Britain’s favourite tops the podium in second round of Red Bull Air Race
IT was yet again an unblemished performance from Britain’s Paul Bonhomme who took the number one spot in the San Diego round of the World Series on 4 May. He beat rival Mike Mangold – racing on his home turf – into second position, with fellow American Kirby Chambliss in third place. Bonhomme’s final lap time was 1:18:01 ahead of Mangold’s 1:19:24.“I’m very pleased to take the win,” said Bonhomme. “All I can say is that it’s hard work. I’m chuffed to bits that we won. The guys on the team have done a brilliant job. But it’s not a walk in the park. And if anybody says they expect it to be easy, I would say it’s hard work and getting harder all the time. These other guys are not standing still.”Fellow British contender Nigel Lamb flew his new single-seat MXS-R for the first time in the San Diego round and did well despite taking things more cautiously throughout the practice sessions earlier in the week. He made it through to the Super Eights and secured sixth place and four championship points. (See the June issue of Pilot to read the World Exclusive first flight test of Nigel’s MXS-R.)Meanwhile Steve Jones had a disappointing race finishing ninth but did secure one championship point.www.redbullairrace.com
