Photo: Marcel van Leeuwen aviationnews.eu

BUDAPEST, Hungary – American Kirby Chambliss upset championship leader Hannes Arch on Wednesday in Qualifying at 4th round of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Budapest on Thursday, snatching one championship point away from the Austrian with the fastest time of the day. Australia’s rookie sensation Matt Hall got a career-best third while Arch’s main rival for the overall title, Britain’s Paul Bonhomme, fell to sixth place.

Chambliss squeezed every ounce of power out of his new engine and set a blistering pace on the 6.6 km long track set up just metres above the green waters of the Danube River in the heart of Budapest in front of an enthusiastic crowd. His time of 1:10.76 in the first of two Qualifying runs on the 17-gate race track was 0.72 seconds faster than Arch. The Austrian was disappointed he was unable to widen his shrinking one-point lead over Bonhomme with the one point from Qualifying up for grabs. Arch has 33 points to Bonhomme’s 32 points with three races remaining.

“It was a good time today,” said Chambliss, who is back in 8th place in the championship with 14 points after a poor start to the season. He took 3rd in Windsor behind Bonhomme and Arch. “I had a really crummy engine before and now I’ve an engine that is good as anyone else’s out here. I’ve been flying the same as before. It’s just the engine. We’ve still got more to do and we know we can pick up a few fractions of a second here and there.”

Arch, who had posted the fastest times in two of the four timed training sessions on Monday and Tuesday, struggled in Qualifying 1, picking up a 2-second penalty. He had a clean run in Q2 but it still paled compared to both Chambliss’s faster times in Q1 and Q2.

“I tried to get the one point so I’m not super happy about that,” Arch said. “But I’m happy that Paul didn’t get the point either. Considering I made two big mistakes on the track I had a pretty fast time. I know there’s potential to go faster. Kirby did only one fast time but he’s not very consistent. I don’t think he can fly that fast again. And if he does, I can beat him.”

Arch was understandably cheered by Bonhomme’s struggles. The British ace, who won the last race in Windsor, suffered an unusually poor first run, picking up a pair of two-second penalties. Under pressure of facing relegation to the Wild Card, Bonhomme managed to post a better and moved up from 15th place to 6th with a time of 1:12.80 – more than 2 seconds behind Chambliss.

Rookie Matthias Dolderer from Germany also had a career-best performance in Qualifying, getting 4th place and an automatic berth in Thursday’s top 10.

Tens of thousands of spectators are expected to line the banks of the Danube River tomorrow to watch 15 of the world’s best pilots battle it out in the race which starts at 13:00 local time.

1616 – So the championship remains a tight battle with Arch unable to widen his a slim one-point lead over Bonhomme after Chambliss collects the one point up for grabs today for taking first place in Qualifying. Behind Chambliss today is Arch is in 2nd, Hall 3rd, Dolderer 4th, Ivanoff 5th and Bonhomme back in 6th. Goulian is 7th, Mangold 9th and Maclean 10th.

1615 – Arch was briefly ahead of Chambliss but finishes 0.72 behind in 1:11.48. That’s good enough for 2nd place. So Chambliss wins the Qualifying for the second consecutive race. It’s good news for Chambliss — and for Bonhomme, who must have been worried that Arch would take the Qualifying point and widen his lead at the top of the table to two points.

1614 – Arch is the last pilot with a chance to knock Chambliss off the top and collect the 1 championship point. Will he do it?

1610 – Ivanoff is now stuck in 14th place and will need a good time in Q2 to avoid the Wild Card. His time of 1:12.63 is much better and he moves into 4th. That knocks Lamb out of the top 10, sending the British vet into the Wild Card for the first time this year. What a day of upsets.

1607 – Goulian gets hit with a pair of 2-second penalty that destroys his hopes of catching Chambliss. The American flying in the “Hungarian green” colours is stuck in 5th place, clearly disappointing after his strong training runs this week.

1605 – Dolderer needs another good time to get back into the top 10 after Bonhomme just knocked him out. He can evidently feel the big German contingent cheering from the banks of the Danube and jumps up to 3rd place ahead of Bonhomme again with a time of 1:12.37. That knocks McLeod out of the top 10.

1603 – Bonhomme is looking very good under pressure in his first lap and he moves an improbable 0.56 seconds ahead of Chambliss. But Bonhomme loses 1.5 seconds in the third sector and finishes 2.04 behind Chambliss in 1:12.80 – it’s still good enough for 3rd place. Bonhomme looks relieved.

1601 – Amazing. Bonhomme is currently back in 15th place. The man with championship ambitions needs a solid time now to get into the top 10 otherwise he’ll end up in tomorrow’s Wild Card.

1559 – Maclean is having a great run in his MXS-R and moves 0.21 ahead of Chambliss at the midway point. Can he hold on? Unfortunately not. His second lap is clean but slow and his time of 1:14.25 is 3.48 behind Chambliss. Good enough for 7th place and a spot in the top 10. That knocks Dell out of the top 10.

1556 – Lamb had a difficult week in training but has a great first lap, moving slightly ahead of Chambliss at the midway point. A 2-second penalty ruins lap two but his time of 1:15.02 is slower than Q1. At least he holds onto 7th place. Lamb is nevertheless not happy. He closes his eyes and shakes his head in disgust when he hears his time.

1553 – Dell is under pressure after getting the big DQ in Q1. The second-year man from South Africa, tired of watching all these rookies get the glory, puts down a clean run and is clocked in 1:15.30. That’s good enough for 10th place. He’s ahead of Muroya but behind the 3 other rookies.

1550 –McLeod is another rookie on a mission. The young Canadian ace has an outstanding run in only his 4th race, stopping the clock in 1:14.77. Good enough for 8th place.

1547 – Hall will be itching to move up from 6th place in Q1. The Aussie rookie has a great first lap and actually moves 0.48 seconds ahead of Chambliss at the midway point. But Hall loses over a second in the third sector before recovering a bit in the final sector. He ends up with a time of 1:12.01 – good enough for 2nd place. “Thanks mate,” says Hall — clearly pleased at another clean sheet.

1544 – Mangold knows the Budapest track well too, having won the race here in 2005 and 2007 en route to his two championships in those years. The American has a clean run – finally! – and posts a time of 1:14.13, good enough for 5th. That knocks Rakhmanin out of the top 10.

1540 – Besenyei knows this track like the back of his hand. In fact, he was the first pilot to ever fly upside down under the Chain Bridge. Besenyei has a great Q2, 3 seconds faster than Q1, and moves up into 3rd place with a superb time of 1:13.43. He’s a happy man after hearing that time, flashing a wide grin and a big thumbs up while doing a few quick rolls over Budapest. That might have been the first time he’s smiled all week.

1537 – Muroya is having a great run through the first half and keeps up the good work on lap 2. No penalties and a time of 1:15.38, good enough for 7th. He knocks Bonhomme and Mangold out of the top 10 – for the time being. But both have one more chance to get back in front of the man from Japan.

1535 – Rakhmanin needs to get under 1:17.14 for a top 10 time. He has a clean run and crosses the line in 1:16.85 – just fast enough for 9th place for the time being. He might be able to squeak into the top 10 with that. Stay tuned.

1530 – Will Chambliss try to beat his Q1 time in Q2? He seems to be in no particular hurry and enjoying the sites of Budapest. He coasts across the finish line under the Chain Bridge in 1:11.14 – it’s 0.83 behind his Q1 time. But the American is still comfortably in 1st place and looking to win his second Qualifying in a row after winning the 1 point in Windsor.

1522 – So it’s Chambliss on top going into Q2 followed by Goulian, Arch, Hall, Lamb, Dolderer, Besenyei and Ivanoff rounding out the top 8 – and they all have good shots at securing a spot in the top 10 that qualify automatically for tomorrow’s race. But it looks like Mangold (9), Bonhomme (10), Muroya (11), McLeod (12), Maclean (13), Dell (14) and Rakhmanin (15) are all going to have to come up with considerably faster times in Q2 to avoid missing the top 10 and being relegated to the Wild Card.

1520 – Surprise, surprise. Chambliss takes Q1 with a sterling time of 1:10.76 – all the more impressive considering the American was unable to take part in training 4 on Tuesday due to a mandatory inspection of his plane after he exceeded the 12G limit in training 3. More surprising is Arch’s stumble, falling to 3rd place after such a strong performance in trainig and Bonhomme’s dreadful penalty-marred run (10th place). Are the two pilots on top of the championship showing their nerves?

1515 – Arch zips under the Chain Bridge at 344 km/h – well below the 370 km/h speed limit. He’s obviously full of confidence after crushing his rivals in training on Tuesday. He’s 0.19 seconds ahead of Chambliss at the first interval but 0.69 back at the midway point. Then Arch gets hit with an incorrect knife at Gate 11. His time is 1:13.93, good enough for just 3rd place. What happened Hannes?

1513 – Up next is Hannes Arch, who is also savouring the support of thousands of Austrian fans who journeyed to Budapest.

1510 – Nicolas Ivanoff of France is up next to try to knock Chambliss off the top. But he’s not even close and his run is marred by a 2-second penalty on lap 2. C’est la Vie! His time of 1:16.44 is only good enough for 7th place.

1507 – American Michael Goulian, the surprise package all week, has another superb run in Budapest, a track clearly suited to his Edge 540 with its powerful engine with new pistons. Goulian was 0.03 seconds ahead of Chambliss at the first interval but ends up 2.10 behind in 1:12.86. Still good enough for 2nd place.

1505 – Germany’s Matthias Dolderer gets a big cheer from the hundreds of German fans who followed him to Budapest. The rookie got a career-high 4th place in training 4 on Wednesday and as a result gets to start up near the front of the pack today. He flies a clean run and clocks a strong time of 1:14.85 – good enough for 4th place. Dolderer is a happy man, shakes his fists in celebration. Wunderbar!

1450 – Canada’s Pete McLeod is looking to pick up more championship points after getting his first career point in Windsor. But he picks up a 2-second penalty for incorrect knife and ends up back in 6th place with a time of 1:19.12.

1447 – Australia’s Matt Hall is determined to avoid any penalties – for the rest of the season. And his run is not only clean but it’s pretty good too. His time of 1:14.46 is good enough for 2nd place. Hall slipped under the Chain Bridge just 1.2 metres above the surface of the Danube and 5.5 metres under imposing structure.

1445 – American Mike Mangold gets hit with an incorrect knife flying at the very end of his run and his time is 1:17.14 – good enough for 3rd place so far.

1442 – The top 10 pilots in Qualifying advance directly to the race on Thursday while the slowest five will get a second chance in the Wild Card on Thursday. The fastest 2 of the slowest 5 advance to the Thursday’s race.

1439 – The crowd goes wild for hometown hero Peter Besenyei. But he gets hit with a 2-second penalty on his first lap and ends up with a time of 1:16.03 that is good enough for second place so far. At least he’ll get another chance to fly in Q2 in an hour.

1436 – Japan’s Yoshi Muroya flies under the Chain Bridge at 350 km/h but gets hit with a pair of 2-second penalties for incorrect level. Muroya’s time is a disappointing 1:17.69 even though his run looked good at times.

1433 – Russia’s Sergey Rakhmanin is flying with a borrowed engine after damaging his in training earlier in the week. He’s having a great run and is just a fraction of a second behind Chambliss at the midway point. But it all comes unraveled after that. He gets hit with a 2-second penalty for incorrect level flying and then is disqualified for crossing the crowd line. Bummer Sergey. But at least he gets a second chance in about an hour.

1430 – And we’re off. Kirby Chambliss zips under the Chain Bridge – just 2.7 metres below the road and 4 metres above the Danube. Chambliss puts down a blazing time of 1:10.76 – his fastest time of the week. He’ll be happy about that. Chambliss can now use his Q2 run to go for an even faster time.

1420 – Hometown hero Peter Besenyei is happy to be racing in front of an Hungarian crowd again. But Beseneyi is also being treated to extra support from family and fans who are jumping into help keep his hangar and plane clean and tidy.

1415 – Arch is also full of confidence, as one would expect for anyone who was more than 2 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor in the last timed session. Arch is waxing lyrical about Budapest, where he won his first race a year ago. It was a victory that catapaulted him to the championship: “I’ll try to do the same this year,” said Arch, who is being cheered on by hundreds of fans from nearby Austria who journeyed down the Danube to Budapest. “It’s motivating to be here. I remember having a really good time here and it’s giving me a lot of energy.”

1410 – Goulian sounds quietly confident about his chances in Budapest after his solid training sessions on Monday and Tuesday: “The engine is running really strong,” the American ace said. “So far we’ve been first second and third in the training runs so we just have to keep that up.”

1400 – Please send us your comments or questions to live@redbullairrace.com or post it on Twitter (@Redbullairrace). We’ll include the best of the bunch in our live report.

1345 – Budapest is among the favourite tracks for most of the pilots. Huge crowds line the banks of the Danube each year and the pilots start and exit the track by flying underneath the city’s iconic Chain Bridge. Everything is close in Budapest: the river banks, spectators and central city buildings. The planes even dip below street level for their dash through the 17-gate track set up over 6.6 km on the Danube.

1330 – Arch dominated Tuesday’s 4th and final training session, beating Nicolas Ivanoff of France into 2nd place by an astonishing 2.33 seconds. Arch, who won his first of 3 races here a year ago, was also more than 5 seconds ahead of Bonhomme. The surprise package in Budapest has been Michael Goulian. The American has had a disappointing season so far – a mere 6 championship points and 11th place overall. But keep your eye on the man in the bright green plane here in Budapest.

1315 – It’s another beautiful day in the Hungarian capital with temperatures rising to 30 degrees and a gentle 9 km/h breeze from the south. The weather has been hot and dry all week in training. The conditions are expected to remain the same for the race on Thursday, Hungary’s National Day holiday.

1300 – Sziasztok! Welcome from Budapest for the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. Qualifying for the 4th race of the season starts in about 90 minutes with Austria’s Hannes Arch eager to pick up the one championship point that is up for grabs for today’s fastest pilot. But Britain’s Paul Bonhomme will be trying to snatch that point away with the win today to draw even with Arch in the championship on 33 points.

Qualificaion Round One

Rank	Name	Nation	Int. 1	Int. 2	Int. 3	Time	Diff.	Pen
1	Chambliss Kirby	USA	  14.64	  32.85	  50.05	1:10.76	Â	 0
2	Goulian Michael	USA	  14.61	  33.02	  51.07	1:12.86	 + 2.10	 0
3	Arch Hannes	AUT	  15.33	  32.66	  50.91	1:13.93	 + 3.17	 2
4	Hall Matt	AUS	  15.04	  33.11	  51.08	1:14.46	 + 3.70	 0
5	Lamb Nigel	GBR	  15.89	  34.54	  52.43	1:14.53	 + 3.77	 0
6	Dolderer Matthias	GER	  15.29	  33.72	  52.51	1:14.85	 + 4.09	 0
7	Besenyei Peter	HUN	  14.84	  35.34	  53.77	1:16.03	 + 5.27	 2
8	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	  15.31	  33.57	  52.02	1:16.44	 + 5.68	 2
9	Mangold Mike	USA	  15.52	  34.26	  52.48	1:17.14	 + 6.38	 2
10	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	  15.02	  35.11	  53.24	1:17.26	 + 6.50	 4
11	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	  16.43	  36.75	  54.92	1:17.69	 + 6.93	 4
12	McLeod Pete	CAN	  16.89	  36.14	  55.41	1:19.12	 + 8.36	 2
13	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	  16.71	  35.19	  54.29	1:23.16	 + 12.40	 8
14	Dell Glen	RSA	  16.49	  35.47	  54.90	DSQ	Â	Â
15	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	  14.69	  33.03	  53.26	DSQ	Â	Â

Qualification Round Two

Rank	Name	Nation	Int. 1	Int. 2	Int. 3	Time	Diff.	Pen
1	Chambliss Kirby	USA	  15.04	  32.09	  50.93	1:11.14	Â	 0
2	Arch Hannes	AUT	  14.86	  31.87	  50.74	1:11.48	 + 0.34	 0
3	Hall Matt	AUS	  15.09	  32.37	  51.27	1:12.01	 + 0.87	 0
4	Dolderer Matthias	GER	  15.26	  32.76	  51.95	1:12.37	 + 1.23	 0
5	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	  14.67	  32.22	  51.60	1:12.63	 + 1.49	 0
6	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	  15.00	  32.29	  51.63	1:12.80	 + 1.66	 0
7	Besenyei Peter	HUN	  15.65	  33.23	  52.61	1:13.43	 + 2.29	 0
8	Mangold Mike	USA	  15.28	  33.23	  52.38	1:14.13	 + 2.99	 0
9	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	  15.04	  32.64	  52.60	1:14.24	 + 3.10	 0
10	McLeod Pete	CAN	  15.46	  33.17	  52.93	1:14.77	 + 3.63	 0
11	Lamb Nigel	GBR	  15.24	  32.44	  53.75	1:15.02	 + 3.88	 2
12	Dell Glen	RSA	  15.66	  33.37	  53.63	1:15.30	 + 4.16	 0
13	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	  15.68	  33.89	  53.34	1:15.38	 + 4.24	 0
14	Goulian Michael	USA	  14.81	  34.22	  53.47	1:16.70	 + 5.56	 4
15	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	  16.47	  34.58	  54.55	1:16.85	 + 5.71	 0

Overall Results Qualification Budapest 2009

Rank	Name	Nation	Int. 1	Int. 2	Int. 3	Rnd.	Time	Diff.	Pen
1	Chambliss Kirby	USA	  14.64	  32.85	  50.05	Q1	1:10.76	Â	 0
2	Arch Hannes	AUT	  14.86	  31.87	  50.74	Q2	1:11.48	 + 0.72	 0
3	Hall Matt	AUS	  15.09	  32.37	  51.27	Q2	1:12.01	 + 1.25	 0
4	Dolderer Matthias	GER	  15.26	  32.76	  51.95	Q2	1:12.37	 + 1.61	 0
5	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	  14.67	  32.22	  51.60	Q2	1:12.63	 + 1.87	 0
6	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	  15.00	  32.29	  51.63	Q2	1:12.80	 + 2.04	 0
7	Goulian Michael	USA	  14.61	  33.02	  51.07	Q1	1:12.86	 + 2.10	 0
8	Besenyei Peter	HUN	  15.65	  33.23	  52.61	Q2	1:13.43	 + 2.67	 0
9	Mangold Mike	USA	  15.28	  33.23	  52.38	Q2	1:14.13	 + 3.37	 0
10	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	  15.04	  32.64	  52.60	Q2	1:14.24	 + 3.48	 0
11	Lamb Nigel	GBR	  15.89	  34.54	  52.43	Q1	1:14.53	 + 3.77	 0
12	McLeod Pete	CAN	  15.46	  33.17	  52.93	Q2	1:14.77	 + 4.01	 0
13	Dell Glen	RSA	  15.66	  33.37	  53.63	Q2	1:15.30	 + 4.54	 0
14	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	  15.68	  33.89	  53.34	Q2	1:15.38	 + 4.62	 0
15	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	  16.47	  34.58	  54.55	Q2	1:16.85	 + 6.09	 0

Starlist Red Bull Air Race  Budapest 2009:

Wild Card

Order	Bib#	Name	Nation	Aircraft
1	18	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	MXS
2	31	Muroya Yoshihide	JPN	Edge 540
3	45	Dell Glen	RSA	Edge 540
4	84	McLeod Pete	CAN	Edge 540
5	9	Lamb Nigel	GBR	MXS

Source: Red Bull Air Race