WINDSOR ONTARIO, Canada - Paul Bonhomme (1st) proved that he is worthy of the top spot after being the only pilot to avoid any penalties throughout the day despite unpredictable winds on the course that caused several of the other pilots to crumble under the pressure. “I’m really pleased,” said the pilot who admitted he was getting “fed up” with missing out on the number one position after the San Diego round. “It was tough out there today with the winds changing but we did it,” he said after the race. The British pilot’s 1:08:16 was the fastest time of the day and he takes home 12 points from Windsor to put him just one point behind championship leader, Hannes Arch. Bonhomme says he is looking forward to the next race in Budapest as the battle intensifies at the halfway point of the season. “It’s going to be fun,” he added.
Hannes Arch (2nd) was not at all pleased with the stewards’ decision to impose a penalty for flying too high through the course in the Final 4, leaving him with a 1:09:31. “I don’t know where I got the penalty but I’m not very happy at the moment,” said the Austrian defending world champion when he landed at the airport. “I wanted to win here and I have to respect the judges’ decision but I am disappointed.” The ten points Arch adds at the halfway stage are little consolation for the pilot, who would have posted the fastest time in the track if he’d managed a clean run.
Kirby Chambliss (3rd) showed the top pilots that he won’t be languishing at the bottom of the table for much longer as he added 9 points to the extra one gained in Qualifying on Saturday. Even with complications with his long-awaited new engine earlier in the week, when his technician had to overhaul the cylinders, Chambliss appeared to be on fine form at every stage of the game. “It’s a good sign and we’re moving in the right direction,” said the Texan who was pleased to be off “death row” ahead of the European leg of the championship. “I’ll try to make these guys as miserable as I can by taking the Qualifying point every time too. We’ve got a couple of things we’re going to do before Budapest. We’ve got high hopes for the rest of the year.” Chambliss’ time of 1:10:19 was definitely on the pace but two penalty seconds pushed him to third.
Mike Mangold (4th) showed the other pilots that he’ll be there to take advantage of days like today when some of the less experienced race pilots can be caught out by changing conditions. “We’ll take the breadcrumbs that anyone throws off the table,” laughed the two-time world champion who collects 8 points with a time of 1:12:92, a full 4 seconds behind the winner, Britain’s Paul Bonhomme. “We’ll pick them up and swoop in like a bird. It just shows that anything can happen. It was a perfect example of people making a lot of mistakes and those can be of benefit. It shows how unpredictable this thing is and how important clean flying is in a situation like this. I have to offer my congratulations to Paul – he flew very clean.”
Sergey Rakhmanin (5th) was as surprised as the rest of us to see his highest place finish so far with the slowest time of the day with a 1:22:93 including a full 10 penalty seconds. The Russian, who admitted the technical mods completed ahead of the race weren’t making any real difference to performance, was happy to pick up a further 7 points in the championship. “Fifth place is good but I have to say thank you to Nicolas and Nigel,” said Rakhmanin, who may not have even flown in the Super 8s if American Kirby Chambliss had proved too fast entering the course in the Top 12. “There are ways to improve every time you fly, even for pilots like Bonhomme,” added the pilot.
Michael Goulian (6th) was one of many pylon-slashers in the Super 8 round who did a Safety Climb Out and scrapped his run. The engine mods and improved performance have definitely helped the US pilot to finally make progress and all week he posted convincing times. “All in all I’m very happy and we showed consistently fast times all week and did well,” said Goulian, who takes home his first 6 points of the season. “We showed good poise in the first and second race but the wind changed and nobody saw it. That’s the way it is with the pace of things here – you don’t get to study everybody else first. You can’t plan – you just roll and pull and when you get around the 270 on the quadro, what you see is what you get. And today what you saw was a face full of pylon! You just can’t salvage that and I thought Nigel (Lamb) did a very professional thing by just pulling around and going out of the track.”
Matt Hall (7th) was forced to do a Safety Climb Out from the track in the Super 8 session after he hit the start gate and then the quadro. It’s not the usual style of flying we’ve come to expect from the Australian rookie but he puts it down to trying too hard. “My game plan was to go harder in the Super 8 to get a place in the Final 4 but as it turned out, I could have flown an easy track and still made it. I obviously pushed too hard, especially considering the wind was totally opposite to how it had been. I’m still happy with my flying but it was a bad tactical decision on my part.” He’s still sitting comfortably in the standings, however, as he collects a further 5 points in Windsor.
Nigel Lamb (8th) waved goodbye to a place in the Final 4 when he deviated from the course and made a Safety Climb Out. Changing wind conditions were a problem for the British pilot who is frustrated to not have moved out of the midfield yet this season. “I noticed the wind changed to the west and was picking up a little bit but I didn’t expect it to have such a huge effect,” Lamb said after his compromised performance. “I had decided that I was just going to go for it. I think the depression will set in later on but there’s no point looking back at the ‘what ifs’. We decided to cut all the margins which didn’t leave enough for a strengthening westerly wind and I couldn’t make the second quadro.”
Nicolas Ivanoff (9th) suffered a technical gaffe that cost him a place in the Super 8 when the sticky tape used to seal gaps between the wing and fuselage join came unstuck during the Top 12 round. The resulting change in airflow over the affected wing contributed to a pylon hit. “We’ve not tried this on the Edge before but have used this method with other aeroplanes in the past. The tape came undone and was flapping on the wing. I could hear the fluttering and was a little bit distracted. I was also a little bit afraid of damaging the paint. As soon as you pull, even a little bit, the tape makes a lot of turbulence and this affects the elevator and the roll rate. The plane felt heavier.” The Frenchman, who took first place in San Diego, was pleased with his flying though and shrugged off the mishap with his usual good grace.
Alejandro Maclean (10th) was in a sombre mood after ruining his chances of making it in to the Super 8. He was off the pace and picked up a penalty for coming out of the chicane too high before sealing his fate with a pylon hit. Maclean felt the judgment for being to high was unfair but he was more upset by his run in with the gate and will be frustrated as he leaves Windsor, despite picking up 2 championship points.
Pete McLeod (11th) stole the show with his first championship point on home turf. The 25-year-old rookie was understandably excited to give the home crowd something to cheer about. Flying for the first time in the Top 12, the young Canadian said: “It’s very special to have my first championship point here in Canada, it’s great. You’ll see progression from race to race and not just in terms of modifications or flying but it’s going to be non-stop growth each season.”
Glen Dell (12th) failed to secure any points as he advanced to the Top 12 and repeated the error that has plagued him throughout the season – flying too high. “We absolutely know what the mistake is and I’m making it again and again and again. I need to put it right,” said the South African pilot now in his second season.
Matthias Dolderer (13th) looked deflated as he arrived back at the airport after his DQ in the Wild Card round today. The German rookie didn’t seem to settle in the Windsor track and his hopes for taking home a point were dashed at the last minute when he was told to leave the track for dangerous flying. "I made a small manoeuvre to avoid the pylon, like a correction not to hit the pylon and I don’t see why I should be disqualified for that, but if that’s how it looked then fine. By the time they told me to knock it off I was at the Breitling finish gate already. I’ve seen in the past some manoeuvres that might have appeared like mine to the stewards, where pilots are making corrections. Overall I think it was OK, I did a good time and I’m satisfied."
Yoshi Muroya (14th) was unable to compete in the race due to a technical problem with his wing. The Edge 540 is being shipped to the factory where it can be repaired ahead of the next round in Budapest in August.
Peter Besenyei (15th) was another non-starter after the Hungarian pilot had to make an emergency landing earlier in the week during a photo shoot following problems with his MXS-R’s oil pressure. Luckily the hugely skilled pilot was unhurt when his aeroplane flipped over at low speed but the aeroplane will need repairing ahead of his home race.
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