Bonhomme beats Arch in Windsor thriller, McLeod gets first point
WINDSOR, Ontario (Canada) – Britain's Paul Bonhomme soared to victory in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship on Sunday with a thrilling win over rival Hannes Arch of Austria in Windsor, Ontario. It was Bonhomme’s ninth career triumph and put him just one point behind Austria’s Hannes Arch in the championship. Even though most of the frontrunners struggled to avoid penalties on the windy, turn-filled course straddling the Canada-U.S. border on the Detroit River, Bonhomme managed to fly a series of flawless runs to the Final 4 and was then once again in a class by himself, posting a winning time of 1:08.16 on the 15-gate course. Arch was second, 1.15 seconds behind, and Chambliss took third. Canada’s Pete McLeod got the first championship point of his rookie career with 11th place to the delight of the big home crowd of 215,000.
"This was by far the hardest race I've ever won if you look at the times the other guys have been posting all week," said Bonhomme. He said he was relieved that he just missed touching a pylon on the final run. "There were times when I thought I was going to hit a pylon. You just have to push. If you want to win this thing you have to go to the limit. That's the difference between winning or losing: missing the pylon by one millimetre or just hitting it by one millimetre. But we made it. I'm very pleased."
Bonhomme became the pilot with the most number of wins since the Red Bull Air Race World Championship began with his ninth victory and first since Perth, Australia in 2008. Mangold is second in the all-time standings with eight career wins. Arch, who won the first race in Abu Dhabi and was third in San Diego, leads the championship with 33 points ahead of Bonhomme on 32 and Nicolas Ivanoff of France in third with 24.
Arch said he was surprised to be hit with the two-second penalty. “I don’t know where I got the penalty. I’m not really very happy at the moment. I wanted to win here and I have to respect the judges’ decision. But I am disappointed.”
The race in Windsor, the third in the six-race championship this year, was also a triumph for the three Americans. Chambliss, the 2006 world champion, got the first podium of the season after struggling with just three points in the first two races thanks to his powerful new engine while Mike Mangold, a two-time champion in 2005 and 2007, got his campaign back on track with a season-best fourth place. Michael Goulian also made a big jump higher, climbing to sixth after coming 14th in the first two races in Abu Dhabi and San Diego.
Windsor was nevertheless a disappointment for Ivanoff. The stylish Frenchman was off to the best start in his career with third in Abu Dhabi and a victory San Diego but he had a bad run in the Top 12, picking up a pair of two-second penalties that left him back in ninth place. Australia’s rookie sensation Matt Hall fell to 7th place after taking 5th in his first two races but moves into 4th place in the overall World Championship standings. Hall had two pylon hits in his Super 8 run, including one spectacular direct hit that forced him into a safety climb out.
A total of 290,000 spectators attended the weekend’s racing in Windsor, Ontario, the first race to take place in Canada. The Red Bull Air Race World Championship heads to Europe for the next stop in Budapest, Hungary on 19/20 August.
