Pete McLeod tries to find balance in track to secure Super 8 spot

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Pete McLeod tries to find balance in track to secure Super 8 spot

Pete McLeod - Qualificações @Rio de Janeiro

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Pete McLeod tries to find balance in track to secure Super 8 spot

by Kirsten Corrigan, May 9, 2010

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – He’s been praised for smooth, consistent flying all through his rookie year in 2009 and so far in the 2010 season, but Canadian pilot Pete McLeod has struggled to lay down consistent performances here in Rio.

Improving on his less-than-smooth training run in the third session on Friday, where he was disqualified for flying too low in the track, McLeod just pulled it back in the final run of the day but could only muster up a 1:25 time. In Qualifying yesterday we saw more unexpected results with penalties picked up for flying too high in the track.

“It’s a tough one, as based on the net times I’m running, I’ve got to push it to get through to the Super 8s,” said the youngest pilot in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, who was 7th in Saturday’s Qualifying. “It doesn’t do me much good to put a safe run down but at the same time it’s one of those tracks where if I get in the groove it just seems like height management is the key here.”

Aware of the need to post a competitive time in Qualifying to ensure a spot in at least the Top 12, McLeod said it was a challenge knowing where to draw the line with experimenting and deciding on the right line to fly.

“In reality you get two shots in Qualifying but in the Wild Card, if you’re running fast you’ve got a good chance of getting through that,” he said. “I was just trying to see what I could do in training and I got a 1:23. In T3 I was flying in the bottom of the track and the stewards were obviously not pleased about that and knocked me out a couple of times. It makes them nervous when you’re at the bottom of the track the whole time, even if you are consistent. In T4 it was better and we were starting to see what we could put down for a time, which is around a 1:23. I’d like to be under that and it feels like we need to be a 1:22 to have a chance of being through to the Super 8s.”

Posting a 1:23:42 in his second Qualifying run, the Canadian pilot at least reached his target but whether he can keep it together for today’s Top 12 is still an unanswered question.