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Brits Triumph In Rotterdam

E365> Airrace - Monday July 21 2008

E365 -- It was a fantastic day for the British pilots at the Red Bull Air Race in Rotterdam on Sunday with Paul Bonhomme widening his lead in the World Series to six points after his third win in four races this season while compatriot Steve Jones took his first podium place this year.

Austria’s Hannes Arch moved into second place in the championship with 29 points after losing to Bonhomme (35 points) in the final.

American challengers Kirby Chambliss and Mike Mangold lost crucial ground in the championship after both failed to make the podium on a cool and cloudy afternoon in the Dutch port city.

Bonhomme beat Arch with a time of 1:17.25 in the final after the Austrian could not finish his run because of a pylon hit. Arch was going all-out to beat Bonhomme but cut his line too close and hit an Air Gate on the first straight. He aborted his run after pylon material got caught briefly in his right wing.

Arch had performed well all weekend in the race above the River Maas in Europe’s biggest port with the help of his new streamlined canopy and put in a spectacularly fast time in the semi-finals to beat Jones before losing to Bonhomme once again in the final. The Brit had beat him in the Abu Dhabi final as well.

“It is a good day out for the Brits,” said Bonhomme, who tracked Arch’s run from a holding pattern high above Rotterdam. “I watched Hannes draw a dead-straight line from Gate One to Gate Six and I thought if he gets away with that then I have got a big job on my hands. I am very pleased.”

Arch was disappointed despite getting his third podium in four races: “I was just pushing too hard. You don't win if you don't push. It was just a little too much and I took too direct a line.”

Third place went to Jones who made the podium for the first time since his victory in Porto in 2007. His time of 1:16.00 narrowly edged out American pilot Kirby Chambliss in a thrilling Third Place Fly-Off. Chambliss, who beat Bonhomme in Detroit, clocked 1:16.03 to take a disappointing fourth. Mangold said: “I just wasn’t good enough.”

“I’m on the podium for the first time this season and it is long overdue,” said Jones, noting that extra practice time last week had paid off.

Thousands of spectators lined the harbour side in Rotterdam to watch the 12 pilots fly at speeds of up to 370 km/h and withstand forces of up to 12 Gs.

The next race is in London on 2nd and 3rd August.