WINDSOR, Ontario – Britain’s Nigel Lamb posted the fastest time in Friday morning’s training session in Windsor. Ahead of the Red Bull Air Race Qualifying on Saturday, Lamb’s compatriot Paul Bonhomme and American Kirby Chambliss were close behind. Canada’s Pete McLeod was 11th in the first of two training sessions flown over the Detroit River on Friday.
Lamb, searching for his first career victory after getting second place in the last race in Rio de Janeiro, stopped the clock in 1:10.79, which was 0.87 second ahead of championship leader Bonhomme and 1.39 seconds in front of Chambliss. The American won the Qualifying point here a year ago and also was first in 2008 when the race straddling the Canada-U.S. border on the Detroit River was based in Detroit.
“The track conditions are perfect today and that makes some elements of the track a little trickier and some elements easier,” said Lamb, who is second overall behind Bonhomme. “It was all very smooth and very nice. I was aiming to get a sub-1:10. I’m a little disappointed that my last run wasn’t better but happy that my second run was good enough for the moment. I was focused and it reflected well in my time. My aim for Training 4 is to stay consistent and finish the day at the top of the table.”
The pilots generally use the first two training sessions to get an initial look at the track, test their racing lines and get a feel for the wind conditions. They only use the timings in the early sessions as a rough indication of where they stand before opening up the throttle in the final session, Training 4, that precedes the Qualifying on Saturday.
Hannes Arch of Austria, the hottest pilot in the field with back-to-back wins in Perth and Rio, had a rough run in the track on Friday and got hit with a disqualification from the session for dangerous flying. Australia’s Matt Hall was a solid fourth on Friday morning and Germany’s Matthias Dolderer took a promising fifth. Hungary’s Peter Besenyei, flying a new Corvus plane, was 10th. Bonhomme, who was the fastest in Training 1 on Thursday, said he is confident he can fly faster.
“I know where I can save a bit of time,” Bonhomme said. “It’s the usual story for Training 3: you’re not going for it yet, but we’ll see what we can do later.”
