Will the apprentice overtake the master? That’s the story about to play out at the SRS Krushevo in North Macedonia this coming week.
After three events, the leaders of the 2024 Sports-class Racing Series are emerging and it’s a battle at the front between the well known acro and Red Bull X-Alps pilot Pál Takáts and his student Christiaan (Serge) Durrant.
The pair struck up a friendship in the last X-Alps race after Serge, who was supporting another athlete, gave Pál a pee tube half way up a mountain. Speaking last year, Serge joked: “I take full credit for my pee tube helping Pál achieve such a great result and Pál now coaches me because of my pee tube!”
Since then, the pair have flown hundreds of kilometres together in the Alps and Colombia. For the moment, Pál is showing no sign of being eclipsed. He won the SRS Portugal, with Serge coming second, and he came second in Spain, where Serge came third. Will it be third time lucky for the Australian former fighter pilot?
So far 103 pilots including 14 women are confirmed for the SRS Krushevo. Others on the start line include Claudia Gomez Palacios and Miguel Gutierrez, the faces behind Mexico’s famous Alas del Hombre, and Gin Seok Song, a supporter of the event and the man behind Gin Gliders.
Situated at an altitude of 1,350m, Krushevo is the highest town in the Balkans, 159km from the capital Skopje. It’s a hidden gem for pilots that has hosted countless competitions.
The manicured launch is ideal. The main ridge is a great springboard for tasks set out in the plains. The flats in front are a fantastic arena providing seemingly endless route choices. They are also ideal for concentric circles and corridor tasks in a large safe paragliding playground which tolerates the wind very well.
There are generous climbs (3m/s up to 7m/s) and big lines of convergence, which makes for a flying area that is very interesting to analyse and exploit.
The Sports-Class Racing Series is a series of international high-level FAI Cat 2 competitions aimed at experienced EN B and EN C pilots who want to enjoy the thrills of high-level racing without needing to fly an EN D or CCC wing.
The North Macedonia comp runs from 25 to 31 August. Prizes up for grabs include two Ozone Angel V2 Reserves and a Naviter Omni, plus backpacks for every pilot taking part in the SRS this year.
Follow the action at the SRS Krushevo via Instagram @sportsclassracingseries and airtribune.com
