Last Year He Was Denied A Race For The Podium – This Year He Wants To Win

Red Bull Air Racing took a break for the month of May, but on June 4-5 the Red Bull Air Race World Championship makes a welcome return to the city of Chiba for its second visit to Japanese shores. Last year 120,000 fans lined the Makuhari beach to witness Japan's first ever Red Bull Air Race.

For 2016, Chiba will host the third race of the season, and Yoshihide Muroya will once again be returning home to fly in front of his fellow countrymen.

But the Japanese pilot doesn't feel that being the local hero will add pressure when it comes to Race Day: "It will be a big help to fly at home with so many fans cheering for me," he explains. In fact, Muroya feels that the fans who come to support him will be more diverse this time around. "Last year, after the first race in Japan we had so many more Red Bull Air Race fans. Now we have a strong fan base, we are expecting there will be a more fans including those that love other motorsports as well," he adds.

Muroya currently holds the Chiba track record of 50.779s, a time he posted in the Round of 14 at the 2015 Chiba race. He tried to improve on that time against Paul Bonhomme in the Round of 8, but pushed too hard and was ultimately given a DNF (Did Not Finish) result for exceeding Maximum G in the Vertical Turning Maneuver. It was a bitter blow for Muroya, who after such a promising start was denied the opportunity to race for the podium in the Final 4 at his home stop.

For 2016, G-force has been Muroya's main rival when it comes to picking up World Championship points. He'll be keeping tabs on his G-readings, after landing two DNF results at the two opening races of this season. A hat-trick of DNF results in the first three races would be disastrous, so how will he prepare? "The same as I prepare for all races," he answers. "But we will have several days preparation at my home airport in Fukushima – so we might be better shape than the last race," he says. "As always, I will be working on the race-plane, my physical and mental strength, and my flying skills."

(Image from Red Bull press release)

FMI:Red Bull press release