Due to heavy winds the penultimate Red Bull Air Race of the 2014 season in Las Vegas on Sunday had to be discontinued. The gusts that were blowing through the gambling capital in the Nevada desert at more than 30 knots caused several pylons to topple. It was impossible to fly a regular race within the norm, even though eleven out of the twelve top pilots managed to finish the course – albeit with many mistakes that resulted in a long list of penalties. Hannes Arch and his biggest opponent in the battle for the title, Paul Bonhomme, both had enormous problems with the unusually strong winds.

With his victory in Saturday’s qualifying, Canadian Pete McLeod was declared winner after the unusually turbulent race. “This shows that qualifying is important – we all know that weather can be a factor,” said McLeod after winning the first race of his career.

Nigel Lamb was the pilot that profited most from the early end of the race. Coming second, he managed to take over the overall lead from his compatriot Bonhomme just in time before the season’s finale in Spielberg, Austria. Thanks to finishing in fifth place, Hannes Arch still ranks as the overall number two, just one point ahead of his all-time rival Bonhomme – and he is hot for the title in his home race in Spielberg. It is bound to stay exciting in this already intriguing season, which saw the lead change four times over. Everything is open and we can look forward to a neck-to-neck race in Spielberg on the 25th and 26th of October.