NEWS ALERT: DANIEL RYFA WINS CHALLENGER CUP IN BUDAPEST
MASTER CLASS ROUND OF 14 STARTS IN 15MINS @ 1500 LOCAL TIME!
MASTER CLASS ROUND OF 14 STARTLIST:
BESENYEI V CHAMBLISS
LE VOT V MCLEOD
IVANOFF V LAMB
VELARDE V ARCH
BONHOMME V SONKA
DOLDERER V MUROYA
GOULIAN V HALL
Welcome to the fourth round of the 2015 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, where we have literally been on the edge of our seats for the past few days with Matt Hall leading in every flying session so far, including yesterday's Qualifying! It's been a scorcher so far and today is no exception... ARE YOU READY?!
Hall has yet to take a race win but everything is in his favour here in the Hungarian capital and he is the man to beat...
We also watched a detailed analysis of his race lines today and he's got the vertical turns totally nailed, losing minimal energy as he returns back into the track each time.
Yesterday Hall gave us his thoughts: "It's a great week for us and we've won the three Training sessions and Qualifying now. You could look at it as though all things must come to an end, but I try to be a believer that no good thing has to come to an end."
So we are almost there and first up will be local hero Peter Besenyei, flying his new Edge 540 V3 – it's looking really slick and we saw a big improvement in his flying yesterday as started to feel better in this plane. He will be under the Chain Bridge any moment... and he's got to beat American Kirby Chambliss to progress through to the next round... let's see!
A little lining up at gate 2 and he's off... that's a full 10G turn at the end of the track but he's scrubbing off speed, says Mangold. Not the smoothest run we've seen from him this week but the Godfather should feel at home here in Budapest...
Error free and he's home with a 1:01.070... it's up to Chambliss to beat that
Chambliss flies into the track and he's clean from the off... he's only got to put in a steady run here to beat Besenyei and make it through to the next round. It's not been a great 2015 so far but he's in the green on the split times... here we are! 1:01.386 and it's under review, that means this one goes to Hungary's hero Besenyei! And it's a 2s penalty added from the Race Tower, giving Chambliss 1:03.386
Newcomer to the Master Class Francois Le Vot is to fly next against Pete McLeod... we don't want to call it just yet, but Le Vot will have to really work hard to stay in the game for this round... bonne chance!
It's clean for the Frenchman but that time really isn't up there, sorry Francois. He clocks in at 1:05.976 and unless McLeod blows it, we think early bath for Le Vot...
Canada's Pete McLeod up next and this should be easy, says Mangold. He'll need to play it safe for this one, just enough to get through clean and error free...
He's in 7th overall in the standings and will be hungry for a podium here in Budapest... looks good so far, it's a 1:02.866 and he walks it to the Round of 8... au revoir Le Vot :(
Peter Besenyei at the Race Airport about the new Edge 540 V3 "I still need more flights but each one is better and better, still some things to improve but it's getting better. It was quite a terrible feeling to race without any chance and now I have a chance."
Quick recap, Besenyei and McLeod first two pilots to progress to the Round of 8... and up next Ivanoff and Lamb go head to head. This should be close!
Ivanoff flies under the Chain Bridge and he's off! It's been a bit rocky for the Frenchman here and no real breakout performances so far, but Ivanoff always keeps us entertained....
Right on cue! That's an over G and an immediate DNF! Game over.
On the up side, that's a bonus for Lamb who is up next
The defending World Champion is acutely aware that this race is critical. He began his career on this track and Ivanoff has left the door wide open for Lamb to get his title chase back on track.
OK... that is epic! Lamb gets an over G too!
We heard at the start of the week that this could happen – but two in a row, in a head to head?
Lamb is not happy - he's calling the Race Tower and wants them to double check. This is make or break for the Brit...
This is why we love this sport... it really can be anyone's race to win!
Times from Qualifying would be considered if they both have the DNF... and we've had confirmation that this is a lucky break for Lamb who gets the green light and wins his heat by virtue of that Quali run.
NEWS ALERT: DANIEL RYFA WINS CHALLENGER CUP IN BUDAPEST
by Tom Noize via twitter 7/5/2015 12:59:36 PM
Of course, we cheer for Matt hall, but hope it's a safe day's racing for all.
