Here's a brief account of the days events: The weather played a joker today, and has caused quite an upset in the placings. Early in the day there was a cross wind that varied between 60 &120 degrees on the pilots backs. It made it very difficult to decide which way to perform the manouevers. Many pilots got caught out by this. Mark Christy made the right decision as to the wind direction, but still suffered in the aerobatics. His score was respectable in the circumstances, but not up to his usual standards. Furthermore, pilots he can normally beat easily were able to overtake him if they caught the right conditions! Many did! Dave Wilshere also had a pretty miserable round, and is now effectively out of the running (unless he wins the last round!!!)

Late in the afternoon, rain set in. This caused a temporary halt to the proceedings. When flying resumed, the wind was non existent, and in the flat calm conditions, many pilots were able to benefit. Mark Tilbury put in a very good flight, making him the highest placed Brit in round 3. If he can repeat that performance tomorrow, he MIGHT just scrape into the fly-off. Wayne Mann (USA) won the round with an excellent flight in the still conditions. Many thought Johann Hoenle (Ger) might have just beaten him with a stunning flight, but the judges didn't agree! Mann won round 3, with Hoenle 2nd.

After 3 rounds, the overall team standings are:
1 USA 8496.74
2 Japan 8420.78
3 Germany 8129.03
4 UK 7371.89
5 Switz 7147.64

Then there is quite a gap down to Canada in 6th place. The results are slightly distorted, as the organisers have not yet dropped the lowest scoring round. Nonetheless, the German 3rd place looks unassailable, and the British 4th place looks pretty solid as well.

In the individuals (again, the worst round hasn't yet been dropped) the standings currently are:
1 Youngblood USA 2944.74
2 Mann USA 2933.67
3 Hashimoto Japan 2923.97
4 Sensui Japan 2891.5
5 Hoenle Ger 2809.22
6 Kunii Japan 2778.24
7 Kobayashi Japan 2751.04
8 Feil Ger 2717.36
9 Gray (Scott) Canada 2647.5
10 Shilling USA 2618.33
11 Roessner Ger 2602.45
12 Christy GBR 2593.21
13 Lien Taipei 2489.27
14 Lucchi Italy 2467.32
15 Worgas Austria 2454.61

Mark Tilbury is lying 18th with 2421.7, and Dave Wilshere is in 24th with 2356.98.

These results do not truly reflect the present standings. For example, by dropping the worst round, Hashimoto would be leading by a narrow margin over Youngblood. Mark Christy looks certain for a place in the fly-off, and Mark Tilbury has a mathematical chance if he can deliver a good round tomorrow.
Wednesday is the last day of the preliminary rounds, which determine the team positions. After that it is on to the "B" schedule for the individual placings. Hopefully Mark Christy can put in a more competitive round and drop today's score. He will by flying about 9.00 am on Wednesday (8.00 am in the UK), and I'm sure all the Brits will join me in wishing him, and Mark Tilbury and Dave Wilshere, the best of luck.