The goal today, like any other race day, was to fly clean and fly fast, even with the unusual weather!
“I’ve got somewhere around 27,000 hours of flight time, and this is the first time I can say that I’ve raced in snow. It made for an interesting day!” exclaimed Kirby.
In the Round of 14, he faced friend and fellow U.S. pilot Michael Goulian. With a time of 58.434 seconds, Kirby was .769 seconds faster. Progressing to the Round of 8, he faced hometown hero Hannes Arch. It was a close race, but Hannes ultimately took the lead and went on to the Final Four.
“That’s the fastest run we did all week, so I really did lay down a good time. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough. If I was a half-second faster, I would’ve made it to the final four – then I would’ve been really happy!”
Moving forward to Japan, the team has ideas for further improvement.
“We’re not 100 percent happy with the motor performance, but we are looking into a fix. This is a tough competition and it’s not easy to jump from the back of the pack to the front. Currently, we hold 5th position in the World Championship standings and this is a good place for the team to be at the moment,” states team tactician, Paulo Iscold.
For a full list of results, visit www.redbullairrace.com.
