Mon, Feb 16, 2015
American Racers Are Starting The Season Well During The Challenging Qualifying Event
After a 2014 season they’d like to forget, two American pilots, Kirby Chambliss and Michael Goulian, came into the season opener of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Abu Dhabi eager for the winds of change. And in fact the winds over the Arabian Gulf wreaked havoc with the field in Friday’s Qualifying, leaving Chambliss with a strong fourth-best time of 1:00.036, while Goulian, who is breaking in a brand-new race plane with the help of all-new team members, finished a respectable seventh in the elite group of 14 pilots with 1:00.716.
Britain’s Paul Bonhomme was in a league of his own in Qualifying for the world’s fastest motorsport series, posting a scorching time of 57.178 seconds on the high-speed, low-altitude race track. Australia’s Matt Hall was close behind in second, with Japan’s Yoshihide Muroya in third.
The Red Bull Air Race, in which pilots navigate a low-level slalom track made up of 25-meter (82 feet) high air-filled pylons at speeds of up to 230 mph, is the official World Championship of air racing recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). The eight-race 2015 world championship started on Saturday.
Mike Mangold, a two-time Red Bull Air Race World Champion and now a TV commentator, said, "We're going to be seeing a lot more excitement this year in the Round of 14 and the Round of 8 and not just in the Final 4. I think we're going to see some new faces up there this year."
Mangold added that the two Americans should do much better in 2015. "Kirby is flying well, and Michael Goulian is doing well here with the bigger wings on his airplane and with his new team. The Americans will definitely have a brighter year."
(Image of Kirby Chambliss provided by Red Bull Air Race 2015 Abu Dhabi)
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