With four pilots battling for a World Championship title, we knew the results at Lausitzring would be a large determinant for how the season finale might pan out next month. We expected a lot of excitement and race day definitely didn’t disappoint!
Team Chambliss advanced from the Round of 14, beating Mikael Brageot by nearly one-half second. But the ultimate shake-up was in the Round of 8, where the four leading pilots in the overall standings were paired head-to-head. Leader of the series, Martin Sonka, faced second place’s Pete McLeod, and Team Chambliss in third met fourth place’s Yoshi Muroya.
It was a good, clean run for the team, but a time of 51.398 seconds just wasn’t fast enough; Muroya moved on by .626 seconds and Team Chambliss ended the day in 6th position. Sonka got the better of McLeod and advanced to the Final Four as well, in addition to Matt Hall and Juan Velarde. In the end, it was Yoshi Muroya who rose to the top and took first place, followed by Matt Hall in second and Martin Sonka in third.
“Getting knocked out in the Round of 8 was pretty disappointing. I did all I could do out there and I thought my time would be fast. I was happy overall with my flying, but Yoshi was a tough matchup. We were so close here and even in Porto, we just didn’t quite make it. I always say it takes a fast airplane, great flying, and a great team to make it to the top, but a little luck always helps. We’ll stick with our goal to win races when we get to Indy, and hopefully a little luck will come our way,” remarks Chambliss.
There’s now an 11-point spread from first to fourth in the overall standings, with first place’s Martin Sonka at 63 and Team Chambliss in fourth with 52. It may be tough, but we’re still in striking distance of Sonka. We plan to give it everything we have in hopes to stand atop the podium for our home crowd next race. As we head to the season finale at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the overall World Championship Standings are as follows:
- 1. Martin Sonka (CZE) 63
- 2. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 59
- 3. Pete McLeod (CAN) 56
- 4. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 52
- 5. Matt Hall (AUS) 37
- 6. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 37
- 7. Juan Velarde (ESP) 28
- 8. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 27
- 9. Michael Goulian (USA) 24
- 10. Mikael Brageot (FRA) 19
- 11. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 16
- 12. Peter Podlunsek (SLO) 14
- 13. Francois Le Vot (FRA) 9
- 14. Cristian Bolton (CHI) 7
The Red Bull Air Race World Championship will resume October 14 and 15 in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the 2017 World Champion will be crowned.
For more information, visit www.redbullairrace.com.
