The Aviation Magazine Volume 7, Issue 1 #40 Jan-Feb 2016 | Page 26
© 2015 Balazs Gardi/Red Bull Content Pool
© 2015 Predrag Vuckovic Red Bull Content Pool
“It’s amazing, just amazing,” said a sweat‐drenched Bonhomme, who had four wins and seven podiums in the
eight races this season and scored a record‐breaking 76 championship points. “What happened today was a
million miles away from what I had imagined would happen. All kind of things happened that I didn’t expect.
But as a team, we sorted it out and here we are. It was the toughest World Championship I’ve ever had. It
was hard work.”
Bonhomme, the sport’s most successful pilot with 19 career wins in 66 races, need ed to finish at least sixth
place to win the title. But the pressure was on just before flying into the track in a difficult head‐to‐head
Round of 8 battle against Arch. Bonhomme was suddenly forced to return to the race airport due to technical
problems that could have cost him the championship if he could not fly against Arch. Bonhomme had earlier
got caught in a sudden downpour of rain in the previous Round of 14 that had done more damage to his wing
and technical equipment than first thought. But his crew quickly repaired the air and ground speed equip‐
ment and Bonhomme returned to the sky to beat Arch and advance to the final, where he was second behind
Hall. There was a lot of pressure on Paul and he did what he had to do – so congratulations.
Soon after the race on Sunday Peter Besenyei, of Hungary, one of the most successful pilots in the history of
the Red Bull Air Race with eight career victories, announced that he was retiring from the sport he helped
develop in 2003.
RESULTS, LAS VEGAS:
1. Matt Hall (AUS), 2. Paul Bonhomme (GBR), 3. Matthias Dolderer (GER), 4. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN), 5. Han‐
nes Arch (AUT), 6. Michael Goulian (USA), 7. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA), 8. Martin Sonka (CZE), 9. Juan Velarde
(ESP), 10. Nigel Lamb (GBR), 11. Pete McLeod (CAN), 12. Kirby Chambliss (USA), 13. Peter Besenyei (HUN), 14.
François Le Vot (FRA)
FINAL 2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Bonhomme (GBR) 76 point, 2. Hall (AUS) 71, 3. Arch (AUT) 34, 4. Sonka (CZE) 29, 5. Dolderer (GER) 26, 6.
Muroya (JPN) 23, 7. Lamb (GBR) 20, 8. McLeod (CAN) 19, 9. Ivanoff (FRA) 15, 10. Goulian (USA) 13, 11. Cham‐
bliss (USA) 9, 12. Besenyei (HUN) 8, 13. Velarde (ESP), 14. Le Vot (FRA)
2015 Challenger Cup Champion:
Mikael “Mika” Brageot of France hit the jackpot in Las Vegas on Sunday, clinching the top spot in the winner‐
take‐all Challenger Class competition of the Red Bull Air Race to be crowned 2015 Challenger Cup Champion.
Joining him on the championship podium were Slovenia’s Peter Podlunsek in second and Chile’s Cristian Bol‐
ton in third, with less than four‐tenths of a second separating their results in the tight battle.