Red Bull Air Race World Series 2008 - The first race April 10

Paul Bonhomme got his victory against Hannes Arch of Austria in front of 400,000 spectators in Abu Dhabi.

Bonhomme who was runner-up in the championship last season to American Mike Mangold by a heartbreaking fraction of a second, got some sweet revenge in Abu Dhabi. Bonhomme beat Hannes Arch of Austria, who reached the final for the first time in only his second season, by more than 7 seconds. Arch was hit by two 3-second penalties for flying too high through two gates that cost him dearly. Mike Mangold (USA) finished third after winning the consolation race against Peter Besenyei (HUN).

With temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius and gusty winds of up to 30 kilometres per hour, Bonhomme was in a class by himself, recording the fastest times in all training sessions earlier in the week and dominating the Qualifying sessions on Thursday. Bonhomme, in his new Edge 540, was also by far the fastest pilot in the 'Super Eights' and crushed Hungary's Peter Besenyei in the semi-finals (by more than 6 seconds) before beating Arch in the final by 7,05 seconds.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the emirate of the same name, largest of the seven emirates that compose the United Arab Emirates. It is the richest city in the world. Abu Dhabi city is a modern city with broad boulevards, tall office and apartment buildings, and busy shops.

Air Race history: Peter Besenyei won in 2005 and 2007, Kirby Chambliss won in 2006.

1	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	F	1:03.31		0	9,2 g	369 kph
2	Arch Hannes	AUT	F	1:10.36	+ 7.05	6	9,6 g	370 kph
3	Mangold Mike	USA	CF	1:07.36		3	9,4 g	361 kph
4	Besenyei Peter	HUN	CF	1:14.20	+ 6.84	6	9,2 g	364 kph
5	Chambliss Kirby	USA	S8	1:07.45		3	9,2 g	356 kph
6	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	S8	1:08.32	+ 0.87	0	9,0 g	361 kph
7	Jones Steve	GBR	S8	1:08.51	+ 1.06	3	9,2 g	368 kph
8	Lamb Nigel	GBR	S8	1:09.67	+ 2.22	0	8,6 g	361 kph
9	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	PO	1:07.33		0	9,1 g	370 kph
10	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	PO	1:12.02	+ 4.69	0	8,3 g	352 kph
11	Goulian Michael	USA	PO	1:13.19	+ 5.86	3	9,2 g	353 kph
12	Dell Glen	RSA	PO	1:18.02	+ 10.69	3	7,4 g	351 kph

World Series Standings 2008

Rank	Name	Nation	Points
1	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	9
2	Arch Hannes	AUT	8
3	Mangold Mike	USA	7
4	Besenyei Peter	HUN	6
5	Chambliss Kirby	USA	5
6	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	4
7	Jones Steve	GBR	3
8	Lamb Nigel	GBR	2
9	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	1
10	Rakhmanin Sergey	RUS	0
11	Goulian Michael	USA	0
12	Dell Glen	RSA	0

TaG All: Touching a Gate (Races + Trainings)
TaG Race: Touching a Gate (Qualifying, Elimination and Race Finals)

Results first Training Day here

Results second Training Day here

Results Qualification here

Pilots and Teams

1	Mangold Mike	USA	Cobra
2	Bonhomme Paul	GBR	Matador
3	Besenyei Peter	HUN	Red Bull
4	Chambliss Kirby	USA	Red Bull
19	Jones Steve	GBR	Matador
36	Maclean Alejandro	ESP	MRT
27	Ivanoff Nicolas	FRA	MRT
99	Goulian Michael	USA	Dragon Racing
10	Lamb Nigel	GBR	Breitling
28	Arch Hannes	AUT	Cobra
18	Rakhmanin Sergei	RUS	Dragon Racing
45	Dell Glen	RSA	Breitling

Aircraft

Edge 540	Zivko Aeronautics	426 km/h	-12 / +12 g
Extra 300S	Extra Flugzeugbau GmbH	407 km/h	-10 / +10 g
MX2	MXR Technologies	426 km/h	-12 / +14 g

Last site update: 04-05-2008