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Red Bull Air Race World Series – September 7, 2006 – The Red Bull Air Race at Longleat, England, was canceled due to high winds on Saturday, and the winners of Friday’s qualification rounds were named the winners of the event.

That means England’s Paul Bonhomme took first place on his home turf, Hungary’s Peter Besenyei second and American Kirby Chambliss third.

Americans Mike Mangold and Michael Goulian took fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Generally, the results of the qualifications determine the starting line-up of the race, with the pilots who had the slowest times flying first. But the Red Bull Air Race safety committee decided to cancel the competition based on continued weather forecasts of strong winds, creating not only safety issues for the pilots, but for the spectators, too.

Since flying in his new plane, Bonhomme has achieved top results, coming in second at the previous two races in Budapest and Istanbul.

England’s Steve Jones, who won the last Air Race in Budapest flying his new Edge 540, was disqualified during the qualification runs after deviating from the course.

Besides high winds, the conditions at Longleat challenged the pilots for another reason. All of the other races, with the exception of Berlin, have been flown over water.

“It’s very different," said Mangold. "It’s hilly terrain. There are trees to fly around and lots of birds.”

Longleat is situated in the heart of the English countryside in an area famous for its rolling hills and thatched cottages. Local landmarks include Stonehenge, the Cerne Abbas Giant and White Horse.

The win moved Bonhomme into fourth place in the World Series standings with 17 points, but Chambliss maintained his first place standing with 28 points. Mangold and Besenyei are tied for second with 24 points.

The next race will be held Oct. 7 in San Francisco.

September 2 Race Results — Longleat
Race Seven

Name -- Country – Time
1 Paul Bonhomme -- GBR -- 02:31.43
2 Peter Besenyei -- HUN -- 02:35.39
3 Kirby Chambliss -- USA -- 02:35.58
4 Mike Mangold -- USA -- 02:35.92
5 Michael Goulian -- USA -- 02:38.41
6 Nigel Lamb -- -- GBR -- 02:50.53
7 Alejandro Maclean -- ESP -- 02:50.89
8 Klaus Schrodt -- GER -- 02:51.79
9 Nicolas Ivanoff -- FRA -- 02:52.87
10 Frank Versteegh -- NED -- 02:55.26

World Series Standings

Pilot – Country – Points
1 Kirby Chambliss -- USA – 28
2 Mike Mangold -- USA – 24
3 Peter Besenyei -- HUN – 24
4 Paul Bonhomme -- GBR – 17
5 Michael Goulian -- USA – 8
6 Nicolas Ivanoff -- FRA – 7
7 Klaus Schrodt -- GER – 6
8 Steve Jones -- GBR – 6
9 Alejandro Maclean ESP – 3
10 Nigel Lamb -- GBR -- 3

Photo: (c)Red Bull Photofiles

What are the Red Bull Air Races?

Nine pilots from around the world are pitting their skills against each other for a chance to be known as the best of the best.

It’s the 2006 Air Race World Series, a new chapter in the Red Bull Air Races that is taking these seasoned pilots to nine cities on four continents to strut their stuff.
Withstanding forces up to 10 Gs (or 10 times the force of gravity!), the thrilling air races have taken the sport of aerobatics to a new level and new audience.
The concept of air racing dates back to the early years of aviation, but it took former world aerobatic champion Peter Besenyei, who is also competing, to come up with the idea for today's air races. Unhappy with the way most aerobatic competitions are scored, these pilots are really judged by a stopwatch, eliminating inconsistencies in scoring.

The races are sponsored by Red Bull Energy Drinks.

Photo: (c) Red Bull Photofiles

Can’t make any of the races in the World Series?

Then do the next-best thing — visit the Red Bull Copilot Web site.

Meet The Pilots

Great Britain’s Paul Bonhomme is the winner of one silver and three gold medals in the FAI World Grand Prix series as a member of the “The Matadors.” He is also a 747 captain for British Airways.

Hungarian Peter Besenyei is a two-time winner of both the FAI World Grand Prix series and the World Aerobatics Championships. He invented the Red Bull Air Race, won the first race in 2003 and took first place in two of the competitions in 2005.

American Kirby Chambliss of Flying Crown Ranch, Ariz. is a five-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion and 2000 World Champion. Chambliss won both the Budapest and Gloucestershire Red Bull events in 2004. A Southwest Airlines 737 captain and air show pilot, performed at EAA AirVenture 2005.

Englishman Steve Jones is the 1995 UK Freestyle Aerobatic Champion, 1996 Overall British Aerobatics Champion, winner of one silver and three gold medals in the FAI World Grand Prix series as a member of “The Matadors,” flying with friend Paul Bonhomme. He also is a 747 captain with British Airways.

American Mike Mangold is ranked 1st in the Red Bull Air Races of 2005. He is also a five-time Unlimited Aerobatics Champion of California, a two-time Unlimited Aerobatics Champion of Arizona, US and World Champion and has won other awards. He is also a commercial pilot, flying a Boeing 767.

Nicolas Ivanoff is the 2004 French vice champion in Unlimited Aerobatic and the 2000 World Aerobatics Champion with the French Aerobatics Team. He also teaches flying.

Great Britain’s Nigel Lamb is an eight-time British Unlimited Aerobatic Champion. Silver medallist of the Masters of Aerobatics South Africa, he was also a member of the British team in three World Aerobatic Championships and two European Championships.

Spaniard Alejandro MacLean is a two-time Spanish Aerobatics Champion and winner of the 1998 Lithuanian Aerobatic Championship. In 2005 he was the Captain of the Spanish Aerobatic Team.

. Dutchman Frank Versteegh is the Dutch Unlimited Aerobatics champion and competed in the World and European championships from 1982-94. He is also a FAI judge, flight instructor and air show organizer.

American Michael Goulian is a Fond du Lac Cup winner and both a U.S. Advanced Champion and U.S. Unlimited Champion in the 1990’s. He also competed in the inaugural Championship Airshow Pilots Association series as a member of the U.S. Aerobatics Team.

Next Race:
October 7 – San Francisco

For more information

Kirby Chambliss
Red Bull Air Race
Paul Bonhomme
Mike Mangold
Edge 540
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