Paul Bonhomme (1st)
Paul Bonhomme (1st) returns to England a very happy man as he takes maximum championship points in Porto. The victory is particularly significant at this stage of the season as it will strengthen the pilot’s chances of taking the world title as the race moves to Barcelona next month. Moving a clear four points ahead of Hannes Arch, Bonhomme will be working hard to ensure he doesn’t fall at the final hurdle. “We’re really pleased with the result but there’s only four points in it,” said Bonhomme, who is wary of getting too carried away after facing disappointment at the final race of the season in both 2007 and 2008. “It’s not a big gap so we’re still going to have to concentrate hard in Barcelona. It is a very different course so I think I need to lose about ten kilos in the next two weeks.” Bonhomme’s clean 1:09:23 run in the Final was proof that the aerodynamically-modified Edge 540 is a tough machine to beat on a straight track. Looks like the hard work from his technician Wade Hammond is really paying off this season and the pilot was pleased to deliver such a good result for the team watching at the airport. “After the announcement came through I did think the boys would be happy back at the hangar,” he said.
Hannes Arch (2nd)
Hannes Arch (2nd) sorted his head out in time to take a podium on race day after a shocking result in the earlier Qualifying session where he finished in ninth place. Luckily the defending world champion regained his composure to take second in Porto, securing ten championship points. “I think I just needed that one bad day after two years of always being in front to learn from it,” said Arch, who slips four points behind Paul Bonhomme in the championship table with only one race left. “I knew that I just needed to go for the fastest time today. I need the pressure and then I will fly strong. I am quite happy about the results because Paul’s airplane in this track is nearly unbeatable if he’s doing a clean run.” Admitting that he may have hit a pylon yesterday due to lack of concentration, Arch noted that all the race pilots may have been equally as distracted as a result of the temporary relocation to an alternative airport for Qualifying. “Sure it was distracting but it was for everybody else also. It’s not a normal race set-up like we’re used to, it’s a little bit more difficult to hide, to focus and concentrate but it was the same for everybody and I know what to do now for Barcelona. I’m not worried and I’ll just give it everything.”
Matt Hall (3rd)
Matt Hall (3rd) stole the show with his first podium finish in the Red Bull Air Race as he clinched third place alongside the top two pilots. Securing nine championship points, the Australian rookie is now comfortably in third place in the overall rankings with 33 points. “It’s an outstanding result,” said a jubilant Hall as he prepared to meet the fans at the airport after the race. “We have really spent the last two weeks thinking of mental routines and I came up with a gameplan and I flew it. It worked. It was good enough and that was my gameplan – not to try and win but to try and reach the podium.” Despite finishing a full two seconds behind Paul Bonhomme with a time of 1:11:23, Hall’s run was still enough to secure a podium place for the former military ace. His methodical, calm approach appears to be paying off and the improved mental strategy will no doubt be applied in Barcelona.
Peter Besenyei (4th)
Peter Besenyei (4th) repeated his earlier success in the San Diego round by making it through to the Final 4. The Hungarian struggled to achieve any great speed at the Porto race but even with a two second penalty in the Super 8 he was able to squeeze through to the Final with a time of 1:12:86. It all came unstuck for the pilot in the next round, however, when he picked up another penalty for the same error and blew his chances of a podium finish with a 1:14 run – almost three seconds behind the next pilot. “I am happy to take the 8 points here but it is a shame that I made the same mistake twice,” said Besenyei. “I picked up the same penalty in both the Top 12 and Super 8 by flying incorrect level through the gate.”
Mike Mangold (5th)
Mike Mangold (5th) said his experience as a race pilot may have helped him to secure 7 points after he finished just outside the Final 4. The former world champion admits his engine is not giving him much-needed power but added that flying clean was the key to success in Porto. “We’re getting the most out of the little we have in this thing,” said Mangold about his underpowered engine. “I do feel sorry for the other guys but when they make mistakes we’re gonna take advantage of it. Clearly there are faster airplanes than ours but we’re lucky and pretty fortunate to be where we’re at today… we’re almost overjoyed!” The American creeps up the standings to 4th place. “Obviously experience here helps,” he added. “I just say I’ll get through the course clean and I’m doing my best. I know when to try hard and when to ease off but we’re running 3 seconds behind the leader all the time. This kind of track doesn’t take so much pilot skill so what will show is which airplanes are faster. It’s not surprising to me that some of the newer race pilots have done well as some have fast airplanes. You’ve got to have resources to build up a fast airplane and we just didn’t have that opportunity this year, we have to live with what we brought to the races.”
Matthias Dolderer (6th)
Matthias Dolderer (6th) faltered in the Super 8 when he picked up four seconds in penalties. It had been a great race for Dolderer until that point with his recently upgraded engine really providing the power needed to succeed in this sport. The German rookie, who had flown superbly in the earlier Top 12 session with a sub 1:10 run, posted a 1:14:07 in the Super 8. Dolderer’s time without penalties would have placed him comfortably in the Final 4. “I’m getting faster and faster,” he said afterwards. “In Barcelona my goal is to at least reach the Final 4. I know my plane is fast and my skills are improving all the time so I want to reach the Final in the next race.”
Alejandro Maclean (7th)
Alejandro Maclean (7th) exceeded the 12G limit in the Super 8 but remained upbeat after securing 5 championship points. The Spanish pilot had felt motivated after a successful Qualifying result and leaves Porto happy he is making progress. “It was a great, easy race track so the performance of the plane was crucial as of course was staying focused,” said Maclean. “We were reaching all we needed to and getting our goals but unfortunately I pulled too much G. The times I was posting were good enough to be in the Top 4. Now we have to get ready for Barcelona where I really want to give my people my best. They deserve that as they have given me so much support.” The next round in the Catalan capital will really require great pilot skill but Maclean is remaining calm. “The track looks quite complicated, we will see how it goes and I hope and wish for the best.”
Kirby Chambliss (8th)
Kirby Chambliss (8th) walked away from the Super 8 without flying after a technical problem caused his race plane to be grounded. After flying an amazingly fast, clean run (1:08:88) in the Top 12 the American looked as though a podium finish was imminent but it wasn’t to be. “After we re-fuelled the aeroplane and brought it into the hangar we noticed there was fuel leaking into the cockpit,” said Technical Director Adrian Judd as Chambliss was about to set off to secure his place in the next round. “We think the top fuel tank has split so there’s no flying. It is being investigated as we speak, looked at and then repaired but Kirby is not flying.” With his hopes of capitalising on his faster engine, Chambliss was instead forced to sit out the rest of the race. “I’m super disappointed, I was feeling comfortable in the track, the plane’s running real good. I was setting good times and then this,” said Chambliss from the race airport. “But if the fuel tank is leaking out fuel like it was on the last run – I could just smell the fumes in there and there’s not a lot of air in there. Now it’s literally pouring out so it would be a major fire risk.”
Michael Goulian (9th)
Michael Goulian (9th) felt the high of his win in Budapest fade away as he was knocked out of the race in the Top 12 round after posting a slow 1:12:43 clean run. Flying with his faster, upgraded engine Goulian should have performed well on the ‘drag race’ track in Porto but thinks he may have played it too safe. “We were practicing well and I got a penalty in Qualifying yesterday which I thought wasn’t a penalty so maybe I went into today a little gun-shy,” he explained, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe I played it a little too conservatively. Everybody is flying so fast in this track that it only takes an instant and then you’re out. There’s less pilot skill involved in this track and probably a little bit more airplane performance as it showed. I ended up a second out and you can be worried about pulling too much G.”
Yoshi Muroya (10th)
Yoshi Muroya (10th) made it through to the Top 12, giving him the chance to add to his single championship point. Flying a notoriously fast Edge 540, the Japanese rookie was unable to take the pressure in the track however and picked up two seconds in penalties which pushed him out of the runnings. “The flight itself was quite OK for me and the time is good enough, just one penalty,” said Muroya, who has racked up a fair few penalties so far this season. “I felt I was a little bit off track going into the gate so I made a correction. I’m learning. I’m just thinking about the flying and the time and my performance. It doesn’t matter about the position or the rankings, I just want to continue improving. Barcelona should be good but we’ll see.”
Nigel Lamb (11th)
Nigel Lamb (11th) was left kicking himself after a disappointing run in the Top 12 where the British pilot finished with a 1:13:01 including 2 penalty seconds picked up at gate 8. Agreeing that the straight Porto track should not have caused him too much trouble, Lamb was philosophical about his race mindset. “It’s an easy track to get around penalty-free but I think the problem I’m suffering with is that I make too many penalties thinking too far ahead of the aeroplane,” he said. “That’s my problem. Maybe I am trying too hard. The truth is, my aeroplane is not the fastest, so it’s like no margins, fly as close as you can to the pylons and I’ve got to fly great chicanes, great vertical turning manoeuvres. I was really happy with that today but I am so far ahead of the aeroplane, that I end up not being focused on the actual pylon I’m going for.”
Nicolas Ivanoff (12th)
Nicolas Ivanoff (12th) was left frustrated he failed to make it through to the Super 8. The French pilot leaves Porto empty-handed and slips down the championship table to fifth place behind American Mike Mangold. “I made too many mistakes and it’s my fault,” admitted Ivanoff. “I could have done better without mistakes and maybe reached the Super 8, maybe not the Top 4. Anyway I don’t like this kind of track as it is really straight. I tried to find the right way but maybe I didn’t.” Flying an Edge 540 with a stock engine, Ivanoff is hoping to return to form and save face in the final round next month. “The track in Barcelona seems to be more interesting on paper but I’m not sure, I don’t want to say just yet. The track in Abu Dhabi or San Diego was really more interesting but for this type of track, like in Porto, you must have a really fast plane. For next year we must have the most beautiful and fast plane. The difference between mine and Paul Bonhomme’s plane is at least 20kt… the speed is the same more or less for all of us at the start gate but once you go through that you can see the difference.”
Sergey Rakhmanin (13th)
Sergey Rakhmanin (13th) failed to secure a place in the Top 12 and although the Russian flew cleanly in the track during the Wild Card round, his MXS-R just couldn’t move fast enough. With a spare engine fitted in Budapest following some technical issues, the pilot wasn’t particularly surprised with his result. “This is what I quite expected,” said Rakhmanin after the flight. “There is not much you can get out of the plane with the spare engine installed and there simply is not enough power under the cowlings. This is a standard engine and not great for racing. There is power but just not enough! Our plan is to get the engine from the States ahead of Barcelona.”
Pete McLeod (14th)
Pete McLeod (14th) posted the slowest time in the Wild Card session, taking his place at the bottom of the results table. With the start speed under inspection, the pilot picked up a two-second penalty for incorrect level flying at gate 6. Posting a 1:15:65 there was at least improvement from yesterday’s times but that will do little to console the young rookie. As the first pilot into the fast Porto track McLeod was quick to give the Race Tower a heads-up about seagulls in the track but sadly good airmanship alone is not enough to help pilots succeed in this game. “Despite picking up a close call penalty I had a good run today,” said McLeod. “My time was fast enough to move into the next round without the penalty. I had to go for it and I did. It just didn’t go in my favour today but I’m already excited to get back in the track in Barcelona in 2 weeks.”
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