Paul Bonhomme had ups and downs this year, but overall it was clearly his best season so far, clinching the Red Bull Air Race World Championship title in the very last race in Barcelona. The season could not have been any more spectacular. Now, Paul Bonhomme himself posted a review the year on his website. Here's the first half of the season:
Fun had by all.
So the race year is over and I ask myself… “Did we have fun?”
As I ponder over the evening of celebration in Barcelona, the answer has to be “YES!”… but if I think back to the year of racing there were plenty of times where I wondered about the fun and thought about the hard work and concentration that was spent getting us to the final podium…
In January, February and March, Wade and the team in Mojave worked their nuts off to get the aeroplane ready… and I mean worked. Most of us can do a couple of 12 hour days, most can do a 14 hour day and occasionally a 16 hour day… but the Mojave team worked flat out, 16 hours a day for around two months… and the results were fantastic. Our new “pointy” aeroplane was the “bee’s knees”… what I hadn’t concentrated on, which other teams had, was power… I’d ordered a new engine for 2009 but it wasn’t radical enough to provide us with enough power to challenge the other teams, especially around the power hungry tracks (all of them except Porto!)… 2009 would be interesting…
Abu Dhabi… Hot! The introduction of the new G-suit made us feel even hotter and to start with, I was not impressed. As the week went on though I got used to the new suit and actually now, I really enjoy the 2G of extra protection that it gives… but at the time it was hot and I was sweating buckets before during and after each race. The day after the race, the family and I spent the day at the Hilton Beach Club… what a contrast! Beach shorts, cool drinks and the occasional dip in the pool… compare that to the 230 mph, octane fueled, 12g, hot and sweaty days beforehand…
San Diego… I love the relaxed atmosphere and climate of Southern California and I love San Diego… this was the first of our fog days for 2009, and how bizarre it was to be waiting at Brown Field in the blue sky and 30c sunshine because of bad weather in the track… it all worked though and we had a very successful race. Hannes proved that you can fly without a tail plane (after his pelican strike) but I’m not sure that he’d do the same again. What didn’t work was my back… it seized up on Q day and I had to be virtually carried from the plane to the hangar. I wondered if I was going to be able to fly on race day but thanks to some expertly applied massaging and a few exercises I was “serviceable” for the big day. If there are any youngsters reading this, my top tip is “stay flexible”… stretch as much as you can and make sure you look after your back. Take some advice on how to stay supple and never stop stretching and keep your core muscles strong! You’ll laugh now but wait until you collapse on the floor when you are 40 and then you’ll wish you did something about it!
Windsor… Great fun, an incredibly sociable town and if you only do one more thing in your life, experience the Windsor hospitality. Also great for Team Bonhomme because we won!
(read the whole story on Bonhomme's website)
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