NEWS

19.07.2008 Bonhomme in pole

BRIT WINS QUALIFYING IN WINDY ROTTERDAM

British pilot Paul Bonhomme posted the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying for the Red Bull Air Race in Rotterdam, pulling ahead of his nearest rival, defending champion Mike Mangold, despite a three-second penalty. Gusting winds at the course over the River Maas made life hard for the 12 Red Bull Air Race pilots and a second qualifying session was cancelled as wind speeds picked up to 32 knots.

After the first qualifying session, Bonhomme led with a time of 1:20.71, despite his rare penalty for incorrect knife flying. Without the extra three seconds, Bonhomme would have been way ahead of the pack – a vindication of the Brit’s decision to try for an all-out performance.

“I just settled into the descent at gate one and it all felt pretty comfortable so I thought I would just go for it,” said the Brit, who is first in the overall World Series after three races. He originally planned to put down a conservative run to get a decent time but threw caution to the wind as he sped towards the starting gate. “You tend to perform better when you are pushing it because your concentration goes up,” said Bonhomme. “It might be a bit foolish going for a mad dash but it’s good practice for tomorrow.”

Last year’s World Champion Mike Mangold came second with a time of 1:21.06, suffering perhaps from having been first on the course after getting disqualified in the final training session on Thursday. The U.S. pilot was nevertheless happy with the result. “I wanted another go at it,” he said. “I took it easy on the first run. I think I could have improved my time for sure. I was lucky.”

Fellow American Kirby Chambliss took third with a time of 1:21.66. The real disappointment came from Austrian ace Hannes Arch who was unable to repeat his impressive performance in training. Arch was fast thanks to his new high-tech and streamlined canopy but he picked up two three-second penalties and came eighth with an overall time of 1:24.70. The Red Bull Air Race stewards penalised Arch for incorrect level flying and incorrect knife flying (wrong side).

The other contenders in tomorrow’s Super Eights are Brits Steve Jones and Nigel Lamb, Hungarian Peter Besenyei and American Michael Goulian. Resplendent in his orange-liveried plane, the race’s honourary Dutchman Nicolas ‘van der’ Ivanoff of France failed to qualify for Sunday’s Super Eights. Despite having the fastest starting speed of 351 km/h, he was hit hard by a three-second penalty for flying too high that dropped him to tenth position overall.

“Its unfortunate,” he said. “I was hoping to get into the Super Eights for all my new Dutch fans.”

Due to the cancellation of Qualifying 2, all ticket holders from today (general admissions only) can use their tickets to attend the race tomorrow.