Defending champion Paul Bonhomme secured the first trophy of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship with his hard-earned victory in difficult weather conditions in Abu Dhabi last week. The British ace also made the uncomfortable discovery ahead of the second race in Perth, Australia on April 17/18 that unlike last year there is not only one rival to worry about – but rather at least a half dozen challengers.

While many had expected Hannes Arch of Austria, the 2008 champion, to be Bonhomme’s main rival again this year, Abu Dhabi showed the world that there is a pack of very fast contenders who have improved considerably over the winter.

Britain’s Nigel Lamb, flying with revolutionary new wingtips to help him speed through the turns, captured second place in Abu Dhabi for the second straight race after finishing in the same spot in Barcelona last year while Hungary’s Peter Besenyei also made it onto the podium on a day of scorching temperatures over 40 degrees and difficult wind conditions that kept changing directions. Arch, Bonhomme’s main rival for the last two years, was a disappointing 11th due to a disqualification in the Top 12 round but still had the speed to win the Qualifying point the day before.

There were a handful of other pilots in Abu Dhabi who showed they had, at least at times, the necessary speed to make life difficult for Bonhomme. American Michael Goulian was fourth in Abu Dhabi, Pete McLeod of Canada fifth, Kirby Chambliss sixth, Matthias Dolderer seventh, Matt Hall eighth and Nicolas Ivanoff ninth. Also Alejandro Maclean of Spain and Yoshi Muroya of Japan showed flashes of brilliance in Abu Dhabi. They were all flying close to Bonhomme’s speed at various moments during the racing weekend.

“It’s a great start to the new year,” said Bonhomme, who picked up his 12th career victory and third in a row going back to Porto and Barcelona last year. “There’s a lot of competition this year. I was hoping for a top four this week. That was my aim to stay in the hunt. To finish first is a real boost to us. It shows the hard work the team did over the winter to get the plane ready really paid off.”

Team Breitling’s Lamb said he savoured being on the podium for only the fourth time in his career but considering the tough competition this year did not expect to be a regular on the podium. “It would be a great habit to have,” he said, “But one would be deluded to think it’s going to be easy. There are at least 12 pilots this year who have been putting in times that are within a few seconds of each other. It’s going to be a very interesting season.”

Arch, whose new Edge V3 plane posted many of the fastest times in training as well as Qualifying, was bitterly disappointed by the disqualification. Arch’s Team Abu Dhabi is already 11 points behind Bonhomme with seven races remaining.

Also disappointed was Hall of Australia. He had posted the fourth fastest time in Qualifying and was flying well in the race, posting the second fastest net time in the Top 12 round. The former Royal Australian Air Force fighter pilot had his sights set on the second podium of his career but had to retire due to problems with his electrical system.

“It was a disappointing finish because I think I was doing well and flying smoothly,” said Hall, who is looking forward to racing at home for the first time. He was a rookie last year. “We’re running so much equipment in the aircraft that our batter just couldn’t keep up. We just couldn’t start the plane. All I can do now is be confident in the way I’m flying and get ready for Perth. I’m very excited and focused for Perth.”

 Source: RedbullairRace.com
Picture: Marcel van Leeuwen