2016, you’ve been a year of trials, but we made it through! From enduring the strongest storm Abu Dhabi has seen in 25 years, a snowstorm in Spielberg, Austria, many locations of persistent rain, and the cancellation of the final race in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 2016 Red Bull Air Race season proved to be a challenging one! While there were multiple races without qualifying and the loss of many training sessions, it was still an exciting year!
A new location was debuted, and in what better place than the “home of motorsports”? Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a wonderful venue that brought out many spectators, new to the sport, just to see what air race is all about! We also made a return to Lausitzring, Germany, a venue we haven’t seen in quite a few years!
Walking into the 2016 season, our team had two main goals: to fly clean and to be consistent! We knew we didn’t have a chance to complete all of the modifications we’d planned for the off season, so we took our fourth-place finish in Abu Dhabi as a great start! We continued to have clean runs on race day and found ourselves back on the podium in Chiba, Japan! Throughout the following races, we succeeded in our consistency goal and remained fourth in the world championship (WC) standings throughout the remaining European races.
As we headed home to the United States, we knew we were still a contender for third place on the WC podium. It was with huge disappointment that we were disqualified in Indianapolis for exceeding the maximum RPM. We later came to find the culprit was the loss of a screw in our prop controller. We headed to Las Vegas with full intentions of giving it one last fight, but weather intervened. Eleven pilots had flown, and just two remained as the track began to fall down. We sat in our hangar anxiously watching for all gates to be up again, but the wind was just too much. The Round of 14 was canceled.
“It’s a huge disappointment to travel to and prepare for a race but not get to finish a full round. We were in a really good position, but unfortunately they just couldn’t get everyone through the track,” remarked Kirby after the end of Las Vegas.
A HUGE round of applause goes out to our Red Bull Air Gaters, the men behind the track setup! They desperately fought against high winds over the course of the weekend. Nothing like trying to secure down an 82 ft balloon in 35 knot winds… Way to go, guys! Thank you for all of your hard work!
As we close the year, we can say it was an emotional one. We said goodbye to fellow competitor, Nigel Lamb, as he completed his last season with Red Bull Air Race. We wish him all the best in his retirement! And we also lost a dear friend, a true adventurer, Hannes Arch. We cherish the time we had with you, and you will forever be in our hearts! This year has tested pilots and our teams in more way than one, but we grouped together as a family and worked through one obstacle at a time.
So, what’s to be anticipated for the 2017 season? 14KN will be sporting a new look! Our race plane is currently enjoying cooler weather in California, where Paulo and Jason are diligently working on modifications. We’ve used 2016 as a building year, but we’re ready to push the limits moving forward. We expect to be even stronger and more competitive in the future!
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