The Red Bull Air Race won a prestigious International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) award in Amsterdam on Sunday, September 12.
After back-to-back Sports Emmy Awards in the United States that the Red Bull Air Race World Championship’s TV production won in the last two years, the IBC award for ‘Most Innovative Use of Technology in Content Creation’ is another top broadcasting honour for the TV production that took the high-speed, low-altitude race to a global audience of 300 million viewers in more than 130 countries.
The TV production captured the drama, speed and skill of the world’s best race pilots on the ground and in the air as they raced their high performance airplanes at speeds of up to 370kph, and it was honoured as one of the greatest challenges in televised sport. The Red Bull Air Race is technically one of the most challenging projects anywhere in the world and has been able to push the boundaries in TV production through a strong partnership with European broadcast companies West4Media, SiVision, SkyMedia and Riedel Communications to produce the live race TV programmes televised internationally.
The Red Bull Air Race beat out other finalists for the top IBC honours including ESPN, the leading US sports broadcaster, for its Live 3D sport coverage of college football and NBC for its ‘consistent loudness’ from the Winter Olympics – audio as a part of creating atmosphere at the Vancouver Games.
Each year the IBC celebrates the application of technology, innovation and individual achievement with a variety of awards in different categories. An international panel of judges looked for creative solutions that delivered real benefits and helped move the industry forward.
The IBC cited the signal distribution at the Red Bull Air Race and noted that “the race programme travels the world, and at each venue the engineering team is faced with the challenge of bringing pictures and sound from across a huge area, and from the planes themselves. The organisers chose to carry everything – video, audio, communications and data – on one easily rigged fibre backbone. Fibre also saves shipping many tonnes of copper cables from venue to venue.”
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is one of the most logistically complex productions. Flight adds a third dimension to motorsport and requires skills from a variety of expert teams to deal with the entire behind the scenes process from the rigging of on-board cameras to capturing the racing footage from the the RB105 helicopter.
The IBC is an annual trade show for broadcasters, content creators/providers, equipment manufacturers, professional and technical associations, and other participants in the broadcasting industry. IBC is Europe's largest professional broadcast show and is held annually in September in Amsterdam.
SALZBURG, Austria - The 2010 Red Bull Air Race world championship was the most exciting in the eight-year history of the sport with a spirited battle that went to the final round and stops in some of the world’s most spectacular locations -- including a first-ever race in New York City.
The six-race season will long be remembered as one of the most remarkable motor sport championships ever even as the Red Bull Air Race goes into hibernation for 2011 after 50 races on five continents over the last eight years. There were also, unfortunately, two accidents in 2010 -- the first in the sport’s history -- but fortunately no one was seriously injured.
Paul Bonhomme of Britain became the first pilot to successfully defend the Red Bull Air Race championship, taking the honors in the final race at the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany by getting second place behind Hannes Arch and finishing the season with 64 championship points. The Austrian, who had won the championship in 2008, finished a close second overall in 2010 with 60 points despite winning four of the six races in 2010 with victories in Perth, Rio de Janeiro, Windsor, and Germany. Britain’s Nigel Lamb had a career-best season, taking third place overall with 55 points, after he managed to reach the Final Four in all six races and took second three times.
Bonhomme, who had finished a heartbreaking second in 2007 and 2008, won only the season opener in Abu Dhabi and the penultimate round in New York -- a brilliant performance under pressure in front of the spectacular backdrop of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. But, more importantly, Bonhome got on the podium in all six races -- and extended his record-breaking podium run to 13 straight races going back to 2008. Bonhomme joins American ace Mike Mangold (2005 and 2007) as the only double champion. Bonhomme also has more career wins (13) than anyone. American Kirby Chambliss, who won the 2006 championship, finished fourth overall in 2010 .
Worked Beautifully Together
“It’s very special,” Bonhomme said. “What a relief! It had been mine to lose and I was pleased not to have slipped up. I’m very pleased about the whole year. We’re a motor racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I’ll look forward to whatever happens next with the air race and hope that Team Bonhomme are running around the world, having a great race, enjoying the scenery, meeting the fans and locals and enjoying the food, beer and wine -- but above all winning.”
Arch had won the 2008 championship even though he had only won two races that year. By contrast Bonhomme had won four races in 2008 but ended up second overall. Arch’s 2010 hopes were dashed by a 11th place in Abu Dhabi -- just like Bonhomme had wasted his chances in 2008 with a 10th place in Porto. In 2008 Bonhomme had felt he had shown he had been the better pilot with the four victories despite coming up short in the championship while in 2010 Arch had a similar view that he had demonstrated he was the fastest with his four wins.
“Maybe we didn’t win the championship, but we won four races, we set lots of track records and had lots of fastest times in the training sessions,” Arch said. “That made us happy. And we hope to win the title in the future. It’s a good feeling to know we posted most of the track records this year. So we know we’re fast. This season was the best season for me. In 2008 Paul made a big mistake and handed over the title to me. This year we definitely had our best season with four wins. We had the fastest airplane. I’m most happy about this season. “
Tough Competition In Chasing Pack
Behind the leaders, it was a year of upsets and upheaval throughout the field. As a reflection of how competitive it was, there were only eight points separating fifth place (Canada’s Pete McLeod) and 10th place (Hungary’s Peter Besenyei). McLeod, a rookie who finished last in 2009, jumped all the way to fifth place in 2010 with 33 points. McLeod’s Edge 540 might not have been the fastest plane in the field, but the Canadian was a master of consistency with three fifth places. Nicolas Ivanoff was sixth also with 33 points, a disappointing season for the Frenchman who had taken fifth in 2009.
It was ostensibly also a disappointing season for Matt Hall, who was seventh overall on 31 points after getting third in his rookie season. But when Hall was able to fly, the Australian proved he was one of the best pilots in the world. He was second in Perth and third in the season finale in Germany. But he was stopped by a technical failure in Abu Dhabi, rainy weather that washed out the race in Rio and then missed two races following his splash on the surface of the Detroit River just before the race in Windsor, Canada.
Germany’s Matthias Dolderer got a season-best fifth in Windsor and ended up with 26 points but was not able to get the most out of his new Edge 540 V3 in the final two races and ended up a disappointing eighth, just ahead of American Michael Goulian, who had 24 points and was not able to come close to matching the magic of 2009 when he got his first career victory at Budapest.
Hungary’s Peter Besenyei got off to a splendid start with third in Abu Dhabi, mastering a challenging course in difficult conditions. But he could do no better than eighth the rest of the season and finished with 21 points even though his Corvus Racer set heads turning at the final three stops.
Czech pilot Martin Sonka was pleased about winning two points in his rookie season -- one each for 11th place in the last two rounds. Brazil’s Adilson Kindlemann only took part in the first race in Abu Dhabi. Kindlemann missed the rest of the season after his MXS-R plane crashed into the Swan River in Perth after suffering an aerodynamic wing stall. The Brazilian was not hurt and was quickly helped out of his ruined plane, which had flipped into the water, by divers in the first and only rescue operation in the 50-race history of the sport.
The Red Bull Air Race announced before the final round in Germany that it would take a one-year break in 2011 for the future success and development of the sport.
Red Bull Air Race GmbH confirmed that for the future success and development of the sport, the World Championship will take a one-year break in 2011.
The organization will use this opportunity to fast track the technological advancements currently in the making which would further improve the already high levels of safety.
There is a need to revise the main organization and commercial areas to realize the full potential of the sport including the development and reinforcement of strong host city partnerships which would secure a long term race calendar.
CASSARUBIOS, Spain – It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Red Bull Air Race pilot Alejandro (Alex) Maclean, who has died today at the age of 41 following a fatal accident in his native Spain while carrying out aerobatic training for an Air Show. Our thoughts are with his wife Emma and their two children aged 7 and 12.
The entire Red Bull Air Race community and the aerobatic fraternity have lost one of their most vibrant and passionate characters. Alex’s significant contribution to the growth and development of the Red Bull Air Race over the past six years and to aviation in general will be remembered forever by those who shared this journey with him.
The former captain of the Spanish national aerobatic team began his Red Bull Air Race career in 2003 and was a key figure in the evolution of the championship. A fiercely competitive streak led the Spaniard to accelerate the development of the MXS-R with fellow pilot Nigel Lamb and Alex kept his longstanding technician busy with an aggressive modification schedule.
Known at the Race Airport for his expressive Latin temperament, Alex was a deeply sensitive and emotionally charged character who fought against obvious frustration when results weren’t forthcoming. Despite this, he continued to push forward with his loyal team and finished the 2010 season on a philosophical note, taking personal responsibility for a disappointing result.
While he worked his race team hard and expected absolute commitment, Alex treated his technician Jesús Cañadilla, team coordinator Carola Bisci and coach Eneko Larumbe like family. He showed a deep respect for those who supported him and placed great value on building genuine friendships. Definitely not one to suffer fools gladly, the articulate and considered pilot often made journalists work hard for their quotes but his level of introspection and self-awareness added a fascinating dimension to any interview. His colourful character was a welcome contrast to many of the more reserved pilots.
Outside the Red Bull Air Race, Alex was a dedicated ambassador for flying and was recently named as the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Paul Tissandier Diploma for his contribution to sporting aviation. Fascinated by the idea of flight since childhood, he started flying ultralight aircraft before moving on to high performance aerobatic planes and was a celebrated competition pilot on the European stage before embarking upon the next chapter of his career with the Red Bull Air Race.
LAUSITZ, Germany - Britain's Paul Bonhomme won the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship by taking second place behind Austria's Hannes Arch in the final race of the season at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany on Sunday. In another thrilling duel in front of a crowd of 65,000, Australia’s Matt Hall got the third podium of his career with third place in the 50th race in the sport’s history while Germany’s Matthias Dolderer finished seventh to the delight of the big home crowd.
Bonhomme, who also won the 2009 championship, finished the six-race season with 64 points and two victories -- in Abu Dhabi in New York. Arch, the 2008 champion, ends the year with 60 points and four wins -- in Perth, Rio, Windsor and Germany. Britain's Nigel Lamb ended up third overall on 55 points.
Arch stopped the clock through the 15-gate track set up in the infield of the EuroSpeedway Lausitz race track in 1:12.30 while Bonhomme took second in 1:12.66 and Hall was in 1:17.41 -- hurt by four seconds in penalties. Lamb was knocked out of the Final Four due to a flat tyre suffered just before take-off.
“It’s very special,” Bonhomme said, who let out a loud celebration cheer over his cockpit radio after he clinched the title. Bonhomme, the most successful pilot in the history of the sport with 13 career victories, admitted he was disappointed that he failed to beat Arch in the season finale even though he did get a record 13th straight podium with second place on a sunny afternoon in Germany.
“It feels good,” Bonhomme said. “The key thing is that we won back-to-back championships, that’s what I’m going to be taking away. I’ve been saying all year I’ve been relaxed and had stayed that way right up to this race. But I knew this race could make or break the whole championship. The day didn’t go exactly as I planned but I’m very pleased about the whole year.” Bonhomme is the first pilot to win back-to-back titles and joins American Mike Mangold as the only two-time champion in the eight-year race history.
Arch, who now has seven career wins, pushed Bonhomme to the limits all season and kept the pressure on his British rival to the final round. Bonhomme had posted faster times than Arch all weekend and had won the Qualifying point earlier on Sunday. But Arch pulled out all the stops in the Final Four, posting a blistering time that Bonhomme could not match.
Paul Bonhomme (2010 winner)
“The key thing is that we won back-to-back championships, that’s what I’m going to be taking away. I’ve been saying all year I’ve been relaxed and had stayed that way right up to this race. But I knew this race could make or break the whole championship. The day didn’t go exactly as I planned but I’m very pleased about the whole year. We’re a motor racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I hope that when the season fires up again we have a lot more venues like this and that we indeed come back here again as well.”
Race Day, Lausitz
Hannes Arch (1st) “I knew my chance was quite small to win the championship and to expect Paul to make a big mistake, that would have been a bit too much to ask for. I tried to take my chance and I’m quite happy. I completely screwed up Qualifying and it was hard to be motivated. It means a lot to win here in Lausitz as it’s the last race for quite a while. To win in this year’s home race, means a lot for my fans who came here and my team. I knew my plane was fast and I had the perfect crew behind me. I’m happy I got things together.”
Paul Bonhomme (2nd) “Qualifying was very special although rest of the day didn’t quite go as planned. Even after I knew I’d won the championship the professional racer in me still wanted to win the race. Subconsciously I probably did relax a bit too much but I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.My sympathies to Nigel Lamb for getting a flat tyre. It’s been a superb atmosphere here and is the right environment for us as a motorsport. It’s been great fun.”
Matt Hall (3rd) “It wasn’t one of my objectives to get on the podium here but rather it was to just have three smooth and fast flights. An internal issue in Windsor for me, where I had my incident was that I was targeting results. After an in depth review, I just wanted to fly super smooth and I achieved that. It’s absolutely fantastic here as a race location and I do believe this is the future. The result is just a bonus.”
Nigel Lamb (4th) “This wasn’t what I was aiming for and I really thought this was a race I could win especially as I got to the Final. I’d been holding back in the 270 turns all day and I was just going to go for it. I might have hit a pylon but I’d rather have given it a go and come 4th than not even to get airborne. It’s something that hasn’t ever happened in 35 years of flying. The wheelpan takes ages to remove and the tyre a good 20 minutes to change… it was history. I’m disappointed but philiosophical. I’m very happy with my season but for everyone apart from the winner of each race there is always a change in strategy to look at. My aeroplane is going very well and I’m definitely getting more out of it.”
Nicolas Ivanoff (5th) “I was good in the turns today but lost speed when I was flying straight. This track had lots of turns so it was good for me. Today I have no regrets but it was a strange season. I expected a bit more from myself so it’s not so good. I am really proud to be part of this adventure from the first year and we’ve shown that we can do something really great. We must continue in the future.”
Kirby Chambliss (6th) “I tried to get everything I could out there today and it was pretty consistent all day. I tried a little something different in the hope that it would give me that extra second back on the last round but I think it may have cost me time. I’m disappointed I didn’t win but we know we have a 6th place airplane and that’s where we ended up. We’ve been able to capitalise on guys making mistakes in the last couple of races but they just weren’t making them today. There have been a lot of ups and downs this season for sure. We’ve had a couple of podium finishes but we’ve struggled with technically with the engine. We’ve been glad to be here and it’s been a great venue. We’ll be back to fly like hell in 2012.”
Matthias Dolderer (7th) “It’s amazing to fly with the home crowd but it didn’t work out how I wanted. I was expecting a little bit more and I had a good fight in there. It was a great final of 2010. I am a little bit disappointed but I leave with an absolutely great feeling. This weekend was just amazing with the fans and the stadium. It was incredible, stunning. This is the future of our motorsport and to get the opportunity to race here is just amazing. The crowd is definitely a positive push and the plane is feeling really well adjusted. There are several things I would change looking back. In my second season I have definitely put myself under more pressure.”
Pete McLeod (8th) “I feel great and I raced real well today. I’m pleased to end the season on this note. It was a close penalty on the last run and it was a real strong net time – on both runs actually. I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll be wishing there was a next race. It’s been a great season overall and the team has worked really hard. I think I’m able to run in the 5th or 6th position and the airplane has the potential. I wasn’t going to win a world championship this year but I felt I got everything I wanted from this season. I’m going to stay ready and strategise for 2012.”
Peter Besenyei (9th) “Without the penalties that was my best time this week. I still don’t know why I got the penalties and I really didn’t feel that I flew incorrectly. I did my best and I enjoy every minute of racing. I’m absolutely proud of the achievement of the Red Bull Air Race and I really hope it will come back to an even higher level in 2012.”
Alejandro Maclean (10th) “I generally had a bad week and didn’t train well. Today I feel great but I was just catching up. The time was pretty good today but just not enough. The smoke failed and there is nothing I can do about that; it’s a mechanical fault. I really did the best I could and that’s good enough. This season has been very disappointing for me and I had to fight with a lot of stuff in all areas, not just with the plane, the team and in other areas. With all that pressure and extra stress I still think I did my best but yes, pretty frustrated because I didn’t perform well enough. The winglets definitely helped the plane and it is performing well. I would blame the lack of results this season on me.”
Martin Sonka (11th) “I think I gave it everything I could and I can say I flew almost exactly as I wanted. I flew two clean runs and that was the main goal and unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the Super 8. We’re really happy to take another championship point so that is great. This year has been absolutely amazing for the whole team with a lot of beautiful locations. We’ve really enjoyed it and we’re looking forward to continuing in the future. It’s a different kind flying but definitely the most challenging so far in my career. It’s an amazing sport and it’s great to fly with all the other pilots here.”
Yoshi Muroya (12th) “My time on Q2 was not enough for the Super 8 so I made a tighter track in the Top 12 to gain 1.5 seconds but it didn’t work. I hit the pylon and lost concentration a little bit and got looser in the track. My flying is getting better and better but I still need more track time. We’ll catch up later and then be able to fly tighter lines in the track.”
“I knew I could win the race because the plane is fast and it’s a fast track,” Arch said, taking great satisfaction about winning four of the six races this year. “We might not have won the championship but we have four races and have lots of track records this year. We’re happy about that, it’s a good feeling. “
Bonhomme, Arch, Lamb, Hall and Dolderer told a news conference after the race they hoped the race would return to the EuroSpeedway in the future. “It’s a superb venue,” Bonhomme said. “We’re a motor racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I hope that when the air race season fires up again we have a lot more venues like this and that we indeed come back here again as well.”
LAUSITZ, Germany – The title is hanging in the balance for defending Red Bull Air Race world champion Paul Bonhomme as the final race at the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz unfolds today. All season the Brit has maintained a strong presence at the top of the table with clean flying but his secret weapon this year could indeed be an elusive Brazilian academic hidden away at the back of the team’s hangar.
Paolo Iscold, from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizone, Brazil has been providing Team Bonhomme with in depth data analysis since the start of the 2010 season. A lecturer in aeronautical engineering and aerodynamics, Iscold became involved in the motorsport through an association with former South African pilot Glen Dell.
“He’s been helping us all season and has been with us at the past four races,” says Bonhomme. “It’s an excellent investment and in the future is a definite ‘must-have’ – I don’t think you can do it without that insight.”
The experience Iscold brings to the team has proven invaluable for real-time track analysis and Bonhomme says he has absolute faith in the feedback. “It’s very helpful,” the defending champion nods. “The real benefit is having somebody there who immediately has the intelligence to do it – by that I mean the physical data gathering but also the wit to actually do it – and also the various computer tools we use. He can also take the video data and very quickly say this is where I’m going wrong. It saves me hours and hours poring over data at night. I can chill out and relax instead.”
High-level aerodynamic evaluation is complex to say the least and Iscold studies G-loadings, speed and acceleration among other parameters to assist the team with specific strategies for each gate. Bonhomme admits sometimes he can glaze over with information overload but never doubts the quality of advice given. “Sometimes I do wonder what the hell he’s talking about!” laughs the Brit. “But I absolutely follow his advice and that’s what you need. I’ve had friends say to me ‘you want to turn a bit tighter at gate 4’ but you need something more than that. Paolo can say to me ‘at gate 4 your load factor is increasing too high and you’re slowing down too much. At gate 5 your speed is this and you can add a tenth of a second here and you’ll gain three tenths of a second later on. It’s the science of it all that matters.”
Text from www.redbull.com
After back-to-back Sports Emmy Awards in the United States that the Red Bull Air Race World Championship’s TV production won in the last two years, the IBC award for ‘Most Innovative Use of Technology in Content Creation’ is another top broadcasting honour for the TV production that took the high-speed, low-altitude race to a global audience of 300 million viewers in more than 130 countries.
The TV production captured the drama, speed and skill of the world’s best race pilots on the ground and in the air as they raced their high performance airplanes at speeds of up to 370kph, and it was honoured as one of the greatest challenges in televised sport. The Red Bull Air Race is technically one of the most challenging projects anywhere in the world and has been able to push the boundaries in TV production through a strong partnership with European broadcast companies West4Media, SiVision, SkyMedia and Riedel Communications to produce the live race TV programmes televised internationally.
The Red Bull Air Race beat out other finalists for the top IBC honours including ESPN, the leading US sports broadcaster, for its Live 3D sport coverage of college football and NBC for its ‘consistent loudness’ from the Winter Olympics – audio as a part of creating atmosphere at the Vancouver Games.
Each year the IBC celebrates the application of technology, innovation and individual achievement with a variety of awards in different categories. An international panel of judges looked for creative solutions that delivered real benefits and helped move the industry forward.
The IBC cited the signal distribution at the Red Bull Air Race and noted that “the race programme travels the world, and at each venue the engineering team is faced with the challenge of bringing pictures and sound from across a huge area, and from the planes themselves. The organisers chose to carry everything – video, audio, communications and data – on one easily rigged fibre backbone. Fibre also saves shipping many tonnes of copper cables from venue to venue.”
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is one of the most logistically complex productions. Flight adds a third dimension to motorsport and requires skills from a variety of expert teams to deal with the entire behind the scenes process from the rigging of on-board cameras to capturing the racing footage from the the RB105 helicopter.
The IBC is an annual trade show for broadcasters, content creators/providers, equipment manufacturers, professional and technical associations, and other participants in the broadcasting industry. IBC is Europe's largest professional broadcast show and is held annually in September in Amsterdam.
SALZBURG, Austria - The 2010 Red Bull Air Race world championship was the most exciting in the eight-year history of the sport with a spirited battle that went to the final round and stops in some of the world’s most spectacular locations -- including a first-ever race in New York City.
The six-race season will long be remembered as one of the most remarkable motor sport championships ever even as the Red Bull Air Race goes into hibernation for 2011 after 50 races on five continents over the last eight years. There were also, unfortunately, two accidents in 2010 -- the first in the sport’s history -- but fortunately no one was seriously injured.
Paul Bonhomme of Britain became the first pilot to successfully defend the Red Bull Air Race championship, taking the honors in the final race at the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany by getting second place behind Hannes Arch and finishing the season with 64 championship points. The Austrian, who had won the championship in 2008, finished a close second overall in 2010 with 60 points despite winning four of the six races in 2010 with victories in Perth, Rio de Janeiro, Windsor, and Germany. Britain’s Nigel Lamb had a career-best season, taking third place overall with 55 points, after he managed to reach the Final Four in all six races and took second three times.
Bonhomme, who had finished a heartbreaking second in 2007 and 2008, won only the season opener in Abu Dhabi and the penultimate round in New York -- a brilliant performance under pressure in front of the spectacular backdrop of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. But, more importantly, Bonhome got on the podium in all six races -- and extended his record-breaking podium run to 13 straight races going back to 2008. Bonhomme joins American ace Mike Mangold (2005 and 2007) as the only double champion. Bonhomme also has more career wins (13) than anyone. American Kirby Chambliss, who won the 2006 championship, finished fourth overall in 2010 .
Worked Beautifully Together
“It’s very special,” Bonhomme said. “What a relief! It had been mine to lose and I was pleased not to have slipped up. I’m very pleased about the whole year. We’re a motor racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I’ll look forward to whatever happens next with the air race and hope that Team Bonhomme are running around the world, having a great race, enjoying the scenery, meeting the fans and locals and enjoying the food, beer and wine -- but above all winning.”
Arch had won the 2008 championship even though he had only won two races that year. By contrast Bonhomme had won four races in 2008 but ended up second overall. Arch’s 2010 hopes were dashed by a 11th place in Abu Dhabi -- just like Bonhomme had wasted his chances in 2008 with a 10th place in Porto. In 2008 Bonhomme had felt he had shown he had been the better pilot with the four victories despite coming up short in the championship while in 2010 Arch had a similar view that he had demonstrated he was the fastest with his four wins.
“Maybe we didn’t win the championship, but we won four races, we set lots of track records and had lots of fastest times in the training sessions,” Arch said. “That made us happy. And we hope to win the title in the future. It’s a good feeling to know we posted most of the track records this year. So we know we’re fast. This season was the best season for me. In 2008 Paul made a big mistake and handed over the title to me. This year we definitely had our best season with four wins. We had the fastest airplane. I’m most happy about this season. “
Tough Competition In Chasing Pack
Behind the leaders, it was a year of upsets and upheaval throughout the field. As a reflection of how competitive it was, there were only eight points separating fifth place (Canada’s Pete McLeod) and 10th place (Hungary’s Peter Besenyei). McLeod, a rookie who finished last in 2009, jumped all the way to fifth place in 2010 with 33 points. McLeod’s Edge 540 might not have been the fastest plane in the field, but the Canadian was a master of consistency with three fifth places. Nicolas Ivanoff was sixth also with 33 points, a disappointing season for the Frenchman who had taken fifth in 2009.
It was ostensibly also a disappointing season for Matt Hall, who was seventh overall on 31 points after getting third in his rookie season. But when Hall was able to fly, the Australian proved he was one of the best pilots in the world. He was second in Perth and third in the season finale in Germany. But he was stopped by a technical failure in Abu Dhabi, rainy weather that washed out the race in Rio and then missed two races following his splash on the surface of the Detroit River just before the race in Windsor, Canada.
Germany’s Matthias Dolderer got a season-best fifth in Windsor and ended up with 26 points but was not able to get the most out of his new Edge 540 V3 in the final two races and ended up a disappointing eighth, just ahead of American Michael Goulian, who had 24 points and was not able to come close to matching the magic of 2009 when he got his first career victory at Budapest.
Hungary’s Peter Besenyei got off to a splendid start with third in Abu Dhabi, mastering a challenging course in difficult conditions. But he could do no better than eighth the rest of the season and finished with 21 points even though his Corvus Racer set heads turning at the final three stops.
Czech pilot Martin Sonka was pleased about winning two points in his rookie season -- one each for 11th place in the last two rounds. Brazil’s Adilson Kindlemann only took part in the first race in Abu Dhabi. Kindlemann missed the rest of the season after his MXS-R plane crashed into the Swan River in Perth after suffering an aerodynamic wing stall. The Brazilian was not hurt and was quickly helped out of his ruined plane, which had flipped into the water, by divers in the first and only rescue operation in the 50-race history of the sport.
The Red Bull Air Race announced before the final round in Germany that it would take a one-year break in 2011 for the future success and development of the sport.
Red Bull Air Race GmbH confirmed that for the future success and development of the sport, the World Championship will take a one-year break in 2011.
The organization will use this opportunity to fast track the technological advancements currently in the making which would further improve the already high levels of safety.
There is a need to revise the main organization and commercial areas to realize the full potential of the sport including the development and reinforcement of strong host city partnerships which would secure a long term race calendar.
CASSARUBIOS, Spain – It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Red Bull Air Race pilot Alejandro (Alex) Maclean, who has died today at the age of 41 following a fatal accident in his native Spain while carrying out aerobatic training for an Air Show. Our thoughts are with his wife Emma and their two children aged 7 and 12.
The entire Red Bull Air Race community and the aerobatic fraternity have lost one of their most vibrant and passionate characters. Alex’s significant contribution to the growth and development of the Red Bull Air Race over the past six years and to aviation in general will be remembered forever by those who shared this journey with him.
The former captain of the Spanish national aerobatic team began his Red Bull Air Race career in 2003 and was a key figure in the evolution of the championship. A fiercely competitive streak led the Spaniard to accelerate the development of the MXS-R with fellow pilot Nigel Lamb and Alex kept his longstanding technician busy with an aggressive modification schedule.
Known at the Race Airport for his expressive Latin temperament, Alex was a deeply sensitive and emotionally charged character who fought against obvious frustration when results weren’t forthcoming. Despite this, he continued to push forward with his loyal team and finished the 2010 season on a philosophical note, taking personal responsibility for a disappointing result.
While he worked his race team hard and expected absolute commitment, Alex treated his technician Jesús Cañadilla, team coordinator Carola Bisci and coach Eneko Larumbe like family. He showed a deep respect for those who supported him and placed great value on building genuine friendships. Definitely not one to suffer fools gladly, the articulate and considered pilot often made journalists work hard for their quotes but his level of introspection and self-awareness added a fascinating dimension to any interview. His colourful character was a welcome contrast to many of the more reserved pilots.
Outside the Red Bull Air Race, Alex was a dedicated ambassador for flying and was recently named as the 2010 recipient of the prestigious Paul Tissandier Diploma for his contribution to sporting aviation. Fascinated by the idea of flight since childhood, he started flying ultralight aircraft before moving on to high performance aerobatic planes and was a celebrated competition pilot on the European stage before embarking upon the next chapter of his career with the Red Bull Air Race.
LAUSITZ, Germany - Britain's Paul Bonhomme won the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship by taking second place behind Austria's Hannes Arch in the final race of the season at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany on Sunday. In another thrilling duel in front of a crowd of 65,000, Australia’s Matt Hall got the third podium of his career with third place in the 50th race in the sport’s history while Germany’s Matthias Dolderer finished seventh to the delight of the big home crowd.
Bonhomme, who also won the 2009 championship, finished the six-race season with 64 points and two victories -- in Abu Dhabi in New York. Arch, the 2008 champion, ends the year with 60 points and four wins -- in Perth, Rio, Windsor and Germany. Britain's Nigel Lamb ended up third overall on 55 points.
Arch stopped the clock through the 15-gate track set up in the infield of the EuroSpeedway Lausitz race track in 1:12.30 while Bonhomme took second in 1:12.66 and Hall was in 1:17.41 -- hurt by four seconds in penalties. Lamb was knocked out of the Final Four due to a flat tyre suffered just before take-off.
“It’s very special,” Bonhomme said, who let out a loud celebration cheer over his cockpit radio after he clinched the title. Bonhomme, the most successful pilot in the history of the sport with 13 career victories, admitted he was disappointed that he failed to beat Arch in the season finale even though he did get a record 13th straight podium with second place on a sunny afternoon in Germany.
“It feels good,” Bonhomme said. “The key thing is that we won back-to-back championships, that’s what I’m going to be taking away. I’ve been saying all year I’ve been relaxed and had stayed that way right up to this race. But I knew this race could make or break the whole championship. The day didn’t go exactly as I planned but I’m very pleased about the whole year.” Bonhomme is the first pilot to win back-to-back titles and joins American Mike Mangold as the only two-time champion in the eight-year race history.
Arch, who now has seven career wins, pushed Bonhomme to the limits all season and kept the pressure on his British rival to the final round. Bonhomme had posted faster times than Arch all weekend and had won the Qualifying point earlier on Sunday. But Arch pulled out all the stops in the Final Four, posting a blistering time that Bonhomme could not match.
Paul Bonhomme (2010 winner)
“The key thing is that we won back-to-back championships, that’s what I’m going to be taking away. I’ve been saying all year I’ve been relaxed and had stayed that way right up to this race. But I knew this race could make or break the whole championship. The day didn’t go exactly as I planned but I’m very pleased about the whole year. We’re a motor racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I hope that when the season fires up again we have a lot more venues like this and that we indeed come back here again as well.”
Race Day, Lausitz
Hannes Arch (1st) “I knew my chance was quite small to win the championship and to expect Paul to make a big mistake, that would have been a bit too much to ask for. I tried to take my chance and I’m quite happy. I completely screwed up Qualifying and it was hard to be motivated. It means a lot to win here in Lausitz as it’s the last race for quite a while. To win in this year’s home race, means a lot for my fans who came here and my team. I knew my plane was fast and I had the perfect crew behind me. I’m happy I got things together.”
Paul Bonhomme (2nd) “Qualifying was very special although rest of the day didn’t quite go as planned. Even after I knew I’d won the championship the professional racer in me still wanted to win the race. Subconsciously I probably did relax a bit too much but I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.My sympathies to Nigel Lamb for getting a flat tyre. It’s been a superb atmosphere here and is the right environment for us as a motorsport. It’s been great fun.”
Matt Hall (3rd) “It wasn’t one of my objectives to get on the podium here but rather it was to just have three smooth and fast flights. An internal issue in Windsor for me, where I had my incident was that I was targeting results. After an in depth review, I just wanted to fly super smooth and I achieved that. It’s absolutely fantastic here as a race location and I do believe this is the future. The result is just a bonus.”
Nigel Lamb (4th) “This wasn’t what I was aiming for and I really thought this was a race I could win especially as I got to the Final. I’d been holding back in the 270 turns all day and I was just going to go for it. I might have hit a pylon but I’d rather have given it a go and come 4th than not even to get airborne. It’s something that hasn’t ever happened in 35 years of flying. The wheelpan takes ages to remove and the tyre a good 20 minutes to change… it was history. I’m disappointed but philiosophical. I’m very happy with my season but for everyone apart from the winner of each race there is always a change in strategy to look at. My aeroplane is going very well and I’m definitely getting more out of it.”
Nicolas Ivanoff (5th) “I was good in the turns today but lost speed when I was flying straight. This track had lots of turns so it was good for me. Today I have no regrets but it was a strange season. I expected a bit more from myself so it’s not so good. I am really proud to be part of this adventure from the first year and we’ve shown that we can do something really great. We must continue in the future.”
Kirby Chambliss (6th) “I tried to get everything I could out there today and it was pretty consistent all day. I tried a little something different in the hope that it would give me that extra second back on the last round but I think it may have cost me time. I’m disappointed I didn’t win but we know we have a 6th place airplane and that’s where we ended up. We’ve been able to capitalise on guys making mistakes in the last couple of races but they just weren’t making them today. There have been a lot of ups and downs this season for sure. We’ve had a couple of podium finishes but we’ve struggled with technically with the engine. We’ve been glad to be here and it’s been a great venue. We’ll be back to fly like hell in 2012.”
Matthias Dolderer (7th) “It’s amazing to fly with the home crowd but it didn’t work out how I wanted. I was expecting a little bit more and I had a good fight in there. It was a great final of 2010. I am a little bit disappointed but I leave with an absolutely great feeling. This weekend was just amazing with the fans and the stadium. It was incredible, stunning. This is the future of our motorsport and to get the opportunity to race here is just amazing. The crowd is definitely a positive push and the plane is feeling really well adjusted. There are several things I would change looking back. In my second season I have definitely put myself under more pressure.”
Pete McLeod (8th) “I feel great and I raced real well today. I’m pleased to end the season on this note. It was a close penalty on the last run and it was a real strong net time – on both runs actually. I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll be wishing there was a next race. It’s been a great season overall and the team has worked really hard. I think I’m able to run in the 5th or 6th position and the airplane has the potential. I wasn’t going to win a world championship this year but I felt I got everything I wanted from this season. I’m going to stay ready and strategise for 2012.”
Peter Besenyei (9th) “Without the penalties that was my best time this week. I still don’t know why I got the penalties and I really didn’t feel that I flew incorrectly. I did my best and I enjoy every minute of racing. I’m absolutely proud of the achievement of the Red Bull Air Race and I really hope it will come back to an even higher level in 2012.”
Alejandro Maclean (10th) “I generally had a bad week and didn’t train well. Today I feel great but I was just catching up. The time was pretty good today but just not enough. The smoke failed and there is nothing I can do about that; it’s a mechanical fault. I really did the best I could and that’s good enough. This season has been very disappointing for me and I had to fight with a lot of stuff in all areas, not just with the plane, the team and in other areas. With all that pressure and extra stress I still think I did my best but yes, pretty frustrated because I didn’t perform well enough. The winglets definitely helped the plane and it is performing well. I would blame the lack of results this season on me.”
Martin Sonka (11th) “I think I gave it everything I could and I can say I flew almost exactly as I wanted. I flew two clean runs and that was the main goal and unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the Super 8. We’re really happy to take another championship point so that is great. This year has been absolutely amazing for the whole team with a lot of beautiful locations. We’ve really enjoyed it and we’re looking forward to continuing in the future. It’s a different kind flying but definitely the most challenging so far in my career. It’s an amazing sport and it’s great to fly with all the other pilots here.”
Yoshi Muroya (12th) “My time on Q2 was not enough for the Super 8 so I made a tighter track in the Top 12 to gain 1.5 seconds but it didn’t work. I hit the pylon and lost concentration a little bit and got looser in the track. My flying is getting better and better but I still need more track time. We’ll catch up later and then be able to fly tighter lines in the track.”
“I knew I could win the race because the plane is fast and it’s a fast track,” Arch said, taking great satisfaction about winning four of the six races this year. “We might not have won the championship but we have four races and have lots of track records this year. We’re happy about that, it’s a good feeling. “
Bonhomme, Arch, Lamb, Hall and Dolderer told a news conference after the race they hoped the race would return to the EuroSpeedway in the future. “It’s a superb venue,” Bonhomme said. “We’re a motor racing sport and we worked beautifully together. I hope that when the air race season fires up again we have a lot more venues like this and that we indeed come back here again as well.”
LAUSITZ, Germany – The title is hanging in the balance for defending Red Bull Air Race world champion Paul Bonhomme as the final race at the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz unfolds today. All season the Brit has maintained a strong presence at the top of the table with clean flying but his secret weapon this year could indeed be an elusive Brazilian academic hidden away at the back of the team’s hangar.
Paolo Iscold, from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizone, Brazil has been providing Team Bonhomme with in depth data analysis since the start of the 2010 season. A lecturer in aeronautical engineering and aerodynamics, Iscold became involved in the motorsport through an association with former South African pilot Glen Dell.
“He’s been helping us all season and has been with us at the past four races,” says Bonhomme. “It’s an excellent investment and in the future is a definite ‘must-have’ – I don’t think you can do it without that insight.”
The experience Iscold brings to the team has proven invaluable for real-time track analysis and Bonhomme says he has absolute faith in the feedback. “It’s very helpful,” the defending champion nods. “The real benefit is having somebody there who immediately has the intelligence to do it – by that I mean the physical data gathering but also the wit to actually do it – and also the various computer tools we use. He can also take the video data and very quickly say this is where I’m going wrong. It saves me hours and hours poring over data at night. I can chill out and relax instead.”
High-level aerodynamic evaluation is complex to say the least and Iscold studies G-loadings, speed and acceleration among other parameters to assist the team with specific strategies for each gate. Bonhomme admits sometimes he can glaze over with information overload but never doubts the quality of advice given. “Sometimes I do wonder what the hell he’s talking about!” laughs the Brit. “But I absolutely follow his advice and that’s what you need. I’ve had friends say to me ‘you want to turn a bit tighter at gate 4’ but you need something more than that. Paolo can say to me ‘at gate 4 your load factor is increasing too high and you’re slowing down too much. At gate 5 your speed is this and you can add a tenth of a second here and you’ll gain three tenths of a second later on. It’s the science of it all that matters.”
Text from www.redbull.com
No comments:
Post a Comment