600,000 Pack Porto/Gaia
600,000 spectators packed the banks
of the Douro River in Porto/Gaia Saturday and turned the eighth leg
of the Red Bull Air Race World Series into 'one of the most
exciting venues the race has ever seen.' Traffic on local motorways
came to a standstill, rail tickets to the city were sold out and
virtually every inch of balcony space facing the course over the
Douro river in the historic centre of the city was occupied. The
entire city paused to watch Britain's Steve Jones (Team Matador)
win his first race of the season under brilliant blue skies and
upset championship leader Mike Mangold (USA/Team Cobra) in a
breathtaking final.
Jones put in a sterling performance for the huge Portuguese
crowd with a great run in the final through the 17-gate course
beating Mangold, the championship leader, by 0.38 seconds. He
posted a winning time of 1 minute 10.00 seconds. Paul Bonhomme
(GBR/Team Matador) took third by winning the consolation race
against Peter Besenyei (HUN/Team Red Bull).
"It was great", said Jones after the race.
"I was hoping to get into the 1:10s. To do a 1:10 level is
amazing. I just think this track really suited my airplane. The
airplane is doing very well so I'm extremely happy. I've also
helped Paul a bit (by beating Mangold), which is good, even if it
was not as much as possible. And it's good for the Matadors team,
of course, getting points for the team competition as well."
Mangold leads the series, which has two more stops, with 41
points. Bonhomme is second with 39 points. Bonhomme had led for
most of the season before Mangold moved ahead in Budapest.
Paulo Campos, Vice Minister of State for Public Works and
Communications, who attended the event said, "We are extremely
pleased to welcome this exciting competition to our country,
surrounded by the spectacular scenery of the two host cities of
Porto and Gaia. On behalf of the Portuguese government, I would
like to congratulate the organisers for putting on such a fantastic
event and I would also like to thank the public for their warm
welcome and turnout along the banks of the Douro River".
The Red Bull Air Race pilots hit speeds of up to 400 kph and
forces of up to 10G in the race finals flown on the compact slalom
course just metres above the water. The final two stops of the
series are in San Diego, USA and Perth, Australia.