Feb 09

RED BULL AIR RACE ABU DHABI: RACE DAY

Kirby Chambliss (USA)

The first race of the season in Abu Dhabi comes with a revision to the race day point system. While pilots will still receive points based on race day position, the allotment has changed. Bonus points will now be added for advancing through each round (Round of 8 is +5 points, Final Four is +3 points). This new system puts more points on the line than ever before:

 PLACE   POINTS
1st   25
2nd   22
3rd   20
4th   18
5th   14
6th   13
7th   12
8th   11
9th   5
10th   4
11th   3
12th   2
13th   1
14th   0

Today’s Round of 14 was error filled, with 9 out of 14 pilots incurring penalties. “The wind did a 180 in direction from previous days,” explains Kirby. “This caused the turn from gate 6 to 7 to be really tight, and gate 7 came much faster than it had previously. I think the wind shift is a big reason there were so many penalties.”

Though conditions altered, it didn’t affect Kirby’s flight. He was one of few pilots to produce a clean run which advanced him to the Round of 8. Head to head with Nicolas Ivanoff from France, time lost from a penalty for climbing in the gate could not be recovered. This resulted in an 8th place finish for Kirby.

“Flying against Nicolas is never easy; he’s very capable of putting down a fast run,” shares Chambliss. “My main objective was to fly clean, and quite frankly, I thought I had. I was really surprised when I heard the penalty. I’m disappointed we didn’t move forward, but we’ve got some points on the board and are ready to move up in the ranks at the second race of the season.”

After advancing to the Final Four, Ivanoff had an electric fuel pump failure and was unable to complete his flight, resulting in a 4th place finish. 2017 World Champion Yoshihide Muroya rose to the top of the standings following a first-place finish in yesterday’s qualifying round. Last year’s world champion, Martin Sonka, took second place, and Michael Goulian completed the podium in third. A full list of results can be seen below:

 

Abu Dhabi Race Results:

  1. 1. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 25, 2. Martin Sonka (CZE) 22, 3. Michael Goulian (USA) 20, 4. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 18, 5. Matt Hall (AUS) 14, 6. Juan Velarde (ESP) 13, 7. Mika Brageot (FRA) 12, 8. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 11, 9. Pete McLeod (CAN) 5, 10. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 4, 11. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 3, 12. Francois Le Vot (FRA) 2, 13. Ben Murphy (GBR) 1, 14. Christian Bolton (CHI) 0

 

World Championship Standings:

  1. 1. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 28, 2. Martin Sonka (CZE) 22, 3. Michael Goulian (USA) 21, 4. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 18, 5. Matt Hall (AUS) 14, 6. Juan Velarde (ESP) 13, 7. Mika Brageot (FRA) 12, 8. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 11, 9. Pete McLeod (CAN) 5, 10. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 4, 11. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 3, 12. Francois Le Vot (FRA) 2, 13. Ben Murphy (GBR) 1, 14. Christian Bolton (CHI) 0

 

For further information, visit www.redbullairrace.com.

 

 

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