Mon, May 05, 2008
Claims Second Red Bull Air Race Win Before Crowd Of 63,000
The fierce competition between British pilot Paul Bonhomme and
American pilot Mike Mangold came to a head in San Diego Sunday as
Bonhomme claimed his second win of the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World
Series season in front of 63,000 enthusiastic spectators.
It was another dazzling precision performance for the British
ace, who, after losing to Mangold by a heart-breaking fraction of a
second in 2007, gained a measure of revenge on his American rival
with the hard-earned victory. Although Bonhomme made it look easy
with his elegant style of flying through the challenging obstacle
course, he was breathing hard and drenched in sweat after returning
to the runway set up on the US Naval Air Station on North Island.
He won the final with a time of 1:18.01 to 1:19.24 for Mangold who
took second.
"I'm very pleased to take the win",
said Bonhomme, who also won the event last year. "It's a
challenging track here in San Diego. You have to be consistent in
every session all the time. Today we saw some tight flying, and I
had to work very hard to get this spot."
Bonhomme currently leads the World Series with 18 points.
Mangold is second with 15 points.
Mangold was especially resilient in San Diego, bouncing back
from a distant third three weeks ago to a close second. He worked
with his technician overnight to remove about three pounds of
weight from his plane and put in a fantastic run to beat
second-year sensation Hannes Arch in the Semi Finals, clocking
1:17.74. Bonhomme was only marginally faster in his Semi Final
against American pilot Kirby Chambliss, with 1:17.59.
"I'm pleased to be on the podium considering the circumstances
but annoyed that I can't get my plane to go any faster," said
Mangold, "Paul's got a great plane and he's a great pilot."
More than 120,000 fans attended the two-day race weekend lining
the shores of San Diego Bay.
The World Series stays in the US for the next stop in Detroit,
MI on May 31 and June 1.
Red Bull Air Race 2008 San Diego Results
- P. Bonhomme GBR Edge 540
- M. Mangold USA Edge 540
- K. Chambliss USA Edge 540
- H. Arch AUT Edge 540
- M. Goulian USA Edge 540
- N. Lamb GBR MX2
- A. Maclean ESP Edge 540
- P. Besenyei HUN Extra 300SR
- S. Jones GBR Edge 540
- N. Ivanoff FRA Extra 300SR
- S. Rakhmanin RUS Edge 540
- G. Dell RSA Edge 540
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