MONUMENT VALLEY, Utah (USA) – Only one stop remains in the eighth season of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship – the finale in Las Vegas, USA on October 17-18 – and the race planes are already on their way. Ferrying his Edge 540 from the previous stop in Fort Worth, Texas, Kirby Chambliss, a native of the American Southwest, took the opportunity to show Matthias Dolderer of Germany and Nicolas Ivanoff of France the glorious landscape of Monument Valley, Utah.
For the native Navajo people, Monument Valley is a place of spiritual journeys, and the breathtaking panorama inspired the pilots on their own journey as well. After meeting a local Navajo guide, the flying aces were honored to have the opportunity to soar among the sandstone formations that tower up to 300 meters (1,000 feet) above the valley floor.
It was a chance to clear their heads before the action to come at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Team Chambliss, Ivanoff’s Team Hamilton and Matthias Dolderer Racing will join the 11 other elite teams, determined to finish their season on a high. Britain’s Paul Bonhomme and Australia’s Matt Hall will be racing for the World Championship title, in a winner-takes-all showdown battle in the final race of the 2015 season. Bonhomme is clinging to a slim eight-point point lead over the hard-charging Australian with 12 points up for grabs.
In the Red Bull Air Race, which is the official world championship of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world’s top pilots hit speeds of 370 kmh while enduring forces of up to 10G as they navigate a low-level slalom track marked by 25-meter-high, air-filled pylons.
Tickets are still available for the Red Bull Air Race in Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 17/18 October, 2015. For information, simply visit www.redbullairrace.com
Photographer: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool
Press release and picture Red Bull Air Race.com
