Britain’s Paul Bonhomme won the 2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship last weekend with a victory in the final race of the season in Barcelona, Spain, in front of a record crowd of 800,000 spectators.
Bonhomme clinched his first title with 67 championship points to Austria’s Hannes Arch’s 60. Australia’s Matt Hall took third place, the best result ever for a rookie, with 36 points.
Two other rookies ended the season on a high note. Japan’s Yoshi Muroya had a career-best sixth place and Canada’s Pete McLeod got 12th, his second-best result. But it was a disappointing race for Americans Kirby Chambliss (5th), Michael Goulian (11th) and Mike Mangold (14th).
After six years of competing in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, Mangold announced he will move on after the season’s sixth and final race. He joined the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2004 and twice won the world championship, in 2005 and 2007. He has 10 race wins in his career, the second most of any pilot. Mangold was a pioneer of aircraft modifications, which has become a major factor for winning in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, according to race officials.
Now in its fourth season on Fox Sports Network (FSN), the 2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship will air on Sunday evenings this fall. Each race will begin at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT in most markets.
For more information: RedBullAirRace.com.
