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

1. P. Bonhomme  GBR Edge 540
2. M. Mangold  USA Edge 540
3. K. Chambliss  USA Edge 540
4. H. Arch  AUT Edge 540
5. M. Goulian  USA Edge 540
6. N. Lamb  GBR MX2
7. A. Maclean  ESP Edge 540
8. P. Besenyei  HUN Extra 300SR
9. S. Jones  GBR Edge 540
10. N. Ivanoff  FRA Extra 300SR
11. S. Rakhmanin  RUS Edge 540
12. G. Dell  RSA Edge 540

FMI: www.redbullairrace.com