The Rio de Janeiro race track will be among the most challenging in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship this year. This is due to the tricky sea breezes coming in off the South Atlantic in the afternoons as well as the difficult twin ‘knife-edge’ Air Gates separated by a 270-degree turn, newly introduced in 2010. But after dealing with the hot desert winds in Abu Dhabi on the Arabian Gulf in March and the changeable winds in Perth over the Swan River in April, the pilots are all looking forward to another challenge-filled course in Brazil.
“Rio is going to be a fast track and it will be affected by the sea breeze coming in during the afternoon,” said Race Director Drew Searle. “This means that in the morning the race pilots will adjust their race line for the light wind and then in the afternoon they will need a significantly different line for the strong sea breeze. For the pilots it will feel like they’re flying in two completely different tracks.”
There will once again be a lot of attention on the two ‘knife-edge’ gates – Gates 5 and 6 – that are separated by a high-G 270-degree turn. It has been the decisive section of the race tracks in Abu Dhabi and Perth and with so many pilots flying similar times it could well make the difference between the podium or the back of the pack in Rio.
“Flying the new twin knife gates is still far from routine for the pilots,” said Searle. “The first two races this year showed the hidden challenges of finding the perfect race line in the twin knife, especially when combined with the gates preceding and following it. Some of the pilots will tell you that the big savings or losses of time are to be found right there in the twin knife gates.”
Defending champion Paul Bonhomme, whose victory in Rio in 2007 was the first of three that year and helped establish the British ace as one of the top pilots, also expects the new track on Flamengo Beach to be full of difficult turns. Three years ago the race track was set up at the nearby Botafogo beach.
“It should be a really exciting track this year,” said Bonhomme, the 2009 champion. “Gate 4 is going to be especially challenging and it’s likely to get hit a lot.”
Steve Jones, a former Red Bull Air Race pilot who is now a commentator for the television programme, said there is a fairly straight line from the start through the chicane to Gate 3. “The first big decision comes with Gate 3,” Jones said. “When can you start the right turn? Too early – and you won’t be able to get your race plane’s wings level before reaching Gate 4. Too late – and your time will be slow. Every 10th of a second delay here will take you 10 metres in the wrong direction. The other race pilots will think you’re just sight-seeing.”
