Sports ~ Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull Air Races

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Budapest, Hungary

20.08.2008

FIRST VICTORY FOR ARCH AT THE BUDAPEST RED BULL AIR RACE

Austrian ace Hannes Arch won the Red Bull Air Race in Budapest today, claiming his first-ever victory, in only his second season. Britain’s Steve Jones was second while compatriot Paul Bonhomme, the current leader, was third after uncharacteristically making an error in the semi-finals. The result means Arch is now in second place in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship with three more races to go.

"It is just overwhelming, an amazing feeling,” said an elated Arch, who has had a stellar rise from rookie last year to one of this year’s championship contenders. “I couldn’t believe it. You have to stay focused right until the very end and now I am just really happy.” Arch also had the fastest time of the day with 1:03.34 in the semi-finals.

Some 600,000 spectators lined the banks of the River Danube on Wednesday, a Hungarian national holiday, to watch the race under clear blue sunny skies.

The race in Budapest, the sixth of the season, was full of surprises. Mike Mangold finished fourth overall while local hero Peter Besenyei finished fifth, despite a last-minute operation to install a new engine in an effort to increase his speed.

The biggest blow was dealt to 2006 World Champion Kirby Chambliss who in a dramatic reversal of fortune failed to qualify for the Super Eights. He finished last in the Point One competition after he hit one of the pylons and was penalised for Incorrect Level Flying incurring a total of 13 penalty seconds. That capped off a disastrous week for the American and puts his hopes of winning the championship this year in jeopardy.

Bonhomme was putting on a brave face after picking up a three-second penalty for Incorrect Knife Flying finishing third overall. “I am annoyed that the fastest time that I posted was in the last round when I was competing for third place and not before,” said Bonhomme. “I also made a mistake earlier on that was completely avoidable.”

“It has been a tight competition all summer but I am hoping that this will now heap some pressure on Hannes,” he said. “But I have to say that he is flying beautifully at the moment.”

After Budapest, Bonhomme leads the World Championship with 45 points while Arch is second followed by American Kirby Chambliss. The next race is in Porto, Portugal on 6th and 7th September followed by two further races in Spain and Australia.

POSITION	PILOTS	NAT	RACE NO.	PLANE	POINTS
1	H. Arch	AUT	28	Edge 540	2
2	S. Jones	GBR	19	Edge 540	3
3	P. Bonhomme	GBR	2	Edge 540	7
4	M. Mangold	USA	1	Edge 540	6
5	P. Besenyei	HUN	3	Edge 540	5
6	N. Lamb	GBR	9	MXS	4
7	A. Maclean	ESP	36	MXS	3
8	M. Goulian	USA	99	Edge 540	2
9	S. Rakhmanin	RUS	18	Edge 540	1
10	N. Ivanoff	FRA	27	Extra 300SR	0
11	G. Dell	RSA	45	Edge 540	0
12	K. Chambliss	USA	4	Edge 540	0

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Budapest, Hungary

19.08.2008

BONHOMME FASTEST IN BUDAPEST QUALIFYING

American Chambliss misses out on Super Eights

Paul Bonhomme of Britain, current leader of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, came first in Qualifying for the race in Budapest on Tuesday while Kirby Chambliss, his closest rival, saw his championship hopes shattered by two three-second penalties that pushed him to tenth place and means that he will not go through to the Super Eights on race day.

“I just don’t know what happened out there,” said a disappointed Chambliss.

Austria's Hannes Arch came second in Qualifying behind Bonhomme and now stands to gain from Chambliss’ mishap by moving closer in the overall standings to the British leader. Local pilot Peter Besenyei came third on the course over the River Danube, a testimony to the skill and hard work of his crew who changed his engine overnight in an effort to give him greater speed.

Pilots completed a truncated course on Tuesday after the Red Bull Air Race Committee decided that it would not be possible for the pilots to fly underneath the Chain Bridge. Heavy rains in Austria and Germany caused the level of the Danube to rise, reducing the room that pilots have to fly beneath the structure.

Bonhomme, who has three first-places from five races, was pleased with his result and relieved that he had managed to avoid a repeat of his disappointing performance in London, the previous stop of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. “I am very happy and I am pleased with the consistency in my flights today because there was just a very small difference between my times in the two Qualifying sessions,” he said.

Fellow Brits Steve Jones and Nigel Lamb finished either side of defending champion and fifth-placed pilot Mike Mangold. Michael Goulian of America is showing renewed speed and finished seventh while Alejandro Maclean of Spain overcame a pylon hit in the first Qualifying session to finish eighth overall.

A three-second penalty for incorrect knife flying in each of his Qualifying runs left Kirby Chambliss in tenth place, outside of the Super Eights. His best hope now is to pick up a point tomorrow in the Point One competition against France’s Nicolas Ivanoff, Russian Sergey Rakhmanin and South Africa’s Glen Dell.

II am out of the championship now,” said Chambliss. “For me, I have won the championship before and so to be second or third doesn’t matter. I am only looking for first.”

Chambliss’ performance means that the competition has opened up and is likely to play into the hands of Arch, who is currently level-pegging with Chambliss in the standings on 36 points - just two points behind the leader, Bonhomme.

Thousands of spectators are expected to line the banks of the River Danube on Wednesday, a Hungarian national holiday, to watch the 12 Red Bull Air Race pilots compete for points and a place in the finals.

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Budapest, Hungary

19.08.2008

UPSIDE DOWN

Red Bull Air Race leaders unusually kick-off Qualifying

The tables were turned on the leaders of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Budapest on Tuesday, with Paul Bonhomme, Hannes Arch and Kirby Chambliss among the first to fly in the Qualifying session after putting in mixed performances during final training. The coveted position of flying last in the Qualifying session will go to American pilot Michael Goulian, currently ranked ninth in the overall championship, who was fastest overall in Monday’s outing.

“I am surprised that I got the time I did as I didn’t the think the aeroplane would go that fast,” said Goulian, who put in a clean run on the course over the River Danube. “If I can get this time in Qualifying then I would be super happy.”

While the settled and sunny weather conditions mean that flying first is not the disadvantage it can sometimes be, Red Bull Air Race Championship leader Paul Bonhomme will still be disappointed to be first out of the stands after he was disqualified in the final training session for flying too wide of the track. The results from training are reversed to give the starting order for Qualifying. Paul Bonhomme flies first, while American Kirby Chambliss and Austrian Hannes Arch fly fourth and fifth respectively.

Bonhomme will miss out on the chance to learn from other pilot’s errors as they negotiate the course. He will also be first to tackle the new track layout, introduced after the Red Bull Air Race Committee decided not to allow the pilots to enter the track under the Chain Bridge due to the rising water levels on the Danube.

The Brit, who was runner-up in 2007, has won three races so far this year and came second once. His decisive championship lead was narrowed to just two points in the fifth race in London, however, when home-crowd pressure got the better of the normally calm and confident pilot. London was also a disappointment for defending Red Bull Air Race World Champion Mike Mangold. where he hit a pylon after pushing too hard in the final. He is currently fourth in the 2008 rankings with 30 points.

A pilot to watch in Budapest will be Austrian Hannes Arch who proved once again in training that he is among the fastest pilots. Had he not picked up two three second penalties, he would have had a time of 1:07.65 – the fastest so far in Budapest this year. “These penalties I can easily avoid so I am very pleased,” he said. “To be three seconds faster than all the others is a good feeling.”

Local pilot Peter Besenyei will be hoping that the overnight installation of a new engine will be enough to give him the edge needed to finish among the top pilots.

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Budapest, Hungary

20.08.2008

AIRPORT NEWS

Paul Bonhomme (1st) was the man of the moment in Qualifying on Tuesday. The Brit posted the fastest speed through the course at 1:04.88 and will start last in the Super Eights on Race Day, Wednesday. “I am very happy and I am pleased with the consistency in my flights today because there was just a very small difference between my times in the two Qualifying sessions,” said Bonhomme who put in a clean run. “It was quite stormy and unpleasant in London, but that does not mean that we can afford to lose concentration when the weather is more pleasant. It is very easy to pick up penalties,” said the Brit, who would extend his lead in the championship were he to win on Wednesday.

Hannes Arch (2nd), the unflappable Austrian, who is currently in third place in the World Championship, was just one tenths of a second behind the best time posted by the leader Paul Bonhomme. “I was very pleased with both flights today,” he said. “In the second session I made a mistake which meant I was punished for that. But still: it was a good preparation for tomorrow. I’ll look to see where I can find the extra tenths of a second,” said Arch. “If I am among the top four tomorrow then anything is possible.”

It was all hands on deck for Peter Besenyei’s (3rd) crew who worked into the night to replace the engine in his Edge 540 in an effort to improve his speed. “It is still not performing as well as it will be in 25 or 30 hours but it is definitely an improvement,” he said after a race to get the engine running on time for Qualifying. Having won Hungary’s sportsman of the year competition 21 times for his achievements as a pilot, there is a great deal of attention focused on Besenyei in Budapest. “I will just try my best, be as fast as possible and try not to make any mistakes,” he said. And his new engine might even help him move up the overall standings. “I am a lot of points behind but of course I will try."

Mike Mangold (5th) was also gaming for a victory in Budapest. The defending champion finished with a time of 1:06.08. “Having managed to achieve this time in these conditions I am very pleased,“ said the American. “We did everything that was possible.” Mangold says the courses in Europe were not as hard as those overseas. “There are very few tight turns or chicanes.”

Nigel Lamb (6th) made it comfortably into the Super Eights competition. “I was disappointed not to improve between the first and second runs but I was convinced that I could get another second off. I had done a lot of studying,” said the Brit. “I have been flying pretty consistently and that is important.”

Alejandro Maclean (8th) was able to overcome the disaster of the training runs in London when he notched up a record 47 seconds in penalties and qualified for the Super Eights. He was very happy with his first flight. “It was close,” he said. “If I had not hit one of my wing tips across a pylon then I would have been faster. But I am happy to be among the top eight tomorrow,” the Spaniard said. “I have the opportunity to collect more points and I will do my best.”

Nicolas Ivanoff (9th) will not be repeating the success that he had in London where he came second – his first podium finish since he won in Perth at the end of 2007. Budapest has not been as kind to the Corsican resident and he was pushed out of the running for the Super Eights by a resurgent Michael Goulian who has been on top form so far in Hungary. “It was a disappointment,” said the Frenchman. “The surprise was Michael Goulian putting in a good time yesterday. I didn’t really do badly myself but the others have made a lot of progress.” Ivanoff will have his work cut out for him competing in the Point One against Kirby Chambliss.

Kirby Chambliss (10th) was brutally disappointed about the two penalties he picked up in the Qualifying sessions for Incorrect Knife Flying. The extra three seconds pushed him out of contention for the Super Eights and means that the best he can hope for on Race Day is a point in the Point One competition. “In this game, some days you get away with murder and some days you get murdered,” said Chambliss. “Today, I got murdered.” Chambliss acknowledged that his hopes for a championship win this season were dashed by today’s result. “To be honest we were not really going to win this season,” he said. “We don’t have the right airplane and we have been very fortunate for what I am flying. This is fourth or fifth fastest plane here and I am sitting in second place. I really didn’t think we would have a shot at the championship.”

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Budapest, Hungary

19.08.2008

AIRPORT NEWS

Talk from the tarmac after Monday’s training

Mike Goulian (1st) surprised many by posting the fastest time in the final training session on Monday to secure the coveted position of starting last in Tuesday’s Qualifying. “Starting last is good to watch what everyone else is doing and it calms you down a little bit as well,” said Goulian, who is currently ranked 9th in the World Championship with 10 points. The result will help banish memories of his performance in London, the last stop on the Red Bull Air Race World Championship tour, where he failed to finish his run in the Point One competition on race day following a pylon hit.

Steve Jones (2nd) was also happy, having recorded a time of 1:11.63 in training on Monday. The Brit noted that the tightly-arranged track in Budapest was ‘busy’, leaving the pilots with little time to catch their thoughts between the Air Gates, the inflatable pylons marking out the course.

After finishing second in the morning training session, Mike Mangold (4th) came fourth in the afternoon session. “We were very amazed how the guys that fly later were getting faster times,” he said. “Perhaps the course is moving on the water as time goes on or perhaps they are all just flying faster.” Mangold, the defending champion, will be hoping to avoid a repeat of London when he hit an Air Gate and came a disappointing sixth. “It was an opportunity missed but what can you do,” he said. “I was pushing too hard. My team and I have won the championship before and we know what we are doing.”

Peter Besenyei’s (5th) crew will be burning the midnight oil in an attempt to get the local pilot’s engine changed in time for Tuesday’s qualification. Besenyei has been off the pace since he switched back to his Edge 540 earlier this season after a brief time spent in an Extra. “The plane needs more speed so we decided to change the engine,” said Besenyei, who is well-known in his native Hungary. “It’s quite a big job. Tomorrow morning when it is ready then I will do some hours of flying and then I will be ready for qualification.”

Hannes Arch (8th) seemed to have shaken off whatever was bugging him on Sunday and put in the fastest net time on the course so far with 1:07.63. Unfortunately he also picked up two penalties along the way, that he will be hoping to avoid repeating on Tuesday. “Today I was feeling that it was a good day,” said the Austrian pilot who is in third place in the championships with 36 points. “Sure I got two penalties but I can easily avoid them tomorrow and I did very fast net times and to be three seconds faster than all the others is a good feeling for tomorrow.”

Paul Bonhomme (DSQ) was disappointed to have been called off the course in his final training flight after crossing the crowd line that is in place for spectators’ safety. “I am very frustrated as crowd line is a lottery,” said Bonhomme, who is leading the Red Bull Air Race World Championship with 38 points. As a result of his disqualification, Bonhomme will now start Tuesday’s Qualification session first, a position that is considered a disadvantage for pilots. “If you are out first then have the bird problems, the barge problems and the delays,” said the Brit, who has started first each day so far due to his leadership of the championship. “It means that you are test pilot all week.”

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Budapest, Hungary

18.08.2008

GOULIAN FASTEST IN BUDAPEST

American pilot swift as championship leaders falter

American Michael Goulian posted the fastest time in the final training session for the Red Bull Air Race in Budapest, completing the challenging course laid out above the Danube River in a time of 1:11.39. British pilot Steve Jones came 2nd just fractions of a second behind the American while Spain’s Alejandro Maclean put in a clean run to come third with a time of 1:11.85.

The 12 Red Bull Air Race pilots will compete on Wednesday, a national holiday in Hungary, to complete the race course in the fastest time, passing through each of the 17 Air Gates marked out by inflatable pylons at speeds of up 370 km/h and experiencing forces of up to 12 G.

The results of Monday’s training session determine the starting line-up for Qualifying on Tuesday with the fastest racer – Goulian – starting last. “Starting last is good to watch everyone else is doing and it clams you down a little bit as well,” said Goulian, who is currently ranked 9th in the World Championship with 10 points. The result will help banish memories of his performance in London where he failed to finish his run in the Point One competition on race day following a pylon hit.

Training saw the championship leaders scattered further down the pack: Paul Bonhomme, who is currently leading the Red Bull Air Race World Championship with 38 points, will start first in Qualifying on Tuesday after he was pulled off the course during the third training run and disqualified for flying too wide of the track. “It is lottery with the crowd line and I lost the lottery,” said the Brit. “But if you look at my times it would have been a blistering round and that might be a blessing in disguise if the others don’t notice.”

Defending Red Bull Air Race World Champion Mike Mangold finished fourth ahead of local pilot Peter Besenyei, who will be hoping to pick up speed tomorrow after replacing his engine overnight in an attempt to improve his plane’s speed.

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Budapest, Hungary

17.08.2008

BETWEEN BUDA AND PEST

Birthday boy Lamb leads Red Bull Air Race formation flight

Brit Nigel Lamb led a group of three Red Bull Air Race pilots on an aerial tour of Budapest on Sunday, passing over the Danube River as part of a traditional formation flight that takes place ahead of Wednesday’s race. Current championship leader Paul Bonhomme and local pilot Peter Besenyei completed the trio for the fly-past that took them over some of the city’s most impressive landmarks.

In sunny and only slightly cloudy skies, the pilots flew in front of the hilltop castle of Buda and past the course that they will compete on later this week. Laid out along the River Danube through the centre of the Hungarian capital, the Red Bull Air Race track is marked by inflatable pylons known as Air Gates and takes the pilots under the famous Chain Bridge across the water.

Around 500,000 spectators are expected to turn out on the banks of the Danube to watch the Red Bull Air Race pilots reach speeds of up to 370 km/h and experience a force of up to 12Gs.

Lamb, who celebrates his 52nd birthday on Sunday, is currently ranked eighth after five rounds. Paul Bonhomme leads the championships with 38 points, just ahead of American Kirby Chambliss and Austrian Hannes Arch. Peter Besenyei, a local personality in Hungary thanks to his skills as a Red Bull Air Race pilot, is currently ranked fifth in the overall championship.

Motorsports ~ Air Racing

17.08.2008

HOMECOMING FOR BESENYEI

Modest pilot takes it to the bridge in Budapest

Returning to his favourite city, Budapest, will be a bittersweet experience for Peter Besenyei in 2008: after an unsuccessful dalliance with the German-built Extra earlier this season, the Hungarian legend is off the pace ahead of the sixth Red Bull Air Race after switching back to his Edge and currently stands in 5th place.

Ever the professional, Besenyei will pull out the stops to perform for his enthusiastic home-crowd fans in the Hungarian capital this weekend where he will always be remembered for having been the first to fly upside down under the Chain Bridge in the heart of the city. Thousands of fans are expected to line the River Danube to see a repeat of the kind of skill that was enough to secure him fourth place here in 2005 and 2007.

“It is a very nice feeling to have the support of the people but at the same time it is more pressure to fly in front of the home crowd because they expect the best,” said Besenyei, whose midnight blue plane carries the Red Bull livery. “I will try to do my best here. Budapest is one of the nicest cities in the world and one of the nicest locations for the Red Bull Air Race.”

While the Hungarian is often recognised on the streets of his home country, where he has been voted ‘sportsman of the year in aerobatic flying’ 21 times, he remains approachable, modest and perhaps a little ambivalent about his newfound celebrity as one of the 12 pilots in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.

The 52-year-old has had a frustrating season so far. Having been one of the most consistent pilots in the series, he has been thwarted by his choice of aircraft, allowing second-tier pilots the chance to catch up. After taking third last season and second in both 2005 and 2006, the Hungarian thought that switching to the German-built Extra 300SR for 2008 would give him the boost he needed to keep up with the likes of Britain’s Paul Bonhomme and Americans Kirby Chambliss and Mike Mangold. He was wrong.

“For the first three races I had the Extra and I lost a lot of points,” he said. “I switched to the Extra because I knew my Edge was not fast enough. But then I decided to go back to the old plane – I knew it wasn’t fast enough but I knew I could fly it. Control-wise it is better for me.”

Like other pilots, Besenyei struggled to get used to the twitchy controls of the Extra 300SR. This meant his best result was fourth in Abu Dhabi before he dropped to eighth in San Diego and fifth in Detroit. By the same juncture in the 2006 season, he had won two of three races – an indication of Besenyei’s supremacy when the conditions and the tools are right. As he always maintains, the race is a technical sport and the tools need to be right to win.

Since changing back to his Zivko Edge 540 for the fourth race of the series, Besenyei has been off the pace, achieving sixth place in Rotterdam and fourth in London. This is clearly a disappointment for the man that helped develop the sport in the first place and who is still seen as one of the best pilots of his generation. Perhaps some planned cylinder upgrades will give Besenyei a much-needed boost in time for Hungary.

In spite of his struggle for speed this season, the lean Hungarian is proud of how the Red Bull Air Race has developed since it was established in 2003. “I had no idea how successful it would become,” he said. “I am really happy to see how popular it is now and how professional the set-up is.”

Motorsports ~ Air Racing

17.08.2008

HELMET ART

Besenyei to sport hand-painted helmet in Budapest

Peter Besenyei will wear a colourful hand-painted helmet created by a local porcelain artist at the Red Bull Air Race in Budapest after the design was chosen from 10 entries in a national competition. Earlier this summer, aspiring artists were given the challenge of creating a new style for Besenyei’s head covering in order to raise money for ‘Wings for Life’, a charity supported by the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.

The winner was 29-year-old László Tartó from the Herend porcelain factory whose intricate and detailed design, incorporating bird feather patterns to symbolise flight, impressed the judges the most. All ten helmets have been auctioned online raising thousands of Euros for the Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation, a privately funded non-profit organisation dedicated to raising money for spinal cord research.

Photo: Red Bull Air Racing

A judging panel which included members and artists from the Hungarian Institute for Culture and Art as well as Besenyei himself, had the difficult job of selecting a winner among the ten finalists each of whom had come up with spectacular and bold designs. The artists included actors Gyozo Szabó and Barnabás Sípos Szabó, the Herend Porcelain Factory and Zsolnay, street artist Tamás Budha and contemporary painters Zsófi Barabás, Renáta Kosaras, Márta Kucsora, Ágnes Verebics and Ábel Péterfy.

“It wasn’t an easy decision but the more I looked at the Herend helmet, the more details I noticed”, said Besenyei who was involved in the judging process. “It’s a phenomenal piece of work and it’s a helmet that I’ll be proud of being seen in when the Red Bull Air Race in Budapest as broadcast on televisions around the world.”

Besenyei is not the only pilot whose helmets will raise money for a good cause: Frenchman Nicolas Ivanoff is known for brandishing different, stylish helmets at each race and at the end of the season he will also auction them off for Wings for Life.

Tartó’s helmet was painstakingly hand-painted over a period of three weeks. Embellished with bird feather patterns, the helmet also features the traditional flower motifs used by the porcelain company. Tartó has been working for Herend Porcelain, one of the leading porcelain manufacturers in the world, since 1993. His focus is on product development for the company and he regularly represents the firm at foreign and domestic exhibitions and event.
“László’s entry is a top-rate piece executed with quality and with classic motifs,” added Hungarian artist János Szirtes.

Besenyei is a local hero in Hungary, where he has won ‘sportsman of the year in aerobatic flying’ an unprecedented 21 times. Despite consistent and strong performances and finishing just behind the winners in the last three seasons, the title of ‘Red Bull Air Race World Champion’ still eludes him. Currently standing in 5th position in the championship, Besenyei is hoping that success on home ground will help move him up the standings.

Motorsports ~ Air Racing

Pre-race From 13th August, 2008

Competition heats up as Red Bull Air Race heads to Hungary

The sixth stop of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship takes place in Budapest on 19th and 20th August and with the competition tightening at the top, this race promises to be one of the most exciting yet. Tens of thousands are expected to line the banks of the Danube River for what will be the Hungarian capital’s fifth consecutive Red Bull Air Race featuring a unique challenge for the pilots – flying beneath the famous Chain Bridge which marks the breath-taking start and finish of the race track.

An unpredictable and thrilling race in London at the beginning of this month saw hot favourite Paul Bonhomme stumble spectacularly at home and miss out on a podium position throwing the competition wide open again. With Bonhomme’s lead at the top melting and American Kirby Chambliss and Austrian Hannes Arch hot on his heels, both just two points behind, it has proved that anything can happen and the stakes have been raised for Budapest.

Competing on home turf may have rattled the nerves of the British pilots, none of whom managed a top place in London but Peter Besenyei is hoping for success at home to improve on his 5th place position. The Hungarian hero recently switched back to his Edge 540 and has flown consistently all season. “Hopefully I’ll be lucky in Budapest this year,” said Besenyei. “I’m really looking forward to racing in front of a home crowd and it’s great to have their support.”

Last year half a million spectators descended on Budapest to watch the world’s best pilots race through the challenging track just metres above the water and as in previous years the race is free for spectators. Qualifying takes place on Tuesday 19th August and Race Day on Wednesday 20th August. As part of the national holiday celebrations, the race will be followed by a firework display in the evening.

Motorsports ~ Air Racing

Pre-race From 11th August, 2008

11th August 2008

ARCH BEATS BESENYEI IN BRATISLAVA

Spectacular aerial dual between two of the top Red Bull Air Race pilots

In the lead up to the sixth race of the Red Bull Air Race World Series which takes place in Budapest on 19th and 20th August, two of the race pilots competed in a dual over the River Danube in Bratislava this weekend.

100,000 fans turned out to watch Hungary’s Peter Besenyei take on Austria’s Hannes Arch in what subsequently became the largest outdoor sporting event in the history of Slovakia. It was Arch who was victorious, displaying his incredible racing skills as he flew through a series of Air Gates set up along the 3,100-metre course at speeds reaching 370 km/hr. Arch crossed the finish line with a time of 35,63 seconds in the first round and topped the time sheets with 35,54 seconds in the second round.

Although Peter Besenyei improved his second round by almost a second, it was not enough to influence the final results and the Hungarian flying legend Peter Besenyei had to admit defeat after a hard-fought battle: “I wanted to win, but Hannes was simply too good today. Most importantly, we really enjoyed it and hopefully we will have a chance to race in Bratislava again.”

Arch, who is just in his second year with the Red Bull Air Race World Series, has become the surprise of the season and currently stands in 3rd place overall while Besenyei is in 5th. Britain’s Paul Bonhomme leads the championship.

“The atmosphere was amazing and the size of the crowd just blew me away,” said the Austrian pilot following his triumph. “That was the perfect preparation for the next Red Bull Air Race in Budapest. I’ve got an amazing feeling in the air at the moment and will be looking to really go for it in Hungary to pick up World Series points,” commented a visibly pleased Arch.

Thousands of people crowded the banks of the Danube and brought areas of the city to a standstill during the spectacular dual which was specially organised in the lead up to the Budapest race to enable Slovakian fans to witness the incredible skills required for the Red Bull Air Race. Indeed, the 100,000-strong crowd that followed the action in the skies above the Slovakian capital on a beautiful summer’s day made this the largest outdoor event ever held in the country.

ends –

In the Red Bull Air Race World Series, the world’s best pilots race through a low level aerial track made up of 20 metre (65 feet) high inflatable pylons known as ‘Air Gates’, at speeds reaching 370 km/h (230 mph) and pulling up to 12 g.

Motorsports ~ Air Racing ~ Red Bull ~ Porto, Portugal

Next Race:

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Porto, Portugal

September 6 & 7, 2008

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PORTO AND VILA NOVA DE GAIA - THE CITIES OF BRIDGES
TWO CITIES, ONE RIVER

The two cities of Oporto and Vila Nova de Gaia face each other from opposite sides of the Douro river - Oporto in the north bank and Gaia in the south. Six Pontes, or bridges, in total, join them. Of those, Ponte Dona Maria and Ponte Dom Luís, the two oldest ones, were built in the 19th century, respectively by Gustave Eiffel and by his partner in business, Théophile Seyrig. Ponte da Arrábida, Ponte de São João and Ponte do Freixo date from the 20th century, while the newest one, Ponte Infante Dom Henrique, is no older than the 21st century.

Being one of the oldest cities in Europe, Oporto is proud of its well preserved historical quarter and was awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1996. Oporto and Gaia are further connected by the famous Oporto wine, traditionally stored in wine cellars that over the years have been built in Gaia and act as a magnet for tourists visiting Northern Portugal. There stand the names of the English families that left their winemaking mark in the Douro region over the centuries: Taylor, Sandeman, Graham or Croft, to name but a few.

Fine wine and the Douro River may be the lifeblood of the two cities, but visitors will also benefit from a widely varied cultural offer. The Serralves Foundation - with its vast collection of contemporary art and amazing gardens - the House of Music - a multidisciplinary place where you can listen to great music and much more - or Oporto Cathedral, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, are some of the unmissable features north of the river. Also worth mentioning, on the south margin, are the Grijó Monastery (16 th/17th century), the Serra do Pilar Monastery (16th century) or Casa Barbot, a unique example of the Art Nouveau style in the city.

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Motorsports ~ Air Race & Air Show

AirRace Budapest 2008

The Flying Bulls

... and on they went to the Red Bull AirRace in Budapest !

The Red Bull AirRace and the Hungarian National Day on 20 August have become almost inseparably linked in Budapest and attract around 600,000 spectators every year.

This year, an air show performed by the Flying Bulls was once again part of the supporting program that surrounds the breathtaking race for seconds.

Against the impressive backdrop of the parliament building between Margaret Bridge and Chain Bridge, Hannes Arch (who achieved the first victory of his career as an AirRace pilot) proved his extraordinary skills, his continuity and his proficiency, while the pilots of The Flying Bulls succeeded in giving the visitors “wiiings”:

with her dashing design and even more so her unique engine sound, the B-25 definitely lived up to her nickname of “the Flying Cadillac”. The Corsair proved that – despite her age – she can still play the game. And when the BO-105 performed its aerobatics tricks, which included some daring loops, many spectators kept their mouths wide open in stunned wonderment.

The “appearance” of the Cobra as well as the aerobatics relay of the Flying Bulls Aerobatics team from the Czech Republic provided further highlights on a day filled with spectacular flight displays!