BARCELONA, Spain – It would be hard for a Hollywood scriptwriter to come up with a more dramatic story than the 2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship – an eminently likeable British veteran who had come so tantalisingly close to winning the title for two straight years pulling out all the stops in the very last run of the very last race of the year in front of a record crowd of 800,000 to narrowly beat the dashing defending champion from Austria who was flying in a superior airplane.
But that is exactly what happened when Paul Bonhomme came through with a clutch performance in the final race of the season in Barcelona to de-throne defending champion Hannes Arch of Austria. Bonhomme, the most successful pilot in the five years of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship history with 11 career race victories, finally shed his reputation for finishing second in the championship by taking the title in Barcelona with a scintillating performance under pressure.
Hard work pays off for Team Bonhomme
“Yeeeeeessssssss!” Bonhomme yelled over the radio from his cockpit after getting word from Race Director Jim DiMatteo that he had won the race and the title, a remarkable eruption of emotions from the normally mild-mannered British ace who had seen the championship slip from his grasp in the final races of both 2007 and 2008. He also paid a heartfelt thanks to his technician Wade Hammond on hearing the news he had won. Bonhomme’s sterling victory in Barcelona was his third win in six races in 2009 and that, combined with his three second place finishes, made him the champion with 67 points to Arch’s 60.
“I don’t think I’ve ever shouted louder than that,” Bonhomme said afterwards when asked about his ear-splitting victory scream and the unusual victory lap through the track in Barcelona that followed. “It was a huge relief because we’ve been working so hard for such a long time. To actually come up with something finally in terms of the prize is just great. It is really hard work. I’m incredibly relieved. The only problem I have now is that we’ve been pulling in favours for the last three years. Now I’m going to have to pay those favours all back.”
Arch vs Bonhomme – gripping from the start
The battle between Bonhomme and Arch enthralled fans around the world all season and was by far the most captivating in race history with 3.5 million spectators following the action at the six races. There were record race day crowds in each of the final three rounds – 650,000 in Budapest, then 720,000 in Porto and 800,000 in Barcelona.
Arch got his title defence off to a roaring start with a maximum 13 points for winning the season opener in Abu Dhabi (12 points) and taking the 1 bonus point as the fastest qualifier while Bonhomme got 9 for second place. The Austrian, who again won the qualifying point in the second race in San Diego, maintained his 4-point lead over Bonhomme (second again) despite finishing third after hitting a pelican in the final. Bonhomme finally managed to trim Arch’s lead to 1 point in the third race in Windsor with his first 2009 victory while the Austrian got second due to a close 2-second penalty.
Budapest, which proved to be the pivotal race in many of the past seasons, was once again the stage for high drama in 2009. Bonhomme struggled and was far off the pace in training. He was a distant sixth in qualifying, some two seconds behind Arch. But the wily Brit bounced back in the race and finished second to move 1 point ahead of Arch, who got fourth after being once again hurt by a costly 2-second penalty in the final. Bonhomme widened his lead to 4 points in Porto with his second win plus the qualifying point before Arch won Barcelona’s qualifying to cut the gap to 3 points and set the stage for the thrilling showdown. Arch could have won the title if he had won the final four in Barcelona and Bonhomme finished fourth or lower. But Arch hit an Air Gate, taking fourth, while Bonhomme won his third 2009 race to clinch the title.
“My performance was actually better this year flying-wise than last year,” said Arch, who won the championship in 2008 in only his second season. “It was tougher to be in the lead and everyone wants to beat you. The pressure comes from me and everyone. It was a lot harder for me this year. Paul made me better this year because he kept challenging me. He was always pushing me. We’ve got a fast plane. I’m motivated for next year to get the title back.”
Most competitive season so far
The 2009 season was easily the most competitive in the history of the Red Bull Air Race with four different race winners – Bonhomme (3), Arch (Abu Dhabi), France’s Nicolas Ivanoff (San Diego) and American Michael Goulian (Budapest). Eight of the 15 pilots got on the podium at least once – Bonhomme (6), Arch (4), Ivanoff (2), American Kirby Chambliss (2), Goulian (1), Australia’s Matt Hall (1), Britain’s Nigel Lamb (1) and Germany’s Matthias Dolderer (1). Eleven – including American Mike Mangold (2), Hungary’s Peter Besenyei (2) and Russia’s Sergey Rakhmanin (1) - got at least one top five finish. It was a disappointing year for Spain’s Alejandro Maclean, who got a season-best seventh place in Porto and ended up in 12th place overall.
Hall, who finished third overall with 36 points, and Dolderer, who was 9th overall thanks to a sparkling second half of the season where he won 22 of his 23 points, were both part of an astonishing crop of four rookies in 2009 that also included Yoshi Muroya of Japan (9) and Pete McLeod of Canada (1). Even on off days, all four posted timings that were only a few seconds off the pace while in past years rookies were often more than 10 seconds behind the leaders. Hall and Dolderer, in particular, made it abundantly clear they plan to follow in Arch’s footsteps and challenge for the title in their second season in 2010.
Behind Bonhomme and Arch at the top there was also a fierce five-way battle for third place with Hall (36), Chambliss (34), Ivanoff (33), Lamb (32) and Mangold (31) all separated by just six points. Mangold and South Africa’s Glen Dell both announced their retirements at the end of the season.
The 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship calendar will be announced in the coming weeks and is set to include some exciting new locations.
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