Despite heavy drizzle during the morning the weather cleared sufficiently for the first pilot to take off on schedule. First to fly was Gary Ferriman in his Extra 230 G-ROMP and he landed back at Blackpool’s Squire’s Gate airport with a beaming grin – he knew he’d done well. The other pilots gathered around as his time was written up on the board... an astounding 2mins 13 seconds – a full 7 seconds faster than Mark Jefferies winning time yesterday! “Having flown the course yesterday we all had time to reflect on our tactics over night and dream up ways to go faster” said Gary, “I think we’ll see some impressive flying this afternoon.”
Next to take centre stage off Blackpool Beach was Clive Butler in his Pitts S-1T (G-OSIT). Yesterday Clive was the slowest racer but today he knocked an amazing 43 seconds off his time, coming home in 2mins 30 seconds. It wasn’t fast enough to win but earned him some back-slapping from his fellow pilots.
Yesterday Gerry Cooper flew fast but was subjected to a 30 second time penalty for a rule infringement. Gerry was tipped as one of the favourites before the weekend began and all eyes were on him as he eased his CAP 232 G-SKEW off the runway and en route to the beach. Yet again those at airport saw a grinning pilot climb from his stead... he knew he’d flown well... but how well? Amazingly he logged 2mins 13 seconds – an identical time to Gary!
The next two pilots to take to the skies were Steve Carver in his Extra 260 G-EXTR and Alan Cassidy in the new Pitts Model 12 biplane (G-PXII). Steve logged a creditable 2mins 26 seconds and Alan came home in 2mins 34 seconds (both knocking 14 seconds off their times from yesterday).
Up next came Tom Cassels. He knew he had flown a great sortie and very soon the air boss called through with the time. As the numbers were written onto the board a sizeable audience gathered. Nobody could believe it but Tom had completed the course in just 2mins 08 seconds!
Mark Jeffries was undeterred though, he knew he had a battle on his hands, but he was up for the challenge. Sadly though he climbed into his aeroplane just as the rain started to fall and an inevitable delay ensued as the aircraft were pushed into the hangar. The rain may have been heavy but luckily it didn’t last long and flying resumed in about 20 minutes.
Mark flew one of the flights of his life – nailing the speeds, heights and manoeuvres before returning to the airport to find out his result. Tom’s 2mins 08 seconds would take some beating, but if anybody could do it the British Aerobatic Champion would be the man.
Yet again the pilots gathered around the board as the time was announced... 2mins 07 seconds! Mark had now won three of the four rounds and it was time to start the fourth.
Gary Ferriman’s Extra 230 was first off on the freestyle sections, followed in turn by the remaining six competitors. This time the results were kept under wraps until the evening awards ceremony in the Imperial Hotel.
A crowd gathered to hear Brendan O’Brian announce the winner of the first ever Aero GP event to be staged in the UK. Unsurprisingly Britain’s Mark Jefferies took the overall title after impressing the judges in both the timed and freestyle aerobatics events with 38 points out of possible 40. Gerald Cooper had to settle for the runners-up spot after his victory in Romania earlier this month with 27 points, while Tom Cassells took third place with 24 points in his first ever Aero GP entry.
Jeff Zaltman, President of Aero GP, said: “Air racing is amongst the most spectacular sports in the world and it was fantastic to bring the grand prix to Britain this week. Although the weather wasn’t as good as we had hoped, we still had two great days of stunning action over the North Shore with the world’s best pilots pushing themselves to the limits.