27 June 2017
The first European round of the 2017 Red Bull Air Race Championship will be staged over Budapest, Hungary at the weekend. Budapest’s famous Chain Bridge over the River Danube and Parliament Building are the backdrop for the event.
It’s the fourth race of the season which has so far been dominated by Czech ace Martin Sonka and Japanese star Yoshihide Muroya (pictured above).
The centre of Budapest and the River Danube are the spectacular location.
Although the Budapest location has been raced many times before, this year the pilots face a new challenge. Instead of one racetrack layout to study, they have two – each new, difficult and designed to accommodate a possible variation in the River Danube’s water level. The final selection will be determined by local conditions only days before the race.
While Sonka won the season opener, Muroya’s two consecutive victories, including a recent home triumph in Chiba, give him the top spot although both pilots have exactly 30 points.
Current world champion Matthias Dolderer of Germany is seven points behind, with another Czech contender, Petr Kopfstein, in fourth.
Ben Murphy is competing for Britain in the Red Bull Air Races Challenger class.
The UK doesn’t have a pilot in the top Master Class however former Red Arrow Ben Murphy is competing in the Challenger class.
