11 April 2008
The Red Bull Air Race season is currently getting under way in Abu Dhabi, with the first race of the season starting about now.
<b>Today’s events as they happened (all times BST):</b>
<i>15:05: </i>British pilot Paul Bonhomme wins the first Red Bull Air Race of the season with a time of 1 minute 3 seconds, beating his fellow finalist Hannes Arch by seven seconds (although Arch had incurred two three-second penalties). A little earlier Mike Mangold had taken third place
<i>13:30: </i>Paul Bonhomme and Hannes Arch progress to the finals. Paul beat Peter Besenyei (who won the Abu Dhabi event last year) by over six seconds
<i>12:45: </i>Bonhomme is fastest again today as he also qualifies for the semi-finals along with Mike Mangold and Peter Besenyei.
<i>12:30: </i>Hannes Arch is the first pilot into the semi-finals.
<i>11:30: </i>Nicolas Ivanoff wins the first ever ‘Point One’ round – the run-off between pilots who didn’t qualify yesterday, with one point awarded.
British pilot Paul Bonhomme is clear favourite for the race, having set a ‘sizzling’ time in practice yesterday.
The Red Bull Air Race series will take in ten races in 2008, with the London leg taking place over the Thames on 2 and 3 August.
