Bonhomme Wins Qualifying Porto

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Posted By: Marcel van Leeuwen September 12, 2009

RBon2PORTO, Portugal – Britain’s Paul Bonhomme widened his lead in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship on Saturday to 2 points over Hannes Arch of Austria by posting the fastest time in Qualifying in Porto ahead of Sunday’s penultimate race of the season. Rookies Matt Hall of Australia, Yoshi Muroya of Japan and Matthias Dolderer of Germany all put in brilliant performances in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 200,000 in Porto under bright blue skies.

Paul-BonhommeBonhomme, who now has 43 championship points, clocked the best time of the time of the day (1:10.03) in his first Qualifying run on the 6.6-km course with 17 Air Gates before the winds coming in off the Atlantic Ocean picked up in the afternoon and slowed many of the pilots in the second Qualifying session. The out and back narrow track on the Douro River is the fastest on the circuit. American Kirby Chambliss grabbed 2nd place, 0.23 seconds behind Bonhomme, while Hall came 3rd. The surprise of the day was Muroya, who grabbed a sensational fourth place. Dolderer took 5th.

Pressure on Hannes Arch

“I’m pleased with the result but had a nervous moment watching Kirby, Yoshi and a few of the other guys fly,” said Bonhomme, collecting a point for fastest Qualifying for the first time. Arch and Chambliss have each won it twice. “I’m pleased to get the 1 point. There’s a bit of pressure on Hannes so it’s good that it seems to be affecting the flying. He’s obviously trying harder and maybe it’s not working.”

Defending champion Arch, who lost the overall lead this year in Budapest, fell to 9th place. He was in 4th place after Q1 but suffered a pylon hit – and a 6-second penalty – in Q2 that destroyed his hopes of winning the Qualifying and pulling even with Bonhomme in the championship. “I was flying too cautiously as I was afraid of getting a judging (call) for over-G,” Arch said. “I didn’t manage to do the right engine set-up in the second run. That cost me a little bit of engine power.”

Heavy fog in this western Portuguese city had grounded the planes on Thursday and Friday. But organisers took advantage of a break in the weather to reschedule 1 of the 4 training sessions for Saturday morning before Qualifying. The race on Sunday starts at 14:00 local time.

First Qualification Round

Rank Name Nation Int. 1 Int. 2 Int. 3 Time Diff. Pen
1 Bonhomme Paul GBR   12.82   31.97   50.25 1:10.03    0
2 Muroya Yoshihide JPN   13.00   32.70   50.84 1:10.97  + 0.94  0
3 Dolderer Matthias GER   13.46   33.25   51.41 1:11.09  + 1.06  0
4 Arch Hannes AUT   13.01   33.04   51.64 1:12.12  + 2.09  0
5 Ivanoff Nicolas FRA   12.85   35.13   53.07 1:13.07  + 3.04  2
6 Maclean Alejandro ESP   13.07   33.35   52.73 1:13.07  + 3.04  0
7 Mangold Mike USA   13.75   34.36   52.97 1:13.45  + 3.42  0
8 Besenyei Peter HUN   13.13   35.48   54.34 1:14.98  + 4.95  2
9 Rakhmanin Sergey RUS   13.71   34.69   53.99 1:15.35  + 5.32  0
10 Hall Matt AUS   12.99   38.63   56.81 1:16.53  + 6.50  6
11 McLeod Pete CAN   15.07   41.73   1:02.65 1:25.75  + 15.72  12
12 Lamb Nigel GBR   12.72   32.33   DSQ    
13 Goulian Michael USA   12.66     DSQ    
14 Chambliss Kirby USA       DNS    

Second Qualification Round

Rank Name Nation Int. 1 Int. 2 Int. 3 Time Diff. Pen
1 Chambliss Kirby USA   13.01   32.59   50.67 1:10.26    0
2 Hall Matt AUS   12.91   32.79   50.75 1:10.78  + 0.52  0
3 Maclean Alejandro ESP   12.76   32.37   51.15 1:11.23  + 0.97  0
4 Lamb Nigel GBR   13.14   32.95   51.57 1:11.53  + 1.27  0
5 Besenyei Peter HUN   13.04   32.85   51.63 1:11.61  + 1.35  0
6 Muroya Yoshihide JPN   12.95   32.76   51.45 1:11.83  + 1.57  0
7 Bonhomme Paul GBR   12.73   32.19   50.16 1:11.85  + 1.59  2
8 Goulian Michael USA   12.96   32.29   50.67 1:12.43  + 2.17  2
9 Mangold Mike USA   13.03   35.15   53.72 1:14.48  + 4.22  2
10 Rakhmanin Sergey RUS   13.17   33.97   53.52 1:14.51  + 4.25  0
11 Arch Hannes AUT   12.61   38.72   57.04 1:17.28  + 7.02  6
12 McLeod Pete CAN   15.47   35.91   54.91 1:17.45  + 7.19  4
13 Ivanoff Nicolas FRA   14.97   34.63   52.52 1:18.64  + 8.38  8
14 Dolderer Matthias GER   13.21   34.64   DSQ    

Overall Results Qualification Porto 2009

Rank Name Nation Int. 1 Int. 2 Int. 3 Rnd. Time Diff. Pen
1 Bonhomme Paul GBR   12.82   31.97   50.25 Q1 1:10.03    0
2 Chambliss Kirby USA   13.01   32.59   50.67 Q2 1:10.26  + 0.23  0
3 Hall Matt AUS   12.91   32.79   50.75 Q2 1:10.78  + 0.75  0
4 Muroya Yoshihide JPN   13.00   32.70   50.84 Q1 1:10.97  + 0.94  0
5 Dolderer Matthias GER   13.46   33.25   51.41 Q1 1:11.09  + 1.06  0
6 Maclean Alejandro ESP   12.76   32.37   51.15 Q2 1:11.23  + 1.20  0
7 Lamb Nigel GBR   13.14   32.95   51.57 Q2 1:11.53  + 1.50  0
8 Besenyei Peter HUN   13.04   32.85   51.63 Q2 1:11.61  + 1.58  0
9 Arch Hannes AUT   13.01   33.04   51.64 Q1 1:12.12  + 2.09  0
10 Goulian Michael USA   12.96   32.29   50.67 Q2 1:12.43  + 2.40  2
11 Ivanoff Nicolas FRA   12.85   35.13   53.07 Q1 1:13.07  + 3.04  2
12 Mangold Mike USA   13.75   34.36   52.97 Q1 1:13.45  + 3.42  0
13 Rakhmanin Sergey RUS   13.17   33.97   53.52 Q2 1:14.51  + 4.48  0
14 McLeod Pete CAN   15.47   35.91   54.91 Q2 1:17.45  + 7.42  4

Source: Red Bull Air Race. Com
Photo: Rob Vogelaar

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