Britain’s Paul Bonhomme topped the time sheets in training on Wednesday ahead of the Red Bull Air Race season opener in Abu Dhabi on Saturday after Austria’s Hannes Arch just beat the defending champion in the first session of the season in the morning. France’s Nicolas Ivanoff posted the second fastest time in difficult conditions in the afternoon when the temperatures rose above 30 degrees and the winds picked up. Canada’s Pete McLeod took a strong fourth place in the afternoon training session on the first day of racing in 2010 under bright blue skies.
Bonhomme, who defeated Arch in a thrilling battle that went down to the wire last year, picked up where he left off. Bonhomme’s time was 1:11.14, 0.35 ahead of Ivanoff and 2.31 in front of Arch as the sixth Red Bull Air Race World Championship season got underway. Bonhomme, who finished a close second to Arch in 2008, said he will be going all out to win not only Saturday’s race and the 12 points that would come with a victory here but also the 1 championship point up for grabs in Friday’s Qualifying session.
“I’m looking for every point here,” said Bonhomme, who has shed 4 kg to 88 kg and has his Edge 540 down to the minimum weight of 540 kg. “We won’t relax until the end of the season. We’re happy with the way things are going so far. It’s absolutely important to get a good start here.”
Arch, who won all 13 points in Abu Dhabi a year ago, was not overly concerned about falling to third in the afternoon session after posting the fastest time of the day in the morning session, where many pilots were testing their planes and the track. He was penalised for exceeding the 12-G limit on the second run after the lunch break.
“The first training was good and in the afternoon I first did a smooth run,” Arch said. “But then I tried to go for it and got an over-G. It’s better to make mistakes now than on race day. Power-wise, we’ve got a strong engine.”
Ivanoff, who has made striking modifications to his exhaust system in a bid to reduce drag as well as engine heat under the cowling, was delighted that the modifications he and his team worked so hard in over the winter seemed to be paying off.
“It’s a huge relief that it seems to be working so well,” he said. “We did so much work in the off-season. But what looks good on the drawing board doesn’t always work in the air. So far so good.”
McLeod, who as a rookie last year often struggled near the bottom of the pack, stunned the field with fourth place. He was pleased with the power of his new engine. “We’re super happy with it today,” said McLeod, who was 2.52 behind Bonhomme. “I believe that’s the best finish for us ever. We’ve got the plane’s weight down, a new engine and a few little mods.”
The second day of training gets underway at 10:00am local time tomorrow.
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