The Nirvana F200 XC has finally been put to the task on the first XC races of 2021. Located in Africa, the Speedrun Cup features a 130-200km track, either out and back or triangle. The rules are simple, besides for safety rules such as no overloading of glider max weights, mandatory landings have to be done at turn points and the first pilot to return to the start/finish wins the race. Nirvana has a NRT team participating in this years cup and the brand has been undefeated for all 3 races so far this ear. With eye watering winning time margins, the F200 XC has provided the victory positions to Eugene Cussons by means of its outstanding fuel efficiency and power-to-weight ratio that drives the Dudek Warp 18 at its max Speed Bar velocity for the entire course distance. Here are some key take-away facts on the race:
- The F200 XC has enough thrust to give a positive climb rate of 3 ft/ min on maximum Speed Bar setting,
- Average Speed including time on the ground with two mandatory landings is as high as 40 miles an hour. In flight cruise speed on bar as high as 47miles an hour.
- The Fuel efficiency at this unrelenting pace drops from the usual 3 liters an hour to 5 liters per hour while temperatures remain far below the maximum.
- Winning margins are; race #1 – 30 minutes, race #2 – 40 minutes, race #3 – 31 minutes. All second place finishes were also obtained by other Nirvana models.
The Speedrun Cup will make its way to other continents in 2022 and we hope to see other brands chase us down to close the margins. For now, the F200 XC is the king of speed and efficiency in XC racing!! Team Nirvana and Team Redbull are the only race teams competing in the 2021 Cup while non-team pilots make up the balance of the 70 plus participants this year so far.
Nirvana Africa will like to welcome Jaco Swanepoel and Raymond Lovette o the NRT Africa team and they will be representing the brand with a combination of F200 XC/Instinct200 and Dudek Warp. Eugene Cussons and Francois Theron are both NRT XC international pilots.
