Red Bull Air Race
United Kingdom hosts first Red Bull Air Race in six years
The last time the United Kingdom hosted a Red Bull Air Race World Championship race was 2008. This year, the series is back in the UK, and a tight race for the title has taken center stage as the second half of the season gets under way.
In the final of the Red Bull Air Race event in Gdynia, Poland last month, Paul Bonhomme missed out on a spot on the podium due to a penalty in the penultimate round, giving Hannes Arch the opportunity to swoop in and take first place and build upon his World Championship lead.
As if that wasn’t motivation enough for Bonhomme to set his sights high this weekend at the race in Ascot, England, there’s the added incentive that the defending World Champion will by flying in front of his home crowd.
What makes Paul Bonhomme tick?
The son of a British Army pilot father and a flight attendant mother, Bonhomme literally grew up with airplanes in the UK.
Bonhomme says “living on the doorstep of an active airfield really helped” inspire him to pursue a career in flying.
It’s been a very successful one, too: Bonhomme has been on the podium 38 times in 54 Red Bull Air Race competitions, which includes 14 wins and two world titles. He started this season off with a win in Abu Dhabi and a second-place finish in Rovinj, but two fifth-place finishes for Bonhomme have given Hannes Arch the opportunity he needs.
Bonhomme’s long-time Austrian rivalhas two wins in four races already this season and is slowly distancing himself from the rest of the pack.
Highlights from first half of 2014
Bonhomme trails Arch by 13 points and holds a narrow three-point lead over fellow Briton, Nigel Lamb. The two Brits are in dire need of a strong result in Ascot to keep the pressure on Arch; after the race in England there will only be three more races before the World Champion is crowned.
As the title race heats up in the second half of the season, be sure to stay tuned to DHL InMotion for updates on the high-flying action of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.
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