Mixed emotions at the Race Airport as Perth race commences

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Mixed emotions at the Race Airport as Perth race commences

Mixed emotions at the Race Airport as Perth race commences

by Kirsten Corrigan, Apr 18, 2010

Across the Swan River at the Race Airport the teams are finalising last minute preparations for today’s battle in the second round of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. The sun is shining, pilots are walking to and from the morning’s briefings and there's a real sense of anticipation in the air.

Aussie favourite Matt Hall is out on the grass walkway in front of the 15 team hangars, all smiles. Yesterday he said he had the new MXS-R set up just how he wanted and had used Qualifying to "experiment". He’ll be playing a different game today as he aims for the podium in his home race. “I’m staying busy to keep relaxed,” said the former Royal Australian Air Force pilot.

Table leader Bonhomme is keeping a low profile in his hangar up at the top of the Langley Park grass airstrip. The defending world champion picked up the single point yesterday and couldn’t help but grin when asked how pleased he was about that. “We’re pretty pleased, yes,” smiled the British ace, trying to play the success down. Bonhomme also added that fellow Brit Nigel Lamb had definitely surprised him with a phenomenal run in Q2. “And there’s Nicolas, Hannes… and Pete McLeod has been flying really well,” added Bonhomme, indicating that there were plenty of teams to watch out for here in Perth.

Ivanoff, who won here in 2007, appeared a tad more somber than usual at the Race Airport and last night admitted he was baffled as to why his Qualifying runs weren't faster. "I hope I can find some mistakes when I look at the videos," he offered before heading home. “There are lots of places in the track that I need to improve upon but especially the chicane,” he confirmed this morning. “I made a huge mistake on the chicane yesterday but I can be faster at every gate. I need to be more aggressive, but not too much. The temperature seems to be higher than yesterday but I need to see the Wild Card round to see the times. I’m expecting the plane to not feel quite so precise in the air because of the higher temperatures.”