Bonhomme wins in Perth, Arch takes title

November 3, 2008 —Austria’s Hannes Arch placed third at the final Red Bull Air Race held at Perth, Australia, but that was more than enough to win the 2008 series championship. His season total, 61 points, was seven better than series runner-up, Britain’s Paul Bonhomme, who won the final race to secure second place. Arch is the first European to win the four-year-old championship. American Kirby Chambliss, the 2006 world champion, was third with 46 points and American Mike Mangold, the 2005 and 2007 champion, was fourth with 44 points. Several hundred thousand spectators attended the final race on Sunday, but Arch clinched the title Saturday by winning the qualifying round. An extreme sports adventurer, Arch said his unusual background in sports, a superb plane, a strong ground crew, and tireless efforts to improve helped him shake up the race hierarchy in only his second season. He rose from 10th in his rookie season to first this year. Most of his rivals in the 12-pilot field have backgrounds in military or commercial aviation. “Paul deserved the win today and I’m thrilled to win the overall championship,” said Arch, 41, who appeared close to tears on the podium when the Austrian national anthem was played. “Over the whole season I had a very fast plane. The secret was to be consistent. I had the advantage of being behind Paul most of the season so the pressure was on him, not me. Today I felt the pressure and hit a pylon.” Arch said he knew the pressure would be on him next year, and he vowed to continue to learn and became even more consistent. But both said the results in Perth would only fuel the argument of who really was the best pilot in 2008. Arch won the world championship with two wins and 61 points; Bonhomme had four wins and 54 points. Bonhomme said he was pleased to have won in Perth this year. “I got to Perth early this year to get acclimated and that paid off. The airplane is not really going that well but at least I have been flying it well here.” To watch replays of the final race, click here. 2006 Red Bull Champion Kirby Chambliss during his flight in Perth. Photo (c)Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Photofiles

Hannes Arch was named the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Champion. Photo courtesy Red Bull Air Race Hannes Arch flies through pylons in Perth. Photo (c)Daniel Grund/Red Bull Photofiles Britain’s Paul Bonhomme (r) congratulates Hannes Arch after his flight. Bonhomme took top honors in Perth, but it wasn’t enough to earn the world champion title. Photo: (c)balazsgardi.com/Red Bull Photofiles Through the magic of time-lapse photography, pilot Glen Dell is shown flying through one of the pylons at the Red Bull race in Perth. Photo:(c)Daniel Grund/Red Bull PhotofilesRed Bull Air Race

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