NEW YORK – The challengers are few, if any, for Austrian pilot Hannes Arch in New York as he prepares his bid to take a fourth consecutive win in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. The Team Abu Dhabi pilot scooped the single point from yesterday’s Qualifying after posting a scorching 1:08:18 along the Hudson River track in front of the iconic Manhattan skyline.
“I want to win but I have won three times this season and I cannot ask for more,” said Arch, particularly relaxed in the US city. “I want to go in there with a happy smile and in the race, I want to give my best. If it works out then I’ll be happy.”
Across the tarmac, Britain’s Paul Bonhomme has watched his lead shrink to just a single point following a string of second 2nd and 3rd place finishes after a victory in Abu Dhabi at the start of the season. There has been speculation that the usually unflappable Brit is feeling the pressure as he is hotly pursued by Arch in the overall championship standings – Bonhomme has 41 points with Arch now on 40 after yesterday’s Qualifying result.
“It’s not upsetting at all,” deflected Bonhomme. “We’re very happy and got the closest anyone did to Hannes yesterday. He took some pressure on his second run and made a complete disaster of it so we’re feeling pretty relaxed.”
Surprise package for Qualifying in New York was undoubtedly Pete McLeod, who was 3rd with a 1:11:23 clean run. “The reality is that other guys will have to screw up for me to be on the podium here,” he said, mindful that his Edge 540 is still slower in the track than either Bonhomme or Arch’s. “Most of the guys flew clean in Q1 but as soon as you start pushing and really hanging it out there, getting on the ragged edge, then you start taking the penalties.”
Team Breitling’s Nigel Lamb – expected to do well here after a run of strong finishes so far this season ¬– had little comfort from his 6th place result in Qualifying and berated himself for sub-par flying. “It’s Qualifying and it doesn’t really matter,” he stated. “I didn’t fly fantastically well yesterday but even with clean runs, the gap would’ve been huge. I was surprised to get a 1:10 raw as I G-stalled halfway round.”
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