Britain’s Paul Bonhomme (Team Matador) jumped back into the lead of the Red Bull Air Race World Series championship on Saturday with a scintillating victory in the penultimate race of the season in front of a enthusiastic crowd of 50,000 in San Diego, pushing American Mike Mangold (Team Cobra) back to second in the standings after the local hero struggled and got knocked out in the quarter finals.
Bonhomme, who had led the championship most of the season before Mangold leaped ahead of him last month in Budapest, celebrated his 43rd birthday in America’s “finest city” with a thrilling victory in the final against Kirby Chambliss to collect six points and move to the top of the standings with 45 points.
"It was the last race of the day and I went for it", said Bonhomme. "I was concentrating hard and looking at all the tactics that the other people have been using and it paid off. It helps enormously to be relaxed. That’s the key".
Bonhomme was clocked in 1:23.80. Kirby Chambliss (USA/Team Red Bull) finished 1.11 seconds behind in second place while Nigel Lamb was third. Mangold, who had also struggled in Friday’s qualifying and hit a pylon, got two points and now has 43 points with one race left in Perth on November 4.
Even though it supposedly “never rains in Southern California”, a series of heavy showers in the hours before the race and powerful winds off the Pacific Ocean all day made the difficult course over the bay even more treacherous.
The southwestern port of San Diego, population 1.3 million, has, however, more than lived up to its reputation as America’s “finest city” (it is also the country’s eighth largest). Its breathtaking backdrop in front the waterfront skyline and alongside U.S. Navy battleships in the bay has been one of the most spectacular this season. Click here for more on the Red Bull Air Race World Series.
