The 2018 Blues are Champions in Thailand!
News item of 2 May 2018. Last updated on 22 April 2020: some information may have changed. Latest news
Paramotor World Championship: the Blues win gold
The French team, made up of 13 competitors including 11 crews, won second place at the 10th World Paramotor Championships, held from 27 April to 6 May in Thailand.
Led by Pascal Vallée, assisted by Pascal Burel, the team spent 2 weeks on site to prepare for and take part in the competition.
3 days ahead of time, FFPLUM settled the team close to the competition site so that they could prepare as well as possible given the heat at this time of year.
The competition site's proximity to Pasak Chonlasit lake made it possible to hold slalom events that were as spectacular as ever, in which the Poles and Spaniards proved supreme. As for us, Alexandre dominated the slalom rounds without compromise, with his technique and unrivalled class.
The running of the competition was marred several times by inexperienced race management, which triggered an avalanche of protests from the various nations once the events were over.
Of course, the competition was run according to the rules and allowed the French to compete in all the events despite stormy and rainy conditions.
For this edition, the Thai organisers brought together 14 nations, including:
- Saudi Arabia
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Bahrain
- Spain
- France
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Poland
- Russia
- Czech Republic
- Thailand
That makes 108 competitors, of whom 65 foot-launched, 27 in single-seat trikes and 16 in two-seat trikes.
At the end of the prize-giving ceremony, the French team once again confirmed its position as leader and won medals in every category, with:
• Alexandre MATEOS, World Champion in foot-launch
• Boris TYSEBEART, World runner-up in single-seat trike
• Célia DOMINGUES and Jean MATEOS, World Champions in two-seat trike.
France won the following team titles:
• World Champion in the foot-launch category with Alexandre and Marie MATEOS, Jean Emile OULHA, Nicolas AUBERT, Pierre LEFEBVRE, Laurent SALINAS and Thomas PETIT
• World runner-up in the two-seat trike category with Célia DOMINGUES, Jean MATEOS, Vincent BEUTTER and Pascal MALOCHET.
Mohamed Azzouni
DTN Project Officer
Video: Looking back at the 10th Paramotor World Championships (made by Jérôme Bonnard)
6 May 2018
Well done to the French paramotor team!
France 2th in the nations ranking
The closing of these 10th Paramotor World Championships marks the end of the adventure in Thailand for the French Paramotor team. After a competition held in crushing heat and unpredictable weather, the champions of the Groupe France took the top places in every ranking.
The French team coached by Pascal Vallée won the team gold medal in PF1 (foot-launch) thanks to Alexandre and Marie Matéos, Jean-Emile Oulha, Nicolas Aubert, Pierre Lefebvre, Laurent Salinas and Thomas Petit.
and second place in the PL2 Two-seat Trike
Alexandre Mateos wins his 3th World Champion title!
Marie Mateos finishes in 5th place
Borys Tysebaert: 2th in the PL1 Single-seat Trike
Célia Domingues and Jean Mateos: World Champions in the PL2 Two-seat Trike! And a team silver medal for the crew Vincent Beutter - Pascal Malochet
Congratulations to the whole team and its coaching staff!
The results
All the results at: https://www.wpc2018.org/results
The podiums
The team prepares to receive its awards
France, team World Champion in the premier category PF1: foot-launch
Second place for the French team behind Poland in the overall nations ranking
The tired competitors savour their victory
5 May 2018
The last day of competition began with a surprise breakfast, then a briefing before the fuel-economy and distance event.
At the end of the events, the competitors were able to chat and watch a few aerobatic displays.
Now it is time to carefully pack away the equipment and wait for the results: the French team will surely be on every podium!
Tomorrow, the trophy ceremony and closing of the championship…
4 May 2018
This morning, the team was getting ready for today's "Economy Navigation" event, still in the crushing heat…
Machines placed in quarantine for the Nav Eco event
Flight preparation
Fuel check and fitting of seals between pilots
Briefing to prepare for this morning's Nav Eco
3 May 2018
The events continued this morning despite stifling heat and humidity. The French team, eagerly awaited by the other competing countries, has nevertheless already won some fine victories, notably thanks to Alexandre Mateos, already in first place…
The competition then had to be interrupted early in the afternoon because of a violent storm…
All the results at: https://www.wpc2018.org/results
Pascal Vallée's briefing
The events start at sunrise
The extent of the site
Torrential rain halts the events and forces the competitors to take shelter…
Slalom (between the showers)
This morning, Slalom Mania clover leaves: best time for Célia and Jean in the two-seat trike
Watching the event
Warming up the engine for Jean-Emile
And for Marie too
The French team under close scrutiny and being filmed
2 May 2018
The competition began yesterday in stifling heat; here are the first results:
You can follow the French Paramotor team competing at the World Championships in Thailand by connecting to:
https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2226&pwd=0e1c3dcde9a6f17893678cd2cc4079#
when their trackers are switched on, GMT+7: click on the paramotor and in the description click on the blue or green boxes or activate Playback to replay their tracks.
28 April 2018
"The team is continuing its ground preparation in unfavourable weather and torrential rain.
The organiser has only recently got going, because the day before we had the pilots' registration and today the checks of machines and documents.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, and we are impatient to get into the competition, if the weather improves…"
26 April 2018
Despite the strike, Air France made the transport of our heavy load of equipment particularly easy, with a friendly and helpful crew during an 11 h 30 flight.
 |
 |
At Bangkok airport, despite our worries about the luggage and transporting the team and equipment, the transfer went smoothly by road (170 km) with 3 minibuses and a pickup.
One minibus van will stay on site to make it easier for the team to get around.
Arrival in Bangkok
Standing, left to right: Nicolas Aubert, Thomas Petit, Mme Matéos, Pascal Burel, Alexandre Matéos, Marie Matéos, Laurent Salinas, Boris Tysebaert, Jean-Emile Oulha, Laurent Assié, Pierre Lefebvre, Mohamed Azzouni
Front row, left to right: Jean Matéos, Célia Domingues, Pascal Malochet, Vincent Beutter, Pascal Vallée
The team, made up of 13 pilots and their staff, has settled a few kilometres from the competition site (6 km north of Bangkok near Lake Lopburi) to fine-tune its preparation.
As expected, the hotel staff are attentive and are adapting to our organisation.
The team has taken over a wing of the hotel buildings, close to its equipment.
The heat is very much present day and night, and the team and equipment have to adapt very quickly. As expected, symptoms caused by the heat and the food are affecting some people, without too much harm so far.
From the moment of arrival, the 2 daily briefings have allowed the organisation to be adjusted ahead of the competition.
Pascal Vallée fine-tunes and advises the competitors, taking into account the specifics of each discipline and the flight director's organisation.
Pascal Burel handles the daily logistics, finding everything needed for things to run smoothly: fuel, oil, water, equipment…
Once the paramotors were reassembled, the first engine tests at the hotel seemed conclusive.
In agreement with the flight director, access to the site allowed the whole team to make their first "mechanical test" flights. The following flights are devoted to navigation and fuel consumption management with the local map and Flymaster GPS units.
You can follow the French Paramotor team competing at the World Championships in Thailand by connecting to:
https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=2226&pwd=0e1c3dcde9a6f17893678cd2cc4079#
when their trackers are switched on, GMT+7: click on the paramotor and in the description click on the blue or green boxes or activate Playback to replay their tracks.
The lake near the site will also serve as a playground for the competition, with an awareness session planned in a swimming pool to test the safety equipment in the event of a forced ditching.
Thailand has joined the race among nations hosting international sporting events, and we can see that it is doing everything it can to win places on every podium against the 13 participating nations. In April it already treated itself to hosting, on the same site, an international competition open to a few Asian nations.
The teams are arriving and gradually settling into the region, and we are finding that local people are attentive and pleased to welcome the event.
The French team and its staff, with the experience and commitment of the highest level and the objectives set by FFPLUM, remain focused on the preparation, which will end on 29 April.
The competition is scheduled to last 7 days and we all hope for more favourable weather forecasts.
The French microlight paramotor team flew out of CDG airport on 23 April bound for Thailand to take part in the 10th Paramotor World Championships.
