Rotterdam Makes Way For The Red Bull Air Race

The Red Bull Air Race has come back after a lengthy six weeks and everybody must be itching to hop into their aircraft and start racing.

To recap, the race in Stockholm that was supposed to take place a fortnight ago was cancelled due to a safety issue at the last minute. This shows how much priority the safety of the pilots, crew and fans have. It would still be nice to see an air race somewhere in Scandinavia in the near future.

Going back all the way to Detroit, Kirby Chambliss took the top step of the podium for the first time since 2006 while Paul Bonhomme wasn't able to make a hat trick. Hannes Arch took his second podium of the year in third by narrowly beating out his former mentor, Mike Mangold. It was a race of thrills and spills, most notably with Nigel Lamb flying too low and being disqualified.

The two pilots with the new aircraft, the MXS, are going to be putting in all they can to get the optimal setup and start showing the pilots with the Edge 540's that there are some new wings to go up against! Alejandro Maclean and Nigel Lamb will be the pilots of the particular aircraft and hope to start making the top pilots uncomfortable.

In the top three, Paul Bonhomme still has a lead of 26 points while his three closest competitors are tied at 21 points apiece.

The track in Rotterdam is a fairly simple track to follow. A simple entry in, making a small turn towards a blue gate where the pilot has to go straight through. After that, a knife edge through the quadro will add an extra bit of concentration in order to not get four 10-second penalties as opposed to one. Once they clear the quadro, they go through the chicane at a knife edge, with the pilots only changing their angle once at every turn to get a good look at what to do. Two more blue gates are encountered as the pilots get close to the Erasmus Bridge where they have to execute a half-Cuban eight and take to the course in the opposite direction.

Overall, four laps through the Rotterdam track determines who will receive the laurels, trophy and champagne and who will go home empty-handed.

My prediction for this race: unlike Formula One, every pilot has the exact same opportunity to go for the win and it makes my job at predicting things more difficult. Based on the precedent that has been observed, however, I would say that somehow, a twist of fate will put Hannes Arch on the top step while Paul Bonhomme maintains his run of podiums and Kirby Chambliss rounding out the top three.

Alejandro Maclean and Nigel Lamb will make headway with their new MXS planes, but it will be too early to put them on the top step.

Enjoy the race!

Photography Credit: Balazs Gardi, 2008.