Air Racing
Beginner's Guide to the Red Bull Air Race
All you need to know about understanding the rules and regulations of the Red Bull Air Race.
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Tickets for Red Bull Air Race 2014 Putrajaya are available for purchase here on TicketPro.com.my.
The Red Bull Air Race is coming to town this May and if you don’t want to get caught out on the action that happens before your eyes, this guide will sort you out pretty quick.
We all know that the world’s fastest motorsport event is coming to town and despite the fact the Red Bull Air Race will consist the world’s best pilots racing each other in an aerial race track, there’s certainly more to the race than meets the eye. Understanding the rules will not only make your Red Bull Air Race experience more enjoyable but it will also put you in the know about understanding the main objective of the race and ultimately who flies out the winner at Putrajaya this May.
QUALIFYING & RACE DAY
Like most racing events, there will be a qualifying session a day before the actual race with all 12 pilots jockeying for starting positions on Race Day. For the Red Bull Air Race, the fastest two laps will decide their starting order the next day. On Race Day itself, each pilot will compete in the TOP 12 where they’ll fly against each other in heats with the six winners and two fastest losers progressing to the SUPER 8.
In the SUPER 8 round, each remaining pilot will race each other individually in order to progress to the FINAL 4, with the four fastest times deciding who proceeds into the finals. In the FINAL 4, pilots will then compete once more in order to determine the top three finishers as well as the winner of the overall race. The pilot with the most points after the last race of the season will be crowned the Red Bull Air Race World Champion.
PENALTIES
Although the main objective of the race remains to navigate the Air Gates laid out across the Race Track in the fastest possible time, each pilot also has to limit themselves from incurring any penalties. Infringing a rule will result in time being docked from the overall lap or even disqualification.
Flying above the Air Gate (but still within the approved Race Track) as well as Incorrect Level Flying will result in a two second penalty being given.
A Smoke Violation (failure to emanate smoke when the Smoke On call is given) will result in a one second penalty. All pilots are also required to fly in the upper 40% of the Air Gate, which is the area defined by the bottom and top of the coloured marking of each pylon.
Does the terminology still confuse you? We've put together a handy guide just for you.
DISQUALIFICATIONS
Serious infringement of the rules and dangerous flying will result in pilots being disqualified from the race. This includes uncontrolled steering movements, close to the ground pull-up from descent, crossing the predetermined safety line, utilising a negative ‘G’ turn around a pylon, low-level flying (15m below the Air Gates), entering the track at an angle steeper than 45° and ignoring commands from the Race Director.
DID NOT FINISH
Disqualifications aside, pilots also risk registering an automatic DNF if they happen to deviate from the course or race track during the flying session or if their plane touches a pylon (Pylon Hit) or if they exceed the Start Speed Limit (above 200 knots/370 kmh) during the race.
Pilots can also earn a DNF after the race if they are found to infringe the Weight Penalty rule (pilot and plane failing to register a minimum weight) and if the race telemetry deems that they exceeded the Maximum Load Factor (exceeding the maximum permitted load of 10G) during the flying session.
WHO'S FLYING
Reigning champion Paul Bonhomme, who won the last two world championships in 2009 and 2010, will be looking for an unprecedented third straight title in 2014. But he will be up against 2008 champion Hannes Arch, of Austria, and American Kirby Chambliss, who won the world title in 2004 and 2006. The other pilots in the field include Nigel Lamb (UK), Matt Hall (AUS), Peter Besenyei (HUN), Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA), Michael Goulian (USA), Matthias Dolderer (GER), Yoshihide Muroya (JPN), Pete McLeod (CAN) and Martin Sonka (CZE). We take a close-up look at all the pilots here.
Tickets for Red Bull Air Race in Putrajaya are available for purchase via TicketPro.com.my.
Need to find out what's the best vantage spot at Putrajaya? Check out our guide.
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