Rules of the Red Bull Air Race: A Look at Penalties

The Red Bull Air Race is an ever-evolving sport in a manner similar to ground-based motorsports. In motorsports like Formula One, the driver has to be the fastest in order to win, a similarity that is found in the Red Bull Air Race—but this is where similarities will end.

Along with being fast, the pilot has to be precise. He must manage to maneuver himself in the track so that he doesn't pick up penalty points in the form of added seconds to his time.

The sport is becoming more precise and the margin between first and last is becoming smaller than ever.

Penalties up to the end of the 2008 season were as such:

• Three seconds added to your time for incorrect knife flying (basically, knifing left when you were supposed to knife right), incorrect angle between gates, or flying too high.
• Disqualification for flying too low.
• 10 seconds added to your time for touching a gate.

Last year, even with a three second penalty added to his time, Paul Bonhomme was still able to get the fastest time in the Rotterdam qualifying. So a penalty is not necessarily the end of your campaign, but it is much harder to get a desirable spot depending on where you are.

With margins being so much smaller, there has been a revamp of the penalty points that will take effect in the 2009 season:

• Two seconds instead of three are added to your time for incorrect knife flying, incorrect angle between the gates or flying too high.
• Disqualification for flying too low. No change here.
• Six seconds instead of 10 are added to your time for touching a gate.

While this may look easier, it actually takes a bit of pressure off the shoulders of the offender and puts it on his competitor. Now, with margins being so small, the pilots will have to fly faster, harder, and risk more to win.

Abu Dhabi will be an interesting race, as we will get to see how this new system works.