(Photo by Daniel Grund/GlobalNewsroom/Getty Images)
Nicolas Ivanoff was able to set the course record and take the win while Paul Bonhomme came second for the second time this year.
Peter Besenyei was the unlucky fourth man in his MXS.
The Americans didn't fare very well in San Diego with Goulian again out of the Top 12 round and Chambliss getting disqualified for going over-g. Mike Mangold was the most successful of the three but still wasn't able to make it into the Final Four round. He ended up taking an early bath as well with his two countrymen with his seventh place finish.
The South African sophomore, Glen Dell, was able to finally get into the points by taking a ninth place and three points here thus ending his points drought.
Overall, San Diego was an interesting race with a Saturday qualifying filled with pylon hits and a Sunday filled with suspense!
Windsor, Ontario
The Red Bull Air Race returned to the world's longest undefended border and also to one of the busiest points—Windsor, Ontario. Across the river is Detroit, where the third round was hosted in 2008. This was also the home race for Pete McLeod, whose base is only a two-hour drive away.
The third round was hampered by two pieces of bad news. First, Peter Besenyei would not fly in Windsor because of a crash landing in a wheat field earlier that week damaged his MXS to the point that it could not be ready in time.
As well, the safety of Yoshi Muroya's Edge 540 was compromised after hitting a pylon in compensation training on Friday and thus would not be given the green light to fly either.
All eyes might have been focused on the 25-year old Canadian, but it was American Kirby Chambliss who stole the show and denied Hannes Arch a third consecutive qualifying win on a cloudy Saturday.
"I'll take that point," said Chambliss over the radio after learning that he set the course record and had won the round.
Come Sunday though, the story would be very different. With Pete McLeod able to keep himself out of the Wild Card round and into the top 10 on Saturday. He got himself in 11th after taking a two-second penalty. The Canadian crowd went wild as their man came in second-to-last!
The race had by far the most pylon hits as Sergey Rakhmanin pipped the start/finish gate to start things off. Mike Mangold and Michael Goulian also hit pylons as the latter had to SCO because of pylon got stuck on his tail.
Matt Hall had quite possibly the most interesting round during the Super Eights as he touched the start/finish gate when entering the track and crashed head-on into the quadro and had to SCO. He later admitted that he thought he could gun for a podium place and a win foregoing the fact that he was learning.
The Final Four had two Americans - Mike Mangold, and Kirby Chambliss—up against two Europeans—Paul Bonhomme of Great Britain, and Hannes Arch of Austria.
While many believed that this round was in the bag for Chambliss, the American made a mistake, incurred a two-second penalty, and was able to hang on for third place.
Mike Mangold was just too slow and with a two-second penalty, he was effectively out of the running.
Hannes Arch couldn't keep his cool, took a penalty, and lost out but was able to come second behind Paul Bonhomme whose consistent flying all week earned him the maple leaf trophy.
Last year, the top four was Chambliss, Bonhomme, Arch and Mangold. In 2009, it was Bonhomme, Arch, Chambliss and Mangold.
Overall, with three different winners and the championship fight still going strong, Budapest on Aug. 19 and 20 will be a real test for Arch and Bonhomme, since they are only separated by one point.
Will the rookies be able to mix things up again? Will Kirby Chambliss and Mike Mangold give Hannes Arch and Paul Bonhomme a run for their money? Budapest will tell all!
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