SALZBURG, Austria – The two American pilots in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship will be happy to draw a line under the 2009 season but neither former world champion Kirby Chambliss nor super focused Michael Goulian will be wasting a moment in the off season as they prepare to stake a claim on next year’s title. Chambliss finished 4th overall in the championship, making up for a slow start in the second half of the year, while Goulian had to settle for a 10th place result despite a career-first win in Budapest.

Not enough power

For both pilots, underperforming engines hindered their championship hopes throughout the 2009 season. Frustratingly for Chambliss, a serious problem with his engine just days ahead of the inaugural race of the year in the UAE capital in April meant a last-minute switch to his spare.

“We blew an engine about a week before we left for Abu Dhabi,” said the 2006 world champion, kicking himself for not having a more powerful replacement available at the time. “The engine we had for the first two races was about 50hp less than the guys that were winning. After our engine change we qualified number one and finished third. Next year we will make sure our spare engine is as good as our race engine.”

Finishing up in 9th place did little to bolster the team’s confidence in Abu Dhabi and there was not much to celebrate in the home round in San Diego where Chambliss exceeded the maximum 12G limit and was disqualified on race day. With tensions rising and championship hopes slipping away, there was welcome relief when the overdue replacement engine was fitted for the Windsor race. The switch to the new Lycoming engine didn’t go smoothly for the US team, however, and a problem with compression ratios left technician Jason Resop working through the night to get the ratio within the 10:1 limit.

Getting ready for next season

The Budapest round indicated a turning point for Chambliss and gave him his first podium of the year after he finished in 3rd place. Collecting the extra point up for grabs in Qualifying nudged the American up the standings but disaster struck in the Porto round and dashed hopes of further progress.

A leak from the fuel tank caused Technical Director Adrian Judd to ground Chambliss’ Edge 540 ahead of the Super 8 round in the Portuguese capital. It was a particularly bitter pill to swallow as the Texan was finally back on form. “I was setting good times and was feeling comfortable in the track,” he said at the time, knowing this setback would seal his fate in the championship. Not one to dwell on a bad result, Chambliss flew well again in Barcelona, only just missing out on the Final 4.

Back home in Arizona, Chambliss says he will be flying as much as possible and will be ready for next season. If the return to form we saw in the latter part of the season is anything to go by, Chambliss’ dream of winning the 2010 title might be within his reach. “There’s no such thing as an off season for our team,” he said. “We are working hard to put our team in the position to win next year. There are eight or nine teams that might be able to win the championship. You have to have three things – a good pilot, a good aircraft and a good team. If you are missing any one of the three you cannot win.”

Mods gone wrong

For Goulian, engine performance wasn’t the only technical glitch in 2009. Investing in some radical ‘cuffs’ for his Edge 540’s wings proved to be a nightmare decision for the American. A shocking result in Abu Dhabi (14th place) was a big wake up call for the team and plans were put in place immediately to reverse the costly modification.

“The biggest challenge was getting the plane on pace after we started the season with some incorrect mods and a very weak engine,” admitted Goulian, who reckoned he was about 60hp down on the faster teams for most of the season. “Our team put in a ton of effort to make the changes, which gave us success in Budapest.”

Optimistic about 2010

Time is clearly a great healer for Goulian who has learned from the mistakes made earlier in the year and he is looking to the future with renewed optimism. “All in all we made great strides in our plane,” he concluded. “The cowling is beautiful and the plane is incredibly balanced. Our engine is now very strong too so I think we will be looking good in 2010.”

With plans to further reduce the weight of his race plane and a detailed look at engine output, Goulian expects to replicate his Budapest success in the future and is raring to go. “What off season?” he laughed when asked how he’ll be relaxing ahead of the first race of 2010. “Our plane is arriving back in Boston and we will start a test program immediately. We will be flying and testing as much as possible.”

As a self-confessed perfectionist, it must have been tough for the US pilot to forget the disappointment of 2009? “There were definitely some big highs and some big lows this year,” he confided. “Every one of these things is a learning experience. I had some bad Qualifying runs and I’ve noticed that if you qualify seventh or eighth you don’t get a chance to watch everyone else and that puts you in a bad position. We’re going to come with a very competitive plane next year, that’s for sure.”

Source: RedBullAirRace.com