Brit Steve Jones third in Red Bull Air Race training session in Detroit
FOLLOWING some serious modifications to his Edge 540, British competitor Steve Jones posted impressive times in the practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s Red Bull Air Race. He came third in the standings yesterday hot on the heels of Bonhomme who came second, behind American Mike Mangold.Although he’s keeping tight-lipped about the mods, when asked what his team had been up to since San Diego, he admitted: “We did some work to the cooling of the engine and reduced drag which has had quite a big effect. We’ve certainly noticed in the top speed on the straights and we’ll have to see if we can keep the energy up around the corners.”But when pressed for specifics, he would only say: “We’ve modified a few bits that have to do with the cooling which I’m not going to tell you about.”The performance has lifted Jones’ spirits after a disappointing start to the 2008 season. His results in the training session have certainly caused his opponents to take stock.“That was the aim: to worry the leaders,” Steve said. “It’s going well. The plane is performing as we hoped. I knew it would be faster on the straights but the performance around the corners is better than I hoped for. I’m not yet quite used to how well it gets around the corners.”Mike Mangold, who trails Bonhomme by three points in the World Series Championship going into the third race of the 10-race season, was clocked in a time of 1:14.21. Bonhomme, who won the season-opener in Abu Dhabi and the second stop in San Diego, was second in 1:14.48. Jones took third in 1:15.61.www.redbullairrace.com
