It Was A Wild Race In Las Vegas With Turbulent Conditions For Everyone Involved

According to a Red Bull Air Race press release, Kirby Chambliss and Michael Goulian of the USA didn’t have the winning hand at a rainy, windy Red Bull Air Race season finale in Las Vegas on Sunday October 18, but they’ll have new cards up their sleeves when they return to the world’s fastest motorsport series in 2016.

With turbulence turning Las Vegas Motor Speedway into an unpredictable bowl of crosswinds, Americans Kirby Chambliss and Michael Goulian flew their final race of 2015 at the Red Bull Air Race World Championship season finale on Sunday. In the opening head-to-head round, Chambliss and his opponent Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic incurred penalties at the same gate, with Sonka advancing and Team Chambliss finishing twelfth on the day and eleventh in the 2015 season standings. Goulian battled Hannes Arch of Austria in the Round of 14 and Yoshihide Muroya of Japan in the Round of 8 to end up in sixth place for the event and in tenth for the season.

“My timing was set up for flying faster, the way I had been able to do in the better conditions yesterday, so I was probably thinking a little too fast and rolled a bit too quickly,” said Chambliss, who finished a season-high third in Spielberg. “The plane is running really good – it’s still not exactly where we want it, but we’ve definitely advanced this year. In the off-season we’ll work on everything, maybe even on my head a little bit, and come back really strong. I’m looking forward to it.

Goulian, whose season-best result was a Final 4 appearance in Croatia, is looking forward to the new season as well. “It was a building year – we have a new team and a brand-new plane. Even here we were still doing testing this morning, but we’ve really gelled,” he stated. Smiling with anticipation, the Team Goulian pilot added, “Next year we’ll come back with a very highly modified airplane. Our plane will take off to the manufacturer tomorrow morning with the engine still warm. Our 2016 starts Monday.”

Paul Bonhomme was crowned the 2015 Red Bull Air Race World Champion on Sunday after finishing a close second place in the final race of the season behind Matt Hall, staving off a thrilling challenge from the hard-charging Australian. Britain's Nigel Lamb, who won the title in 2014, had a difficult year and took seventh overall. In one of the most competitive seasons in the sport's history, eight of the 14 pilots made it to the podium.

(Image provided by Red Bull Air Race)

FMI: www.redbullairrace.com/en_US