- HIGH FLIERS: Kirby Chambliss and Michael Goulian of the United States and Nigel Lamb of Britain fly in formation over the Sheikh Zayed Mosque at the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
BRITAINâS Paul Bonhomme won the Red Bull Air Race World Championship    season opener in Abu Dhabi yesterday with a clutch performance in a pressure-packed finale ahead of his perennial rival Austriaâs Hannes Arch in second and Canadaâs Pete McLeod in third.
The defending champion had fallen behind both red-hot McLeod, who got a career-first podium, and his old nemesis Arch in the penultimate round of the high-speed, low-altitude racing over the turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf, but managed to fly nearly two seconds faster in the final round with the dayâs best time â 56.439 seconds â with Arch a blink of an eye behind in 56.776s. It was a fittingly thrill-filled start to the season of the worldâs fastest motorsport series.
âThere was huge pressure out there and it was so much work to get back here,â said Bonhomme, who won the 2009 and 2010 championship ahead of Arch.
Both were worried that rule changes, such as the introduction of standardised engines for all 12 pilots, would make the field more competitive and that is exactly what happened with McLeod, Matt Hall of Australia and Nigel Lamb of Britain, and Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic all flying within a second of each other in Fridayâs Qualifying session.
Results:Â 1. Paul Bonhomme (BRIT), 2. Hannes Arch (AUT), 3. Pete McLeod (CAN), 4. Matt Hall (AUS), 5. Nigel Lamb (BRIT)
