Since Abu Dhabi last year Michael Goulian has been in the form of his racing career. And it’s clear to see that the green shoots of that form started to show in Kazan 2017.
The first visit to Russia for the Air Race saw Goulian claim his first podium since 2009. He finished third behind Pete McLeod and Kirby Chambliss, which made it a full North American podium.
Matt Hall has gone from fighter pilot to top competitor in his flying career. Here is his fascinating story...
In Abu Dhabi, Pete McLeod was fast – so fast, in fact, that he set the fastest net time on Race Day. But a slight miscalculation saw him fly through Gate 7 at the incorrect level, costing him two seconds in penalties, ultimately bringing his Race Day to an early conclusion.
At the recent MotoGP race in Jerez, MotoGP Repsol Honda rider Marc Márquez caught up with Juan Velarde and talked about all things racing.
Spaniards Márquez and Velarde both wear the Repsol colours, and share a love of high adrenaline racing. Márquez – a five-time MotoGP World Champion with titles in the 125CC and Moto2 classes – took the race win in his home race at the Circuito de Jerez. Velarde, who raced motorbikes in his younger days, was not only there to witness the racing action, but also performed a display for the thousands of fans that were there to cheer on Márquez.
Along with Sammy Mason and Patrick Strasser, Vito Wyprächtiger has also joined the Challenger Class ranks for 2019. Here’s what you need to know about the Swiss pilot...
Although it’s Wyprächtiger's debut season, as a pilot he has a long history with the Air Race. In 2007, whilst also studying, he joined as Team Coordinator for Hannes Arch. “I was getting my technician’s licence, and by the third race of 2008 I became the team technician after I had qualified,” he explained.
Florian Bergér has been the man to watch in the Challenger Cup since he first burst onto the circuit in 2015 and almost claimed a podium in his first race, missing out on the win by just 0.572s.
Since then he has gone on to claim two titles, seven race wins, and a total of 15 podiums – the most successful pilot in the history of the Challenger Class.
Mika Brageot has been turning heads and cited as one to watch since joining the Red Bull Air Race in the first Challenger Class season back in 2014, when he took his first race win in only his third outing.
Cristian Bolton is now in his third Master Class season, and despite his unquestionable flying skill, the Chilean's raceplane had always struggled to keep on the pace. But towards the latter half of last season, Bolton and his team had time to work on the raceplane, with some positive results soon following.
At the end of the 2018 season Team Spielberg had made it clear that it needed a new engine for its Edge 540 V3. The engine was fitted in the offseason before being shipped to Abu Dhabi for the season opener.
All was going to schedule for Petr Kopfstein and Team Spielberg, but a landmark visit to the UAE by Pope Francis meant a change-up in the flying schedule, and Kopfstein was unable to run his engine properly. This hindered Kopfstein over the race weekend, as the Czech pilot had to hold back from pushing as hard in the racetrack as he would have liked.
Since the Red Bull Air Race first took off in 2003, only about 50 pilots have earned the right to race through the Air Gates in the Master Class and Challenger Class. What does it take to break into these elite ranks?
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