show including vintage aircraft and “La Patrouille de France”. 60'000 visitors were present at the airfield on that day !

(photo credit: © FFA/Elodie Expert/Enpleinair.fr)

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