Bonhomme beats Mangold in San Diego Final
Britain's Paul Bonhomme defeated American Mike Mangold in San Diego on Sunday in a dramatic final showdown pitting the two dominant pilots of the last two Red Bull Air Race World Series seasons. It was another dazzling precision performance by the British ace, unbeaten in the first two races of 2008. Kirby Chambliss of the United States grabbed third place by beating Hannes Arch of Austria in the 3rd Place Fly-Off.
Bonhomme, who lost to Mangold by a heart-breaking fraction of a second in the 2007 World Series, gained a measure of revenge on his American rival with the hard-earned victory in front of a crowd of 63,000 spectators watching from the shores of San Diego Bay. Although Bonhomme made it look easy with his elegant style of flying through the challenging obstacle course just above the water, he was breathing hard and drenched in sweat after returning to the runway set up on the U.S. Naval Air Station on North Island. He won the final with a time of 1:18.01 to 1:19.24 for Mangold.
“I do like San Diego,” said Bonhomme, who also won the race in “America’s Finest City” last year. “I’m very pleased to take the win. All I can say is that it’s hard work. I’m chuffed to bits that we won. The guys on the team have done a brilliant job. But it’s not a walk in the park. And if anybody says they expect it to be easy, I would say it’s hard work and getting harder all the time. These other guys are not standing still.”
Bonhomme's leading the Championship
Bonhomme leads the championship with 18 points. Mangold is second with 15 points. Bonhomme had struggled a bit in training on Friday, finishing behind Arch and Mangold. Even though it was only a training, it was the first time in any timed session this season that Bonhomme was not first – a bit annoying to Bonhomme but good news for the other 11 pilots who had been left so far behind in the season opener in Abu Dhabi three weeks ago.
Mangold pleased to be on podium
Mangold was especially resilient in San Diego, bouncing back from a distant third three weeks ago to a close second. Mangold, who worked with his technician overnight to remove about three pounds of weight from his plane, put in a fantastic run to beat second-year sensation Hannes Arch in the semi-finals, clocking 1:17.74. Bonhomme was only marginally faster in his semi-final again Chambliss, with 1:17.59.
“I’m pleased to be on the podium considering the circumstances but annoyed that I can’t get my plane to go any faster,” said Mangold, the local hero treated like a pop star by thousands of adoring fans at Saturday’s Public Pit Lane Walk. “I think the conditions were ideal in the semi-final. Paul had his fastest time there too. I was pleased with that run. I was peddling as fast as I could and celebrated a bit. I just got a little bit too wild in the final, a bit too sloppy. Paul’s got a great plane and he’s a great pilot.”
It was also a great weekend for Arch, who cemented his position near the top of the 12-pilot field with a fourth place after getting second in Abu Dhabi. Arch, who spent his rookie season near the back of the pack, had the second-best time in the Super Eights, some 0.6 seconds ahead of Mangold and Chambliss.
“We came here and did what we wanted to do,” said Arch. “We wanted to get into the top eight so this is a good result. Fourth place is still awesome for us even though we’d rather be on the podium again.”
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