https://sgp.aero/live/v/cghadsw4jc3r3a7wa9ld7m4b28x82y
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STARMOEN, ELVERUM, NORWAY: Following a week of fantastic fl ying in the Scandinavian weather, and razor-thin margins, Germany’s Tilo Holighaus (CEO of Gliding Manufacturer Schempp-Hirth) has been crowned the champion of the FAI Sailplane Grand Prix (SGP) of Norway 2026. Competing at the National Gliding Center of Norway, at Starmoen airfi eld, from June 28 to July 4, a world-class fi eld of 13 international pilots pushed their high-performance 18-meter sailplanes to the absolute limit. With the title decided on a tie-break countback, Holighaus secured the overall victory and punched his ticket to the prestigious FAI SGP World Final in Chile.
The Mid-Week Pause: Unforgiving thunderstorms and lightning over Elverum forced the cancellation of Racing Days 5 and 6. SGP organizers utilized the downtime to host a major ground conference featuring Luka Žnidaršič (LZ Design) and Holighaus, diving deep into the future of electric fl ight, Front Electric Sustainer (FES) technology, and the expansion of the e-Glide contest format. Antoine Havet (SGP Team) took this opportunity to explain his views on the future of the Sport and SGP, unveiling a fi rst version of rules for a ‘E-SGP’ event that could take place with FES gliders in the future.
The Decisive Final Showdown
The competition culminated on July 4 with a demanding 222-kilometer task threading through six technical waypoints. Under weak thermal conditions averaging below 2.0 m/s, Germany’s Klaus Kalmbach delivered a fl awless high-pressure performance to take the daily victory in Race 5 with an average speed of 108.3 km/h.
Behind Kalmbach, an extraordinary micro-battle unfolded for the championship crown. Local pilot Arne Martin Güettler unleashed a blistering fi nal glide of 218.0 km/h, the fastest single leg of the day, to cross the line in third place, while Holighaus managed a fifth-place finish.
Final Results and Qualification
The fi nal daily scoring created a historic dead heat at the top of the event classifi cation. Both Holighaus and Güettler completed the week tied at exactly 35 points. By virtue of SGP countback rules, Tilo Holighaus claimed the offi cial championship title, leaving Güettler in a hard-fought second place. Klaus Kalmbach’s fi nal day victory successfully vaulted him onto the third step of the overall podium with 33 points
