The day didn’t play out quite as the team had hoped. During his first pass in qualifying, Kirby exceeded 12 G’s and was pulled from track, unable to post a time. Because 12 G’s is considered an airplane limit, the plane must be inspected to ensure no damages occurred.
“It’s super frustrating because I was on a really good line. I went in and tried to lay down a fast time on the first run. I should have flown a little more conservatively, but being too conservative can cost you a few seconds. It’s a very thin line,” says Kirby.
Unfortunately, this mistake has been far too common amongst the master pilots here in Abu Dhabi.
“In the training right before qualifying, six pilots exceeded 12 G’s. I didn’t at that time. Now I wish I would have done it during practice instead of in qualifying. It just happens so fast that we don’t even see it. It’s a fraction of a move on the stick. I hit 12.1 G’s for two tenths of a second, but if I had only pulled 11.9, I’d be a hero.”
In the first heat of the round of 14, Kirby will go head to head against Australia’s Matt Hall.
“Matt is going to be quick. To make the podium in Abu Dhabi this year, there can’t be any mistakes.”
The remaining line up for tomorrow’s Round of 14 is as follows:
- Martin Sonka vs. Nicolas Ivanoff
- Petr Kopfstein vs. Yoshihide Muroya
- Juan Velarde vs. Hannes Arch
- Francois Le Vot vs. Michael Goulian
- Pete McLeod vs. Nigel Lamb
- Peter Podlunsek vs. Matthias Dolderer
