Nov 19

RED BULL AIR RACE FORT WORTH: RACE DAY

Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2018 - Fort Worth

Photo Credit Predrag Vuckovic

Kirby Chambliss, finds himself back on the podium for the second time this season with a third place finish in Fort Worth Texas. This strong finale to the 2018 Red Bull Air Race season generates momentum that Team Chambliss plans to carry into the 2019 season.

As a Texan, Kirby is excited to fly in his home state, but the cold front that moved through the area Saturday night presents challenges for the pilots. “Everything we learned during the practice and qualifying rounds, we can chuck out the window. The change in weather created an entirely different track,” Kirby explains.

The frigid weather doesn’t dampen the excitement. The fourth-place Saturday’s Qualifying round puts Kirby head-to-head against France’s Mika Brageot in the Round of 14. Brageot, first to fly, has a clean run and a fast time of 53.152. Chambliss races through the track with a clean run, but was edged out by a mere 0.11s. His time was one of the faster posted in the round of 14 and enough to earn a place in the round of 8 as fastest loser.

This finish places him in the first heat to race head-to-head against Yoshi Muroya. The excitement continues as Muroya sets the pace with a time 52.519s. Kirby easily wins the round with his fastest time of the day—51.984s—securing a position in the final four.

“Conditions didn’t change much from the first run to the third run” Kirby states. But, flying first in the Round of 4, Kirby is slower than his previous round with a time of 54.064. This time is fast enough to secure the third position on the podium. Kirby continues, “Third wasn’t the spot we wanted to be in, but still respectable. I would love to win the championship next year. This gives us a good start for 2019, so it will be awesome”

The Fort Worth race is also the 2018 season finale. Martin Sonka is crowned as World Champion with Matt Hall taking second and Michael Goulian rounding out the podium finishers. Kirby finishes 6th overall.

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Fort Worth Race Results:

  1. Martin Sonka (CZE) 15, 2. Matt Hall (AUS) 12, 3. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 9, 4. Ben Murphy (GBR) 7. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 6, Mika Brageot (FRA) 5, 7. Juan Velarde (ESP) 4, 8 Michael Goulian (USA) 3, 9. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 2, 10. Francois Le Vot (FRA) 1, 11. Pete McLeod (CAN) 0, 12. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 0, 13. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 0, 14. Christian Bolton (CHI), 0

World Championship Results:

  1. Martin Sonka (CZE) 80, 2. Matt Hall (AUS) 75, 3. Michael Goulian (USA) 73, 4. Mika Brageot (FRA) 41, 5. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 40, 6. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 34, 7. Ben Murphy (GBR) 29, 8. Pete McLeod (CAN) 27, 9. Juan Velarde (ESP) 24, 10. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 22, 11. Francois Le Vot (FRA) 22, 12. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 17, 13. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 16, 14. Christian Bolton (CHI) 12

 

For more information, visit www.redbullairrace.com.

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