BUDAPEST, Hungary – American Michael Goulian won the Red Bull Air Race in Budapest on Thursday while Britain’s Paul Bonhomme moved into the championship lead in front of Austria’s Hannes Arch with a thrilling second place finish over the Danube River after the defending champion dropped to fourth place.

Bonhomme stormed into the championship lead with his third second-place finish of the season – he also win in Windsor. Arch, who had a first, second and third before Budapest, off the podium for the first time this year. Bonhomme has 42 championship points after collecting 10 for second place while Arch has 41 points this year, adding a season-low of 8 points for fourth place in Budapest.

American Kirby Chambliss took third place in the race in Budapest held in front of a crowd of 650,000.

1633 — Unreal! Goulian wins, Bonhomme second, Chambliss 3rd and Arch 4th!

1632 – Chambliss is 0.89 behind Goulian at the midway point and finishes in 1:13.53 – 1.02 behind Goulian. Goulian wins his first race! Chambliss falls to 3rd and Bonhomme grabs 2nd with Arch 4th. That means Bonhomme overtakes Arch at the top of the standings. Unbelievable.

1630 – Here comes Chambliss! Will he win the race? Or will it be Goulian?

1627 – Arch gets hit with a 2-second penalty for incorrect level flying in Gate 5. What a nightmare for Arch! Yet another penalty under pressure! He finishes in 1:13.83, which is now good for only 3rd place behind Bonhomme. He could fall to 4th. That means Arch and Bonhomme will be in a first-place draw going to the next place in Porto. Incredible finish!

1626 – Here comes Arch. He was only 4th fastest in the Super 8 and needs to beat Bonhomme now if he wants to hold onto his one-point championship lead.

1625 – Bonhomme is well but falls 0.25 behind Goulian by the midway point. He stops the clock in 1:13.13 – 0.62 behind the American with Arch and Chambliss up next. Goulian clinches a spot on the podium with that.

1623 – Goulain has a clean sheet and stops the clock in 1:12.51. Will that be enough for a top 3? We’ve still got Bonhomme, Arch and Chambliss to go.

1620 – Goulian is up first and would love to get back on the podium for the first time since Perth at the end of 2007, where he was second. He’s been flying well all week after upgrading the pistons and exhaust on his engine.

1609 – “Kirby is going to be very difficult to beat,” says commentator Steve Jones, a former Red Bull Air Race pilot. “Bonhomme has been able to pull it out of the bag in the past, but this is going to be tough. He’s got to go for the win because Arch will be going for the win too.”

1607 – What a race! What a final! It’s Chambliss on top in the Super 8 with Goulian hot on his heels, 0.45 behind. The two championship leaders, Bonhomme and Arch, round out the Final Four. Arch was aggressive but got hit with yet another 2-second penalty — at the wrong time. What will Arch do now? Try to protect his 1-point lead over Bonhomme or go for the win?

Wild Cart

Rank	Name	Nation	Int. 1	Int. 2	Int. 3	Time	Diff.	Pen
1	Lamb Nigel	GBR	  14.87	  32.42	  50.95	1:12.68	Â	 0
2	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	  15.37	  33.35	  51.57	1:13.43	 + 0.75	 0
3	McLeod Pete	CAN	  16.46	  34.91	  56.19	1:19.06	 + 6.38	 2
4	Dell Glen	RSA	Â	Â	Â	DSQ	Â	Â
5	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	Â	Â	Â	DSQ	Â	Â

Top 12

Rank	Name	Nation	Int. 1	Int. 2	Int. 3	Time	Diff.	Pen
1	Chambliss Kirby	USA	  15.02	  32.88	  50.61	1:11.63	Â	 0
2	Goulian Michael	USA	  15.04	  32.54	  50.37	1:11.93	 + 0.30	 0
3	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	  15.04	  32.44	  50.67	1:12.27	 + 0.64	 0
4	Arch Hannes	AUT	  15.99	  33.71	  51.81	1:13.32	 + 1.69	 0
5	Hall Matt	AUS	  15.77	  33.69	  52.17	1:13.93	 + 2.30	 0
6	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	  15.15	  34.57	  52.50	1:14.14	 + 2.51	 2
7	Dolderer Matthias	GER	  15.98	  34.14	  52.62	1:14.50	 + 2.87	 0
8	Mangold Mike	USA	  15.85	  34.34	  52.49	1:14.85	 + 3.22	 0
9	Lamb Nigel	GBR	  15.01	  33.10	  50.80	1:15.19	 + 3.56	 2
10	Besenyei Peter	HUN	  15.43	  33.50	  51.58	1:15.43	 + 3.80	 2
11	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	  16.02	  34.55	  52.75	1:15.50	 + 3.87	 0
12	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	  14.81	  38.99	  56.67	1:20.87	 + 9.24	 8

Super Eight

Rank	Name	Nation	Int. 1	Int. 2	Int. 3	Time	Diff.	Pen
1	Chambliss Kirby	USA	  14.93	  32.51	  50.72	1:11.76	Â	 0
2	Goulian Michael	USA	  15.20	  33.07	  50.69	1:12.21	 + 0.45	 0
3	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	  15.27	  32.67	  50.72	1:12.41	 + 0.65	 0
4	Arch Hannes	AUT	  14.97	  31.90	  49.75	1:13.18	 + 1.42	 2
5	Dolderer Matthias	GER	  15.66	  33.73	  51.86	1:13.56	 + 1.80	 0
6	Mangold Mike	USA	  15.50	  33.46	  51.46	1:15.41	 + 3.65	 2
7	Hall Matt	AUS	  15.65	  33.42	  51.54	1:15.42	 + 3.66	 2
8	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	Â	Â	Â	DSQ	Â	Â

Final Four

Rank	Name	Nation	Int. 1	Int. 2	Int. 3	Time	Diff.	Pen
1	Goulian Michael	USA	  15.10	  32.56	  51.11	1:12.51	Â	 0
2	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	  15.48	  32.81	  51.52	1:13.13	 + 0.62	 0
3	Chambliss Kirby	USA	  15.57	  33.45	  52.19	1:13.53	 + 1.02	 0
4	Arch Hannes	AUT	  15.37	  32.60	  52.82	1:13.83	 + 1.32	 2

Race

Rank	Name	Nation	Rnd.	Time	Diff	Points
1	Goulian Michael	USA	 F4	1:12.51	Â	12
2	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	 F4	1:13.13	 + 0.62	10
3	Chambliss Kirby	USA	 F4	1:13.53	 + 1.02	9
4	Arch Hannes	AUT	 F4	1:13.83	 + 1.32	8
5	Dolderer Matthias	GER	 S8	1:13.56	Â	7
6	Mangold Mike	USA	 S8	1:15.41	 + 1.85	6
7	Hall Matt	AUS	 S8	1:15.42	 + 1.86	5
8	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	 S8	DSQ	Â	4
9	Lamb Nigel	GBR	 T12	1:15.19	Â	3
10	Besenyei Peter	HUN	 T12	1:15.43	 + 0.24	2
11	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	 T12	1:15.50	 + 0.31	1
12	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	 T12	1:20.87	 + 5.68	0
13	McLeod Pete	CAN	 WCD	1:19.06	Â	0
14	Dell Glen	RSA	 WCD	DSQ	Â	0
15	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	 WCD	DSQ	Â	0

World Championship Standings 2009

Rank	Name	Nation	Points
1	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	42
2	Arch Hannes	AUT	41
3	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	28
4	Mangold Mike	USA	24
5	Hall Matt	AUS	24
6	Chambliss Kirby	USA	22
7	Lamb Nigel	GBR	21
8	Goulian Michael	USA	18
9	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	17
10	Besenyei Peter	HUN	12
11	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	9
12	Dolderer Matthias	GER	8
13	Dell Glen	RSA	3
14	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	1
15	McLeod Pete	CAN	1

Source: Red Bull Air Race