ANUNCIANTES

16.07.2010 

LAUSITZ, Germany – The 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship will be decided at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany on 7-8 August when defending champion Paul Bonhomme of Britain will be battling to stave off a determined challenge from Austria's Hannes Arch and his compatriot Nigel Lamb.

The race at the motorsport track will be the 50th since the Red Bull Air Race was launched in 2003. The German race, the 2010 finale, also coincides with festivities surrounding the 10th anniversary of the EuroSpeedway circuit, which has the largest and most modern motorsport grandstand in Europe. German pilot Matthias Dolderer will be looking to finish the year on a high note in his new Edge 540 V3 airplane.

“It’s going to be fantastic racing in my home country,” said Dolderer, who got the first podium of his career in the final 2009 race in Barcelona and is hoping to repeat that performance in front of his home fans. The race at the EuroSpeedway will be the second time Germany has hosted a race after Berlin held the inaugural German race at Tempelhof Airport in 2006. It is also another milestone - the first time a race will be staged at a motorsport race track. “Germans love motorsport and the Red Bull Air Race has become far more popular in the last few years,” Dolderer added, noting the TV coverage by Germany’s top commercial network RTL helped fuel that growth. “The Lausitz region is totally into the race and I’m sure there’s going to be a fantastic crowd cheering us on.”

Czech rookie Martin Sonka is also counting on legions of supporters making the short journey from the Czech republic to the EuroSpeedway, where spectators will have a unique perspective of the race and be able to see the track, the pit lanes and the hangars of the 14 pilots set up directly in front of the grandstand. At most other races around the world the Race Airport is usually set up far away from the race track.

Bonhomme, Arch, Dolderer and the other pilots had all looked forward to three races in Europe this season after earlier stops this year in Abu Dhabi, Perth, Rio de Janeiro, Windsor, Canada and an historic first race in New York City, a race which was broadcast by Fox television stations live in the United States for the first time. But delays in the permissions process forced the cancellation of the race in Budapest and unexpected delays in reaching a revised host city agreement led to Porto being scratched as well – meaning the race in Germany will conclude the abridged six-race season. There were also six races in 2009.

Business as usual

“It will be business as usual,” said Bonhomme, trying to stay focused on the big prize. He won the first race of the year in Abu Dhabi but then saw Arch win the next three to cut his lead to just one point ahead of their duel New York. Bonhomme rallied with a victory in New York after Arch, who was actually flying faster in the Big Apple, hit a pylon in the Final 4 and got a costly six-second penalty that dropped him to fourth in the race and left him five points behind Bonhomme in the championship. Had Arch not hit the pylon he would be one point ahead of Bonhomme now. Arch will be piling the pressure on Bonhomme in Germany and going all out to win a maximum 13 points for taking the one Qualifying point and 12 points for winning the race in Lausitz while hoping Bonhomme stumbles. Bonhomme leads with 53 points, Arch is second on 48 and Lamb is also still in the hunt for the championship with 47 points.

“No comment except let’s see how it goes,” Bonhomme said when asked if he thought his five-point lead would hold up against Arch in Germany. Arch, the 2008 champion, is confident he can still catch Bonhomme. The Austrian knows history is on his side: not since American Kirby Chambliss led the championship from start to finish in 2006 has any pilot that led at the start been able to hold on to a lead for the full season. Bonhomme twice wasted early leads late in the season in both 2007 and 2008 while Arch squandered his chance to defend his title in 2009 when he faltered near the end of the season and Bonhomme moved ahead of him.

“I want to be first and not second,” Arch said. “The championship is definitely still within reach.”

Red Bull Air Race GmbH CEO Bernd Loidl said the race at the EuroSpeedway track would launch a new era in the race and motorsport. He also said it would be an exciting race with a big crowd thanks in part to the drawing power of Germany's Matthias Dolderer and Martin Sonka of the nearby Czech Republic.

"The race in Lausitz will open up the Red Bull Air Race to an interesting new dimension," Loidl said. "After races held over water locations for the last few years, it gives us the chance to fly over land for the first time since Monument Valley and Interlake in 2007 as well as Berlin in 2006.

"The race at the EuroSpeedway is also an opportunity to showcase the entire spectrum of motorsport -- from two wheels, to four wheels or now in the air. It will be a true motorsport festival and we're expecting a huge crowd and a great programme with the celebrations surrounding the EuroSpeedway's 10th anniversary.

"Lausitz will also be a homecoming for Matthias, the local hero in Germany, and Martin from the Czech Republic. It's only an hour or so away from the race location. We've also got a lot of fans in Poland who will be coming over to see the race. The fan base in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland has been building up strongly over the years and we're delighted to be racing there in a region that is truly a motorsport hotbed".

Spectators seated in the EuroSpeedway grandstand will have an unrivaled view of how the pilots prepare their powerful 540-kg propeller planes for the race and be able to watch the pilots take off and land from the runway as well. While most Red Bull Air Races are held over rivers, lakes or ocean shorelines, there have been only a handful of races held on land – such as Longleat (UK) and Berlin as well as Monument Valley (USA) and Interlaken (Switzerland) in 2007.

Autor : ERIK KAY