24 August 2005
According to Hungarian police estimates, 1.2 million spectators watched the fifth stage of the Red Bull Air Race World Series in Budapest on August 20th, which makes it probably the largest sports event in Europe and the second largest worldwide after the New York Marathon. The race course, 1.7 km long and featuring a total of twelve pylons, floated on the river Danube, between the Chain Bridge and the Margaret Bridge. The pilots had to pass beneath the Chain Bridge, whose height is currently reduced to only nine meters due to the high water level.
Following his success at Longleat on August 7th, American Mike Mangold flying his 344hp Dragon-Edge won ahead of his fellow countryman Kirby Chambliss. ‘I felt some pressure in the second heat’, Mangold admitted after the race, ‘but everything went perfectly, I had another clean run.’ Budapest title-holder Kirby Chambliss came second, 7.61 seconds behind Mangold, while Briton Paul Bonhomme nudged ahead of local hero Peter Besenyei by eight hundredths of a second to take third place. Klaus Schrodt, in second place after the first heat, dropped back to fifth place.
The Red Bull Air Race World Series ends in San Francisco on October 8, where the first ever Air Racing World Champion will be crowned. All seven events in the World Series will be broadcast on Channel Five from September 10: each Saturday at 1.30pm.
www.redbullairrace.com
