Bonhomme leads Red Bull Air Race as the show comes to town
As the Red Bull Air Race heads for London in just over a week’s time, British pilot Paul Bonhomme leads the standings after winning the Interlaken round in superb style at the weekend.With his second win of the season, Bonhomme now leads the championship with 26 points followed by Mike Mangold (U.S.) two points behind. Bonhomme completed a terrific run at speeds of up to 400 kph (250 mph) with forces reaching 10G, through the course stretched out in front of the trio of famous Swiss peaks – the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau – in a time of 01:11.08 minutes. You can see highlights by clicking the video image on the right. “I didn’t feel the last run was quite as good as my previous one, but hey, it did the trick. The wind was getting stronger during the day, very subtly. I’m very happy. The airplane’s in tip-top shape,” he said.Some 60,000 spectators turned out to watch the race held under scorching mid-summer temperatures, among them seven-times F1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher who was visibly enthralled by the event.The stop in Interlaken, the fifth leg of the ten-race Red Bull Air Race World Series, was the second of the season in Europe (you can watch it on Channel 4 on July 21). The London round, the first ever to be held in the capital, takes place on the weekend of July 28-29 along a course in Docklands in front of The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome). It should be a great weekend.You can read more about Paul’s race day in the latest Go Flying! magazine, published by Pilot and available free at airfields now.
