Abu Dhabi: On a bright Friday afternoon, the serenity of the Abu Dhabi Corniche was broken with the propellers slicing through the cool breeze at neck-breaking speed over the turquoise waters.
The coastline was more abuzz than usual and eyes trained on the skies as some of the world’s best pilots put their manoeuvring skills to test at the season-opening Red Bull Air Race World Championship at the capital course.
Taking advantage of the relatively calmer winds, Czech Republic’s Martin Sonka clocked the fastest time of 52.097 secs to take pole position in Master Class leaving behind a perfect train of smoke around the pylons over the six kilometre track circling around the waterfront.
“This is my first ever win in the qualifying so I’m really happy. You must push everything forward and I have a great team. The most important thing will happen tomorrow — it’s good that we know we can fly fast,” said a delighted Sonka, who has multiple podiums across four previous seasons in Master Class but is still in the hunt for a race win.
Sonka, however, is well aware that things can change quickly in these high speed aerial dogfights and wants to keep his focus going into the final day Saturday.
“Last year, I was disqualified here for going behind the ground line so it is something I’m really wary of this time and I don’t want to be in the same position. I’m very happy but tomorrow is a very important day and anything can happen,” added Sonka, who will be going head-to-head with Slovakian Peter Podlunsek, who finished right at the bottom of the grid, in the round of 14. The winner then makes it to the round of eight and the round of four to decide on the title later in the day.
Finishing second was United States’ Mike Goulian, who despite hitting a pylon at Gate 3, remained undeterred and got his act together to move to the top of the timesheets clocking 52.458 secs. Goulian’s compatriot Kirby Chambliss was third in the qualifying with a time of 52.458 secs.
“Hard to believe it’s been nine years! I’m getting to like the rhythm of the track and you have to fly to the edge if you’re going to win in this track,” said a beaming Goulian, whose career highlights include a memorable win in Budapest.
The biggest upset of the evening came when Reigning World Champion Mattias Dolderer did not figure anywhere in the top 10. His error-marred two runs pushed him to a disappointing 11th spot on the grid going into Saturday’s round of 14 against Podlunsek.
“I hit a pylon and then penalty but when I look at the timesheets it is only .6s off the leader Martin. There will be a lot of pressure on Martin tomorrow. We will push it and every race has its own laws and anything is possible. Yes, somehow I didn’t get into the grove yet but I’m upbeat,” said Dolderer, who in his first run hit a pylon at Gate 7 and was straight away +3.846 secs behind Sonka. His effort to claw his way back among the front runners was further hit after he was penalised for incorrect passing of Gate 14. He will be hugely disappointed with that effort as he was down on 11th spot for Saturday’s showdown.
Debutant Mikael Brageot, trying to fit into the void left by 2014 World Champion Nigel Lamb, was the first on the track and he set the pace straightaway with two clinical rounds. The Frenchman going on to better his first round time of 54.431 secs with 53.326 secs for seventh spot, will battle with another newcomer Christian Boltan of Chile, who did two Masters Class Races last season. Boltan clocked a pretty decent 53.584 secs.
“The plan was to be confident in the first run and increase power and performance in the second run. We will do everything we can to take everything out of the Skyracer and give the best performance,” said Brageot.
Australian Matt Hall, who was runner-up in the overall Championship, was the penultimate pilot to take to the skies and he, while flying that older Edge 540, as expected, focused on a clean run. Hall, who awaits his new plane in San Diego, was understandably off pace, but was seen celebrating in the cockpit after his 13th place effort.
In the Challenger Class, defending world champion Florian Bergér was in a class of his own and he sent in a firm warning that he is determined to retain his title by clocking a time of 59.682s.
The German also emerged as the only Challenger Class pilot to fly under a minute in the capital track this year.
“Well, I would say in the end anything is possible. The Challengers are also doing well and we saw that in the timings they have also set. It was never that close and it will be tough the whole season,” said Berger, adding that he was keen to make sure to win and follow the same path he took in the qualifiers.
Sweden’s Daniel Ryfa, looking to complete a double here at the capital, was 0.880s behind in second place. In third, another 0.003s behind, was Great Britain’s Ben Murphy, while Melanie Astles was fourth.
Results:
Master Class Round 14 line-up after qualifying round: Yoshihide Muroya vs Juan Velarde; Matthias Dolderer vs Pete McLeod; Nicolas Ivanoff vs Petr Kopfstein; Francois Le Vot vs Kirby Chambliss; Cristian Bolton vs Mikael Brageot; Matt Hall vs Michael Goulian; Peter Podlunsek vs Martin Sonka.
Qualifying Challenger Class: Florain Berger (GER) 59.689; Daniel Ryfa (SWE) 1:00.562; Ben Murphy (GBR) 1:00.565; Melanie Astles (FRA) 1:00.742; Kevin Coleman (USA) 1:02.000; Baptiste Vignes (FRA) 1:02.703; Luke Czepiela (POL) 1:07.587.
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