1.2 Million Hungarians At Europe’s Largest Sports
Event
According to estimates of the Hungarian police, 1.2 million
spectators watched the fifth race of the "Red Bull Air Race World
Series" in Budapest Saturday, which makes the race probably the
largest sports event in Europe and the second largest worldwide
after the New York Marathon.
The race course, with a length of 1.7 km and a total of twelve
pylons, was set up crossed the river Danube, between the Chain
Bridge and the Margaret Bridge. Both at the start and before the
finish, the pilots had to pass underneath the Chain Bridge, whose
height is currently reduced to only nine meters due to the high
water level of the Danube.
The world's ten best stunt pilots reached top speeds of up to
400 km/h and an average speed of 280 km/h on the slalom course that
also included aerobatic maneuvers.
American Mike Mangold won the race on his 344 hp Dragon-Edge
ahead of his fellow countryman Kirby Chambliss and the Englishman
Paul Bonhomme. Hungarian Peter Besenyei finished forth behind
Germans Klaus Schrodt.
The former top gun pilot won his third title in the sixth race
of the 2005 Red Bull Air Race in Budapest -- and in an impressive
manner. In the lead after the first heat, the 49-year-old American
was also the fastest competitor in the second heat: his 1:07.32
minutes were four seconds faster than Peter Besenyei, whose
excellent 1:11.11 propelled him from seventh to fourth place
in the final rankings.
"I felt some pressure in the second heat", Mangold admitted
after the race, "but everything went perfectly, I had another clean
run." The American was enthusiastic about the atmosphere in the
Hungarian capital, in front of approximately 1.2 million
spectators: "It was a unique experience. It was particularly
fascinating in the second heat, in the magnificent evening
light."
Budapest title-holder Kirby Chambliss placed second, a
respectful 7.61 seconds behind Mangold, while Briton Paul Bonhomme
nudged ahead of local hero Peter Besenyei by eight hundredths of a
second to take third place. Klaus Schrodt, in second place after
the first heat, dropped back to fifth place.
Penalty seconds again played a crucial role in the extremely
challenging course above the Danube, as they already had in the
first heat: Klaus Schrodt missed third place thanks to an incorrect
knife-edge position just before the finish line. Significantly, the
only pilot in the field without any penalty points also won the
day.
With this weekend's victory, Mangold took the lead in the
overall classification of the world series from the Hungarian World
Champion Besenyei. The finals will be held in October in San
Francisco.