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Red Bull Air RaceEvents | 75 Adrenaline 1 Air racing is the type of sport that the ‘lad’s mags’ would refer to as ‘mental’ – it’s all about tiny, twitchy aircraft being flown around a pre-determined course at insane speeds of up to 240 mph. Simon de Burton attended this summer’s UK round of the 10-race Red Bull series with co-sponsor Breitling to discover that it’s not only watchmakers who need precision, accuracy and a steady hand... If I hadn’t seen it for real with my very own eyes, I would have sworn that the ‘Edge’, ‘Extra’ and ‘MX2’ aircrafts tracking the twists and turns of the River Thames in London’s Docklands were part of a movie being played at double speed – the loops, rolls and climbs were being performed at such astonishing velocity that it was difficult to compute how the pilots could possibly react so quickly. It was a scene straight from a Dan Dare cartoon strip, with the ‘futuristic’ background being provided by the Millennium Dome and the towers of Canary Wharf while the race planes took the part of Dare’s ‘Anastasia’ spacecraft. The idea for the Red Bull air race was conceived in 2001 with the aim of creating a ‘travelling circus’ of top pilots who would compete in an international race series at venues as far afield as Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro and New Zealand. The format is simple – the planes race (one at a time) at low level around a course of around 1.5 km in length, flying through a series of ‘gates’ and chicanes marked out by inflatable pylons. 76 | Events Events | 77 To make it more interesting – and more difficult – gates marked in blue must be passed through in a horizontal position and those in red must be passed through vertically, ie with the ‘plane flying on its side. A complete lap involves covering the course in both directions, with the turning manoeuvres at either vehicle (so to speak) it seems to me to be far more effective than the end being executed either as a ‘pull up’ with a vertical roll or a ‘half Cuban eight’ brand’s backing of the annual Reno air races, quite simply because it which involves looping to 45 degrees, performing a half roll and then returning is a far slicker, more audience-friendly event which has international to level flight. appeal thanks to the wide range of venues: in 2006, an estimated one million spectators watched the Rio de Janeiro round ‘live’, making The fastest round the gates gets six points, with five for second and so on, it the biggest sporting event in Brazil’s history! What is more, with the down to the sixth fastest who gets a single point – but flying too low or crossing current deluge of pilots’ watches, produced by numerous brands, the crowd line results in disqualification, with penalties being deducted for Breitling does well to assert its primacy in this market by associating touching a pylon, deviating from level flight by more than 10 degrees, tilting themselves with such a high profile event. to the wrong side or passing too high over a gate. Unlike many high-octane sports, this form of air racing has excellent crowd appeal because the relative compactness of But although Lamb’s eyecatching MX2 provides a wonderful moving the course means spectators can see all the action from start to finish and, no matter billboard for Breitling in its bright yellow, blue and red livery it is how long you watch for, the lightning reactions of the pilots continues to amaze. outclassed in performance terms by the far lighter Edge 540 aircraft used by the majority of his rivals. Age of experience The 2007 season attracted 13 competitors, most of whom were reassuringly mature – The Edge 540 has proved to be the best ‘plane for the job, with its the average age was 46, with the oldest pilot, Klaus Schrodt of Germany’s Team Lobo, 310 horsepower engine and featherlight 530 kg weight providing having recently celebrated his 61st birthday. Despite how it might look, it seems that a top speed of 260 mph – imagine travelling at that rate in an air racing is more about calm, calculated thinking and decision making than bravado aircraft with a fuselage that measures less than 20 feet in length. and madcap antics. The fliers are all top-level professionals and include airline pilots, The 8.8 litre, six-cylinder engine has little difficulty in powering a world aerobatic champion and a graduate of the U.S.A.F Fighter Weapons School, such a small ‘plane which is largely made from carbon fibre, and for otherwise known as the ‘Top Gun’ academy. added speed and manoeuvrability only the bare minimum amount of fuel required for each race is carried. This year’s winner was the American Mike Mangold who took the title during the final race of the 2007 series, which was held To give an idea of just how remarkably strong, fast and responsive in November before a crowd of 200,000 over the Swan River in these aircraft are, it is worth noting that they can withstand a force Perth, Australia. He pipped British pilot Paul Bonhomme to the of 10 G and are frequently subjected to 9 G or more during a race – post in what proved to be the closest-fought title race in the a Formula One driver is subjected to ‘only’ around 5.5 G during history of the competition – although Mangold and Bonhomme acceleration, braking or turning. finished with the same 47-point total, the former’s superior results in the elimination rounds won him the laurels. Awesome! Extreme branding The sport seems to fit perfectly with Breitling’s core business Further information: The 2008 Red Bull Air Race series is due to start in April with Sweden, The Netherlands, UAE, USA, UK being among the nine host countries. as a maker of ‘professional’ pilot watches and as a promotional For a full programme of events, see www.redbullairrace.com..

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