Nigel Lamb (2nd) put Britain firmly on the map in the Final, finishing up just behind Bonhomme with a great performance. “It’s a bit late but I’m delighted to end the season like this,” said Lamb, pleased to make it on the podium this year. “It shows what could have been and what could come. It’s really focused me even though I’m exactly where I was this time last year. Maybe I’m just a slow learner. I’m definitely more focused on what we need to do next year. It’s fantastic and I wouldn’t have believed the week would end like this as it started badly. It hasn’t completely fallen into place for me this year but I have lots of plans. I’ve got a lot of things I’d like to do to the plane but whether we can execute them is another thing. More power, better aerodynamics and more mental preparation. That’s mostly where I’ve screwed up this year.”
 

Matthias Dolderer (3rd) finished the season in style with a third place finish. Even with a penalty in the Final the German rookie was able to join the British pair on the podium and beat former world champion Hannes Arch. “A dream came true today for us,” said Dolderer. “If I hadn’t received the two second penalty I could have won the race. But we reached all our goals by getting the podium so a big thanks to my team. Since Budapest we have a great engine and a good aeroplane so we should be able to build on our success next year. Hannes and Paul should keep an eye out for us in the future.”
 

Hannes Arch (4th) narrowly missed the podium after hitting a gate in the Final and saw hopes of retaining the title disappear. The Austrian former world champion had earlier posted a clean time in the Top 12 but couldn’t quite hold it together when it mattered. “I’m good, I’m feeling better the further I am from the race,” said Arch. “The season is over and I was world champion last year so I must be happy. Sure I wanted to stay on the podium but I am happy with my times, the performance of the plane and my team. Next year, it’ll be full power. We’re working on it already and have been for the past six months.”
 

Kirby Chambliss (5th) was on the money in the Top 12 but a careless penalty in the Super 8 put an end to a shot at the podium. “I had one two second penalty and I’d definitely have been in the Final with the net time,” he said. “We almost made it even with the penalty. I’m really disappointed but that’s the way it goes. I wish I could take those two seconds back to have flown in the Final but unfortunately I can’t do that. It would have been really nice to have finished up a little higher but we’ll be here again next year.”
 

Yoshi Muroya (6th) had every reason to be smiling at the end of the race, after in depth appraisal of his performance in Qualifying paid off. He finished in sixth place and was happy he’d achieved his goal of finishing above seventh place in a race. “It was 100% what I wanted,” said Muroya. “We’re going to do a lot of flight training in New Zealand before next year. We’ll also do lots of modifications on the plane. This is a good way to end the year and we’re going to have a super, great season next year. My plane liked the pylons this year but we’ve got better and better every race.”
 

Nicolas Ivanoff (7th) went out in the Super 8 despite having posted a clean 1:21 run in the Top 12. “The wind was stronger in the Super 8 and it pushed me a little bit,” said Ivanoff. “I thought if I stayed level I’d be OK. We’ve been unlucky this year, like in Budapest where it wasn’t my fault that the speed and GPS wasn’t accurate. I made a mistake in Windsor and in Porto and here. It’s been a really good experience and I didn’t expect such good results with a new plane. We did nothing on the aerodynamics like Paul or Hannes. We saw that some pilots had really improved their style of flying, like Matthias and then he improved his engine. We couldn’t do that but next year we need to try to have the latest version of the engine.”
 

Peter Besenyei (8th) flew in the Super 8 but picked up a penalty leaving him well and truly out of the Final. “That was the worst season yet for me,” said Besenyei. “I wasn’t on the podium once and had lots of bad luck with engine problems. I missed one race with the engine failure and a forced landing this season and now I have to focus for the next season.”
 

Matt Hall (9th) left Barcelona with mixed emotions, failing to fly in the Super 8 round but still finishing in third place overall in the championship. “I should have made the Super 8 but I tried to fly conservatively to make it and that changed my line,” he explained. “I came through the first quadro descending and I was expecting to get called out of the track. It was the worst flying I’ve done this year. From that point on it wasn’t going to be a good flight. I’m very excited about next year though and everything is still positive. It’s a thumbs up for next year.”
 

Alejandro Maclean (10th) was left feeling frustrated after another poor result. The Spaniard didn’t make it through to the Super 8. “It was definitely a disappointing run in the Top 12 including two penalties,” said Maclean. “I got too many penalties in Barcelona and I could have done better without mistakes and maybe reached the Super 8. 2009 has been frustrating for me since the hard work on the plane and my focus weren’t reflected in my results. For 2010 we are working on a new plane – a second generation MXS-R – which should be more competitive, lighter and faster. Hopefully it will bring us to the podium.”
 

Michael Goulian (11th) was knocked out in the Top 12, which was a blow for the American who has had a turbulent season. “Definitely some big highs and some big lows this year,” he said. “Every one of these things is a learning experience. I had some bad Qualifying runs and I’ve noticed that if you qualify seventh or eighth you don’t get a chance to watch everyone else and that puts you in a bad position. I went out there today and tried to fly really hard. I had a bit of G-LOC going on in the first quadro and I started to go grey. I had to let off and I hit the pylon. Otherwise it was a really good net time. That’s the way it goes. We’re going to come with a very competitive plane next year, that’s for sure.”
 

Pete McLeod (12 th) wraps up his rookie season with a positive outlook after making it through to the Top 12. A pylon hit marked the end of the race but the Canadian rookie was still pleased with his result. “I didn’t even feel the pylon,” he said. “I was pleased with my both runs so it was a great end to the season for me. It’s been full of excitement and challenges at the same time. Plans are already underway for next year and there’s not going to be much of a break. We were 48.5 kg over race weight when we showed up here. I know I can get rid of a good portion of it. I’ve got a stock engine that’s barely making 300hp so based on the performance so far I can see we’re doing a lot of things right. I’d be a little more worried if the plane was on minimum weight and we had a big new engine. We know where we need to work.”
 

Sergey Rakhmanin (13 th) flew a slow run in the Wild Card and ended his 2009 season with much to think about. “I am a little bit disappointed and frustrated as it didn’t go as planned during this race,” he said. “We will have to analyse what was wrong and we will need to find the solution to making our plane faster. We have planned a lot of work already for the winter. Despite the fact that we worked hard to go faster at every race, this season was up and down for our team. There was a lot of valuable experience learned about the engine and the plane. We’re hoping for a better season next year.”
 

Mike Mangold (14th) announced his retirement from the Red Bull Air Race today but sadly didn’t achieve the result he’d hoped for in his last ever race. “I want to pursue more time with my family,” said the two times world champion. “I would like to thank my team, equipment suppliers and fans for their unwavering support over the years… and remember, ‘Speed is Life’.” Mangold’s team members were full of admiration for the pilot and said working with him has been a memorable experience. “This has been my best year yet,” said technician Lance Winter. “Working for Mike has been amazing, I just wish we’d been able to go a bit further today.” Team Coordinator Devon Godshall was sad to be leaving the racing fraternity and added, “He did his best and always came out with a smile. Mike is one of the best pilots this race has ever seen.”
 

Glen Dell (15th) also leaves the championship today. He will return to his job as an airline pilot after a two year break. Penalties and technical problems have affected Dell’s progress throughout the season but his warm nature has earned him the respect of all involved. “I was really fortunate to have been given a leave of absence from South African Airways, which provided me with an incredible opportunity to compete in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship,” said Dell. “Although I will certainly miss being part of the sport, I am looking forward to returning home to South Africa.” His team were equally as philosophical about the experience and said they were “sad the journey was over but glad it happened.”