Oct 15

RED BULL AIR RACE INDIANAPOLIS: QUALIFYING DAY

Kirby Chambliss (USA)

It’s been a tough week for Team Chambliss at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway leading into the season finale. We’ve made modifications to our line at every practice hoping to see more of an on-pace finish, but we just haven’t found the perfect approach yet.  And with a third world championship title on the line, there’s no time to spare.

“Today definitely wasn’t my best performance. An 11th place finish isn’t what we were going for, but race day isn’t until Sunday. I’m going to do everything in my power to make a win happen. Tomorrow the wind is going to really blow and change the way we fly completely; it will be like an entirely new track” remarks Kirby.

For those who have glanced at the weather forecast for tomorrow, Race Director, Jim DiMatteo, weighs in on how it will affect race day. “The forecast is way beyond [the minimum requirements for our pilots to race]. Rain, if there is any in the morning, is well out of the way before we start our race in the afternoon. The biggest influence will be the wind. It’s been 10 knots to the south up to now, and tomorrow it is expected to change to 20 knots from the west. Tomorrow will be an exciting end to our season. It will be interesting to see how [the pilots] modify their flight for tomorrow with no practice.”

Some pilots may see this as a disadvantage, but Kirby feels quite the opposite. “We do some of our best racing when conditions aren’t the greatest. You have to go back to what I call ‘seat of the pants flying’, which involves making quick adaptations to variable circumstances. We tend to do well in these situations, so I say bring on the wind!”

Head-to-head pairings for tomorrow’s Round of 14 are as follows:

  • Heat 1: Mikael Brageot vs. Pete McLeod
  • Heat 2: Yoshihide Muroya vs. Martin Sonka
  • Heat 3: Peter Podlunsek vs. Matthias Dolderer
  • Heat 4: Michael Goulian vs. Nicolas Ivanoff
  • Heat 5: Kirby Chambliss vs. Juan Velarde
  • Heat 6: Francois Le Vot vs. Petr Kopfstein
  • Heat 7: Christian Bolton vs. Matt Hall

For more information, visit www.redbullairrace.com.

 

 

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