Mangold Wins Red Bull Air Race Series

Perth, Australia – November 7, 2007 – The 2007 Red Bull Air Race World Series championship proved that anything can happen, and that reality reigned true at the last race in Perth, Australia this past weekend. Nicolas Ivanoff of France won the top spot on the podium in Perth on Sunday, his first victory of the season and the best time of the day —1:15.15 minutes. He became the fifth pilot to win a race this season — joining Mike Mangold, Paul Bonhomme, Peter Besenyei and Steve Jones with race victories. American Michael Goulian came in second, making it the podium for the first time this season, while Mike Mangold came in third, allowing the American to tie at 47 points in the overall World Series standings with Britain’s Paul Bomhomme. But Mangold, who came to Perth two points behind Bonhomme, took the title thanks to better results in elimination rounds after both had the same number of first, second, third and fifth places this season. It wasn’t until the next tiebreaker in the rulebook — the number of “seconds” in elimination rounds — that Mangold (2) edged Bonhomme (1). Bonhomme came in fifth in Perth, his worst finish in 2007, losing to Mangold in the quarterfinals. However, he took second place in the World Series, while Hungary’s Peter Besenyei took third after finishing second in both 2005 and 2006. “I’m incredibly happy,” said Mangold. “The title landed in my lap in the last minute. I really wasn’t expecting it. It was a long and extremely difficult year. We had some problems during the course of the season, but the team didn’t stick its head in the sand. We worked hard on becoming successful again.” Bonhomme was able to keep a stiff upper lip. “It was a constant battle with Mike all season and at the end of the day he was the luckier pilot. It could hardly be any closer than that. It’s incredible. But it’s now time to do some serious celebrating.”

Nicolas Ivanoff passes through the pylons during the Red Bull Air Race Series event in Perth, Australia. Ivanoff won the Perth event, his first victory of the season. Photo credit: (c)Daniel Grund /Red Bull Photofiles. Peter Besenyei, Paul Bonhomme and Mike Mangold fly in tight formation over the Swan River in Perth, Australia. Photo credit: (c)Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Photofiles.

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