Bonhomme, Jones and Lamb miss out on podium spots on Sunday
AMERICAN Kirby Chambliss scored a victory at the Red Bull Air Race World Series in London on Sunday in front of a crowd of 40,000 spectators, defeating France’s Nicolas Ivanoff in a gripping final over the River Thames after favourite Paul Bonhomme of Britain hit a pylon and failed to make the finals. Austrian Hannes Arch came third on a rainy, windswept afternoon. Bonhomme’s lead at the top of the championship was slashed to two points at 38 and with just four races remaining the World Series is once again wide open.“It felt great out there,” said Chambliss, who is now in second place in the championships behind Bonhomme with 36 points ahead of Arch in third, also on 36 points. “The conditions had smoothed out a bit so I was as aggressive as possible.” Chambliss has won two of the last three races after beating Bonhomme in Detroit. Bonhomme was disappointed but after a cup of tea said: “It was a classic case of trying too hard.”The blustery conditions caused upsets across the board: Bonhomme, who has felt the pressure of his home race all weekend, had an uncharacteristically error-filled run, hitting one of the Air Gates that mark out the course before abandoning his run. “When things aren’t going right you should just stop,” he said.His arch rival Mike Mangold also hit an Air Gate, destroying the American’s chances of winning for a second consecutive time in London where a total of 60,000 enthusiastic spectators over the whole weekend enjoyed precision flying just metres above the water against the backdrop of The O2 and Canary Wharf. The U.K. crowd expected great things from the British trio of Bonhomme, Steve Jones and Nigel Lamb after each performed well in the previous Red Bull Air Race in Rotterdam. Jones managed to snatch just a championship point in the Point One round in London. Lamb ended up in 5th place.The next race takes place in Budapest, Hungary on 19 and 20 August.www.redbullairrace.com
