The first of “Round of 14” of the Red Bull Air Race World Championships 2016 in Abu Dhabi had a number of hidden surprises. Whilst Martin Sonka (CZE) and the World Champion of 2014, Nigel Lamb (GB) did not survive the first round due to difficult mistakes, the Frenchman Francois Le Vot  was able to gain points with a faultless run as “Fastest Loser”. The Austrian Hannes Arch made it really exciting.   In a direct duel with Juan Velarde (ESP), it looked like a calculated  lead for the Styrian up until shortly before the end of his run due to the incorrect passing of Air Gate 13, two penalty seconds were given and the Spaniard with anmextremely small margin of a seventh hundred of a second took over the lead. The top favourite in the fight for the WM title had less luck. 
In the “Round of 8” Hannes Arch met with US American Michael Goulian. The Styrian kept a cool head, and with a faultless flight, laid down a good time.  Goulian gave his best, remained without penalty, but could not break the time of Hannes Arch.
For his final debut Le Vot had the exercise in Abu Dhabi to lay down a top time, the Frenchman had however to pocket  a two second penalty. Hannes Arch went in as second into the race, but was not rewarded for his full commitment. The Styrian passed over the safety line, was disqualified and ended his racing day outside the point scala. Matthias Dolderer and Nicolas Ivanoff then gave a thrilling battle for the win which the Frenchman very closely won. 
Focus for Hannes Arch fully concentrated on Spielberg. The Austrian Hannes Arch did not leave a good track in Abu Dhabi, but took it with good humor  “I must just grin a little, because I had reservations right from the beginning about the course. Today I kept to the G-craft- limit. When you do not pull, then you turn to the crowd line over which I then flew. Therefore something was not quite right with the track. Congratulations to Nicolas, Matthias and Francois, who all made well of the situation. My focus is now fully on Spielberg, where I would naturally like to fly on the podium at home and I would like to tell my fans that I will give my best!” 

All information of this home race with Hannes Arch in Spielberg (23/24^th April) and tickets at www.redbullairrace.com/de_AT/event/spielberg-2016.

“From Abu Dhabi I must take the positive side with me, the entry in the final 4 and the second best time of the day.  One can build up on this”, says Hannes Arch after the first race and his preparation for the season.  The groundwork concerned less the plane, on which no great modifications were made, but mainly the body and mental ability of Hannes.  He trained for many hours in the mountains for this purpose.  This investment in body and soul, as well as the time he spent with his partner and his family gave him new energy for concentration and reflection for the 2016 season.

During the winter the newly composed team invested a lot of time in analysis, for the plane is in itself   fast, but it takes more than just having a good machine.  Data management, technicalities, mental training, body fitness, in end effect all this supports the fact that Hannes is fast in the air when necessary.

“Our team achieved top work, now we must take this drive with us to Spielberg”, says the optimistic Styrian who looks forward to his home race at the end of April.  With a second stop on 23^rd and 24^th April, the Red Bull Air Race returns again to the Red Bull Ring which naturally pleases Hannes especially.  “It is always great for me to fly at home although after the last two races there, I have an account open, but that motivates me even more, to be able to give my best for all my true fans!  For me it is my home race as I come from Styria and grew up not far from Spielberg.  Irrespective of the fact that the track really suits me, we fly at different levels, there are trees between so particularly difficult, but also the course is very exciting to fly.   Sometimes the wind in Spielberg plays a big factor, as a gust of wind can strongly influence the race, much as was clear in 2015.  The race in Spielberg is always very emotional for me because there are so many fans present.  Also my family and many friends are there who push me even more with their enthusiasm”, says with pleasure Austria´s fastest pilot on the Austria stop of the series.

The Red Bull Air Race in Spielberg is so special for the fans because the whole race can be closely followed as it happens directly in front of the eyes of the spectators.  Not only do you feel the emotion live but also the impressive speed,  precision and reaction which is required of the pilot, when at 400 km an hour he roars through the pylons.  Also the position of the Race Airport, which lies directly on the track, makes it still more exciting for the fans as the pilots here are nearer to the fans as by many other locations.  Additionally the spectators are offered a super all-round programme for the time when there is nothing happening in the air, for there is a full programme of entertainment for the whole family.

For the 9^th time consecutively, Abu Dhabi will host the kick-off event of the Red Bull Air Race season, just as it has become tradition over the course of the previous years. The breath-taking skyline of the UAE capital offers the perfect backdrop for this spectacular competition. 14 of the world’s best pilots will rush through the air gates at the Arabian Gulf in their fast race planes that fly at speeds of up to 370 kph. The biggest challenge for man and machine is the high temperature under the desert sun.

After the retirement of reigning world champion Paul Bonhomme (GBR), the 2016 Red Bull Air Race World Championship is a whole new game. Apart from Hannes, some other pilots are in the mix for the title, such as Australian Matt Hall who missed the title by 5 points in 2015, or Martin Sonka from the Czech Republic who has been a constant in the top rankings in previous years. But Hannes is highly motivated and will do everything to finally win his longed-for second title. At Abu Dhabi, he had some good experiences in the past: “I like the first race of the season because it’s mentally challenging. There’s lot of unknowns, and that’s something I can deal with quite well.” His goal is clear: “I want to reach the finals without any penalty.” His slogan for the race is to “stay cool” as it “is always quite hot at Abu Dhabi!”

All races will be broadcast live on www.redbullairrace.com.

Racing at speeds of 370 km/h in front of a sold-out crowd of 60,000 spectators on the high-speed, low-altitude track, Arch tried to pull out the stops in his difficult first-round match-up against Bonhomme, who won the season opener in Abu Dhabi and was third in Qualifying on Saturday. Hannes, the 2008 world champion, had an uncharacteristic off-day in Qualifying and was 12^th on Saturday after picking up a two-second penalty for incorrect level flying at the tricky gate 3. That forced him into the knock-out round match-up against Bonhomme. Hannes made the same mistake at the same gate on Sunday, a costly error that he could ill-afford to make against two-time champion from Britain.

Hannes, who finished fourth in the season opener in Abu Dhabi, was hoping to find a way to get back on the podium again in Chiba, Japan – the first time the race was staged in Eastern Asia. He had won the second stop of the 2014 season in Rovinj, Croatia and the second stop in 2010 in Perth, Australia but saw his unusual “winning streak” in the second race of the last two seasons end abruptly in Japan.

Sunday’s race was the first ever in Japan and the 60^th Red Bull Air Race since the sport was launched in 2003. It was warmly embraced by in Chiba, the birthplace of civil aviation in Japan. A record-breaking 120,000 tickets were sold for the two days of racing action and there was heavy media coverage all week. 

The next Red Bull Air Race will be in Rovinj, Croatia on May 30/31.

Hannes prevailed in an intense battle on Sunday against the world’s best pilots and changing winds off the Adriatic Sea to claim the victory in the Red Bull Air Race in Rovinj, Croatia. Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic got a career-best second place in the race, where pilots hit speeds of 370 km/h, while Matt Hall of Australia got his third straight podium with third place on the difficult, windswept racecourse set up just off the shorelines of Rovinj. 

“It’s special,” said Hannes, clearly moved by the support from the Austrian supporters and his family as well as his recovery from a dismal 11th place two weeks ago in Chiba, Japan. “We started slowly here this week in training but I realized my lines were good and I tried to focus on my game and not anyone else. I’m really happy to win in Croatia in front of so many fans.

Britain’s Paul Bonhomme, who won Qualifying but finished in eighth and Australia’s Matt Hall, who was third in Rovinj, are on top of the championship with 25 points each while Hannes jumped from seventh place overall to third on 17 points after getting 12 for the win in Croatia. Hannes also sent a large contingent of Austrian fans who traveled to Rovinj into a frenzy with his 10th career victory in the world’s fastest motorsport series.