Media Information
19 April 2009
For Immediate Use
(2 pages)
AUSSIE ROOKIE FINISHES IN TOP 5 AT RED BULL AIR RACE
Australia’s Matt Hall, one of just four rookies in the championship this year, had an outstanding performance in his
very first race, grabbing a sensational fifth place at the first Red Bull Air Race World Championship race of the year in
Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Hall gained an impressive seven championship points for his stellar performance.
Austrian, Hannes Arch came from behind to win the race with a scintillating triumph over Britain’s Paul Bonhomme on
a sizzling hot day in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Nicolas Ivanoff of France stormed onto the podium with
third place while Britain’s Nigel Lamb established himself as a force to be reckoned with this year, taking fourth on the
challenging 6.6-km course of Air Gates set up just above the turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf.
Arch, the defending world champion, saved his best for last, blazing to victory to the delight of the large crowd of
spectators watching from the rim of the Corniche with a stunning time of 1:24.60 - a full 0.89 seconds faster than
Bonhomme’s outstanding effort just moments earlier. Arch had stumbled in the Super 8 session and only just
qualified for the Final 4 in fourth place. Arch, who also collected one championship point with his victory in Friday’s
Qualifying session, then opened up his throttle in the final on a day when temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius to pick
up the 12 points. He will take a three-point lead over Bonhomme (10 points) to the next race in San Diego.
“There were always doubts in my mind because those other three guys have been flying so fast,” said Arch. “If you
make the tiniest of mistakes against Paul, Nicolas or Nigel, you’ll lose. I was able to focus everything on the last run
and put all my energy into it. The tactic worked out, fortunately.” Arch had struggled in the training sessions earlier in
the week before pulling out the stops to win Qualifying on Friday. He was again trailing Bonhomme, Ivanoff and
Lamb on the time sheets in the penultimate round, the Super 8, before he let loose and pulled off a flawless run
through the obstacle course of 20-metre high inflatable pylons set up as 17 Air Gates on barges.
Bonhomme, who had won here in Abu Dhabi last year and led the championship for most of the 2008 season before
stumbling late in the year to finish second to Arch, was surprised that his fabulous Final 4 time of 1:25.49 was not
enough for the victory. “It felt like a pretty good run,” Bonhomme said. “I was actually quite pleased with that.”
Another rookie, Matthias Dolderer of Germany, also had a bright start to his Red Bull Air Race World Championship
career, taking 11th place and collecting his first championship point. Dolderer had started the week cautiously and
seemed to improve with each training and racing session.
The 15 pilots in the largest field ever assembled in the history of the race fly the single-propeller planes weighing 540
kg with tremendous precision, reaching speeds of up to 370 kilometres per hour and enduring forces of up to 12G as
they navigate through the turn-filled courses just metres above the surface. Last year, more than 3.5 million fans
around the world attended the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, which were watched by a total of some 500
million television viewers in 115 countries on six continents.
- ends -
For further information about the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, please contact:
Red Bull Air Race World Championship, Australian Press Officers
Jackie Cadiao or Michelle Hampton
Phone: (02) 9439 9318 / 0408 078 067
Email: jackie@magnumpr.com.au / michelle@magnumpr.com.au
cont. pg 2...
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2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship Results
Abu Dhabi
1.
Hannes Arch (AUT)
13 points
2.
Paul Bonhomme (GBR)
10 points
3.
Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA)
9 points
4.
Nigel Lamb (GBR)
8 points
5.
Matt Hall (AUS)
7 points
6.
Sergey Rakhmanin (RUS)
6 points
7.
Mike Mangold (USA)
5 points
8.
Alejandro Maclean (ESP)
4 points
9.
Kirby Chambliss (USA)
3 points
10.
Peter Besenyei (HUN)
2 points
11.
Matthias Dolderer (GER)
1 point
12.
Glen Dell (RSA)
0 points
13.
Yoshihide Muroya (JPN)
0 points
14.
Michael Goulian (USA)
0 points
15.
Pete McLeod (CAN)
0 points
Race Calendar
2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship*
LOCATION
DATE
Abu Dhabi (UAE)
17/18 April
San Diego (USA)
9/10 May
Windsor, Ontario (Canada)
13/14 June
Budapest (Hungary)
19/20 August
Porto (Portugal)
12/13 September
Barcelona (Spain)
3/4 October
* Subject to change
NEWS 
