Hannes Arch (1st) silenced any critics with an outstanding performance in the Perth race where he picks up 12 points for a first place finish. It appeared that the Austrian former world champ was saving his best for last and took a safe approach to making it through the rounds in the lead up to the Final 4 where he stormed into the lead with a 1:26:03 clean run. “I would love to continue the season like this and there’s always a vision and a reality but everything starts with a wish,” said a very chatty Arch after landing at the Race Airport.
“I was really struggling through the whole week – should I attack or should I just slow down? I didn’t know and was feeling really insecure after Abu Dhabi, it stayed in my mind, but finally I got rid of it and it’s in the past. Now I’m trying to head forwards, trying to catch up. I’m really happy and this race was definitely a race of tactics, a lot about the lines so I’m happy that I could pull off my times and not risk too much. I did the right thing at the right moment.”
Matt Hall (2nd) wound up his home race with a well-earned spot on the podium, inching ahead of defending champ Bonhomme. “It’s a fantastic result here and I’ve been aiming for that for over a year now,” said Hall before heading out to meet an expectant crowd of home supporters. “The Perth race was always going to be my focus and I feel great that it’s worked out for me. We got the new engine when we got here to Perth and have been working on it the last 14 days. We didn't finish setting it up until today and I still wasn't convinced the engine was as strong as it could be. But it was worth the effort and stress.”
The new MXS-R set-up had caused Hall some issues earlier in the week but he said it worked out well in the end: “All week I was struggling with the aircraft,” he said at the press conference. “I had 2 G stalls. I had to regain my confidence. I backed off; I knew I had more in the bank. I had to regain my composure and I didn't worry about other people's times. I opened it up today and it paid off. I'm proud of myself for competing focused.”
Paul Bonhomme (3rd) slipped to third place after leading the pack through each round. A Final 4 time of 1:26:82 just wasn’t enough to fend off Hall who moved ahead of the defending champ. “We’re in the top 4 so we’re pleased with that and still at the top of the table so that’s good,” Bonhomme said. “It seems like I relaxed a bit in the second half but winning Qualifying, being top of the Top 12, top in the Super 8 and third in the Final is pretty good as far as I’m concerned.”
Collecting an additional 10 points (9 + 1 in Qualifying) in Perth and cementing his lead at the top of the current standings with 22 points, the Brit had his suspicions about where he’d handed the win to Arch. “I did have a tiny wobble in the final quarter,” he mused. “I suspect that was the reason I slowed down. It just shows what a great race it is to have the Top 4 finish within a second of each other. Obviously I'd rather be first but the aim for the weekend was to be in the top four.”
Nigel Lamb (4th) finished without a podium but remains in second place in the championship standings after picking up 8 points in Perth. “It’s hugely disappointing but one has to be philosophical,” said Lamb who had stunned other teams with impressive runs in Qualifying and training in Perth. “It’s better than coming further down the pack and I’ve still got good points for the World Championship, so it’s not a disaster. Given that I actually thought I might have hit two pylons in the Top 12 – it must have been turbulence – I didn’t think I’d progress through to the next round but I ended up in the Final so that’s pretty good. Coming fourth is not great, but what I did today was backed off to avoid the penalty and that’s what effectively cost me the race.”
Pete McLeod (5th) showed consistency again today and only just missed out on a spot in the Final 4 and ended in fifth, just like in Abu Dhabi. After only just edging into the Super 8s, the Canadian then moved to the mid-field position in that round with a 1:28:97 clean run. “I’m just running my races and the team’s starting to gel a little better as the season gets going and the airplane’s running good,” said
McLeod, who has made a big impact on the hierarchy in only his second season and now has 14 points. “We’re still having fun out there. Flying three rounds in Abu Dhabi was a big help for today and in those conditions it felt a lot more like we flew about six so I was definitely more comfortable in the quick turnarounds and holds, so sure that helped. We just need to keep going. We’ll just keep hacking away at it. The plan is the same for Rio – get into the Super 8s and then open it up and see what we can do. The strategy worked for this race with a conservative Top 12 but it was close and took a pylon hit from Goulian to make it. It paid off this time, so we were close for the Final 4 but I left a little out there.”
Nicolas Ivanoff (6th) was subdued after failing to improve his times in the Super 8 and finished up with a 1:30 and 2 seconds in penalties. “I pulled a little too early in the gate,” said Ivanoff, who now has 9 championship points. “It’s a pity because I had a good feeling in this track, today at least. The plane felt nice, it wasn’t a problem. The second flight was the same time as the first one but with the penalty. I flew well through the chicane but even without the penalty it would only have been enough for fifth place and not the Final 4.”
Matthias Dolderer (7th) remained at the same level as in Abu Dhabi with a good stab at the Super 8s and a consistent performance. “I felt good, but of course there was the 2 second penalty,” said Dolderer after flying incorrectly through one of the final gates. “It was the second last gate, with the vertical turn where I stalled the wing and lost a lot of time. Otherwise I could imagine I would have ended with a 1:28 or something like this. I hope the frustration passes quickly and then we can concentrate on Rio and doing better there.”
Kirby Chambliss (8th) was bottom of the Super 8s and couldn’t get it quite right in the Perth track. He posted a 1:32:36 with 2 seconds in penalties. “I really am looking forward to getting our new motor but a new engine’s not going to help me with a 2-second penalty,” he confided. “We wouldn’t have made it anyway but I’m still disappointed that I did that. It’s my fault and I can’t blame it on the airplane. It is what it is. I guess the vertical turns were the secret here and I was still a little too high and that probably hurt my time. I ran a 1:27 yesterday but I just couldn’t lay that down today without the penalty. I was fine with the 270 degree double knife edge but if you want the secret to doing well in this track you’d better ask one of the other guys!”
Yoshi Muroya (9th) might have been knocked out in the Top 12 but the Japanese pilot felt reassured that he was making good progress in his second season. “I’m only half disappointed,” he said. “I got a 2-second penalty that ruined it in the Super 8, but the flight itself, I found the special ‘key’ for how to fly the track so it’s still a good feeling. I’m not sure about Rio as still I have some very basic things missing; I found that yesterday so I think maybe from Windsor it’s going to be very stable. The plane is definitely good.”
Peter Besenyei (10th) flew well in the Wild Card but just couldn’t squeeze enough power from his new Lycon engine to do well in the Top 12 and only adds 2 points to his earlier 9 from a podium in Abu Dhabi. “I don’t know if changing the engine was a mistake or not but it’s still new and I have to break it in,” said the Hungarian pilot. “I did my best yesterday with no penalties and in the Wild Card with none but then in the Top 12 there were 2 seconds. Today I also did my best but that’s all I had.”
Michael Goulian (11th) had plenty of fans cheering him on via the live news ticker but waved goodbye to a good result after slicing a pylon in the Top 12. “I don’t know how I did it but I slid right into it,” shrugged Goulian. “I didn’t think I was going to hit it and I would have taken the two seconds if I’d known I was going to but I guess those are the breaks when you’re pushing. The airplane started to feel better and better through the week and the track but I got a little wide in gate 3 and then had just too steep an angle into 4. That was it.”
Sergey Rakhmanin (12th) experienced issues with his radio volume before heading into the track for the Wild Card round and it went from bad to worse as the Russian pilot had to pull back on power to hear the communication from the tower. “The volume was almost switched off and with the engine at idle I could just about hear but at full rpm I could hardly hear anything,” said the pilot who admitted being distracted by this in the track. “While I was in the holding area I tried to find a solution but I couldn’t. I went to the track unprepared and not focused so the flight was bad. I don’t want to say it’s not my fault because of course I have to be prepared and it’s bad that this influenced my flight.”
Alejandro Maclean (13th) was knocked out in the Wild Card after a penalty-marred 1:39 run. “Probably I did make the wrong decision to keep the winglets on here in Perth but I should have made this decision days ago to change them,” said Spanish pilot Maclean. “The performance of the plane is probably better but the handling of the plane is different and the track is not the perfect place to get used to it. However I do like the performance so I will try to get used to them. Unfortunately I won’t have a chance to practice with them again before Rio. Once we arrive we will only have the chance to train in the track. We need to rebalance the ailerons and the spades – that needs time to be done and on a really calm day.”
Martin Sonka (14th) bowed out in the Wild Card after posting a 1:50 time in the track. With an analytical military head on his shoulders, the young race newcomer had already identified problems with combating drift from crosswinds. “I’ve learned that I have to correct the drift from the wind as soon as possible,” said Sonka, who has been praised for smooth and consistent flying by the judges. “I made mistakes today and had two pylon hits and I had enough time to aim between the gates but the wind pushed me out of my line in the track and I didn’t make the correction. I don’t know why I did that but it’s definitely all experience. I’m not worried about being at the bottom of the table as it’s only my second race. I would like to be more smooth and more consistent but it’s great if people think I fly like that! I’m still aware of a lot of mistakes so there’s a lot of work for the future. Last year’s rookies are incredibly fast and not like rookies any more so hopefully I will be like them by next year.”
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