Yoshihide Muroya Wowed His 55,000 Fans With The Perfect Flight When It Mattered Most

A hometown hero claimed the top spot on the podium last weekend at the Red Bull Air Race in Chiba, Japan. Yoshihide Muroya took the win in Chiba, and Petr Kopfstein collected his first podium appearance in an amazing race.  

The Japanese pilot picked up a penalty in the Round of 8, but when it came to the Final 4 he flew the perfect lines and crossed the Start/Finish Gate in 55.288 – one of his quickest times of the racing week. Petr Kopfstein made the most of his first attempt at the Final 4 by storming through the track and crossing the finish line just 0.558s behind Muroya to claim second place and the first podium of his Master Class career.

With Muroya and Kopfstein flying cleanly it was up to Matthias Dolderer and Martin Sonka to try and spoil their party, but the Final 4 wasn't without incident. Martin Sonka was putting in a good shift and was looking to spoil the day for Muroya's fans, but a penalty at Gate 4 for incorrect level flying added two seconds to his time. If it wasn't for his mistake, he would've won.

Matthias Dolderer would've also seen himself on the podium, but for the second race in a row he clipped a pylon at one of the final gates and that saw him drop to fourth.

The race sees Muroya and Sonka both on 30 points at the top of the standings, with Matthias Dolderer seven points behind and with Kopfstein's second place it's pushed him up to fourth in the World Championship standings.

(Image provided with Red Bull Air Races news release)

FMI: www.redbullairrace.com