The 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was the ninth season of Red Bull Air Race World Championship, and the first since 2010.
In his seventh season in the series, British pilot Nigel Lamb became the champion for the first time, with consistent finishing being the key to his championship success. After starting the season slowly with just five points from the opening two events, Lamb won his first Air Race competition at Putrajaya Lake in Malaysia, before reeling off five consecutive second-place finishes. These results were good enough for him to surpass former champions Hannes Arch and Paul Bonhomme in the standings; Lamb ultimately finished nine points clear of Arch, with Bonhomme a further two points in arrears. Both pilots won two races during the season, as Arch won at Rovinj, Croatia and at Gdynia in Poland, while Bonhomme won in Abu Dhabi and his home event, at Ascot Racecourse. Nicolas Ivanoff was another two-time event winner, winning at Texas Motor Speedway and the Red Bull Ring, with Pete McLeod winning the remaining event, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The series also introduced a Challenger Cup for the 2014 season, for young pilots to develop their skills. Each pilot entered at least three races in order to accrue points towards the Cup rankings, with the top six pilots after the Las Vegas event being invited to a winner-takes-all event at the Red Bull Ring. Petr Kopfstein won the race by 1.1 seconds over Halim Othman, to take the inaugural title.
Starting in 2014 it was sanctioned by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as an official motorsport, meaning provision of FAI medals especially designed for the Red Bull Air Race, the inclusion of all races in the FAI Events Calendar, and the official approval by the FAI of the race Rules & Regulations. Also, the FAI provided a safety delegate who attended all events to supervise safety aspects.
Aircraft and pilots
Master Class
Pilot Aircraft Rounds 22 Hannes Arch Zivko Edge 540 All 91 Péter Besenyei Corvus Racer 540 All 55 Paul Bonhomme Zivko Edge 540 All 10 Kirby Chambliss Zivko Edge 540 All 21 Matthias Dolderer Zivko Edge 540 All 95 Matt Hall MX Aircraft MXS All 27 Nicolas Ivanoff Zivko Edge 540 All 9 Nigel Lamb MX Aircraft MXS All 84 Pete McLeod Zivko Edge 540 All 99 Michael Goulian Zivko Edge 540 All 8 Martin Šonka Zivko Edge 540 All 31 Yoshihide Muroya Zivko Edge 540 All
Challenger Class
All Challenger Cup Pilots used an Extra 330LX. Pilot Rounds 7 Tom Bennett 1–2, 4–5, 8 5 Cristian Bolton 4–6 11 Mikaël Brageot 1–2, 6–8 6 Luke Czepiela 2, 4–5, 7 18 Petr Kopfstein 1, 3–4, 7–8 35 François Le Vot 1–3, 7–8 88 Halim Othman 3, 5, 7–8 25 Peter Podlunšek 2–3, 5–6 17 Daniel Ryfa 1, 3–4, 6, 8 23 Claudius Spiegel 2, 4–5 26 Juan Velarde 1, 3, 6–7
Three new pilots (Bolton, Czepiela and Othman) earned race wings and officially joined the Challenger Class on April 5, 2014, after they surpassed rigorous training and testing which took place at the Red Bull Air Race Qualification Camp in Murska Sobota, Slovenia.
Race calendar and results
The eight-event calendar for the 2014 season. An updated race calendar was released on 15 July, with the scheduled Chinese round being replaced by a round at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.
Round Country Location Date Fastest Qualifying Winning Pilot Winning Aircraft Winning Challenger Report 1 Abu Dhabi 28 February – 1 March Pete McLeod Paul Bonhomme Zivko Edge 540 François Le Vot report 2 Rovinj 12–13 April Hannes Arch Hannes Arch Zivko Edge 540 François Le Vot report 3 Putrajaya Lake, Putrajaya 17–18 May Hannes Arch Nigel Lamb MX Aircraft MXS François Le Vot report 4 Gdynia 26–27 July Paul Bonhomme Hannes Arch Zivko Edge 540 Claudius Spiegel report 5 Ascot Racecourse, Ascot 16–17 August Pete McLeod Paul Bonhomme Zivko Edge 540 Halim Othman report 6 Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth 6–7 September Pete McLeod Nicolas Ivanoff Zivko Edge 540 Mikaël Brageot report 7 Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas 11–12 October Pete McLeod Pete McLeodRace day abandoned due to bad weather. The results for the event were determined via qualifying order. Zivko Edge 540 Halim Othman report 8 Red Bull Ring 25–26 October Hannes Arch Nicolas Ivanoff Zivko Edge 540 Petr Kopfstein report Notes
Championship standings
Master Class
Master Class scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9–12th Points 12 9 7 5 4 3 2 1 0
Pilot UAE CRO MYS POL GBR USA1 USA2 AUT Points 1 Nigel Lamb 5 8 1 2 2 2 2 2 62 2 Hannes Arch 2 1 2 1 8 8 5 4 53 3 Paul Bonhomme 1 2 5 5 1 5 7 5 51 4 Nicolas Ivanoff 8 5 11 6 3 1 6 1 42 5 Pete McLeod 3 4 4 8 11 3 1 8 38 6 Matt Hall 4 7 3 3 5 6 4 10 33 7 Matthias Dolderer 6 9 8 11 4 4 3 11 21 8 Martin Šonka 7 6 6 10 9 7 8 3 18 9 Yoshihide Muroya 9 3 10 12 6 9 9 9 10 10 Kirby Chambliss 11 10 9 4 10 10 11 7 7 11 Péter Besenyei 10 11 7 7 7 12 12 12 6 12 Michael Goulian DNS 12 12 9 12 11 10 6 3 Pilot UAE CRO MYS POL GBR USA1 USA2 AUT PointsBold – Fastest Qualifying Pilot
Challenger Class Challenger Class pilots competed in at least three races throughout the season, with each pilot's best three scores counting towards the Challenger Cup ranking. The top six pilots in the ranking qualified for a winner-takes-all race at the Red Bull Ring.
Ranking Challenger Class scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 10 8 6 4 2 0
Pilot UAE CRO MYS POL GBR USA1 USA2 Points 1 François Le Vot 1 1 1 6 30 2 Daniel Ryfa 2 3 2 3 6 22 3 Tom Bennett 5 2 3 2 2 22 4 Halim Othman 6 1 1 20 5 Mikaël Brageot 6 4 1 3 20 6 Petr Kopfstein 4 2 4 2 4 20 7 Claudius Spiegel 6 1 3 16 8 Juan Velarde 3 4 DSQ 4 14 9 Peter Podlunšek 3 5 5 4 2 12 10 Cristian Bolton 6 6 2 8 11 Luke Czepiela 5 5 4 5 2 8 Pilot UAE CRO MYS POL GBR USA1 USA2 Points
Final At the last race of the season in Austria, the top six pilots in the standings took part in a race to determine the final ranking of the Challenger Cup.
Rank Pilots Time 1 Petr Kopfstein 1:05.799 2 Halim Othman 1:06.900 3 Mikaël Brageot 1:08.112 4 François Le Vot 1:08.132 5 Daniel Ryfa 1:15.180 6 Tom Bennett DNS
References
External links