2015 Red Bull Air Race World Championship

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The 2015 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was the tenth Red Bull Air Race World Championship series, contested over eight events in seven countries held between February and October.

Contents

British pilot Paul Bonhomme won his third world title by five points, after winning half of the eight races. His closest challenger was Australian pilot Matt Hall, and the pair finished well clear at the top of the championship. Bonhomme won the opening two races of the season in Abu Dhabi and Chiba, before an eighth-place finish – his worst result of the season – in Rovinj, saw Hall tie his points tally with three podium finishes. After Austria's Hannes Arch won in Rovinj and Budapest, Bonhomme and Hall shared the remaining victories between them; Bonhomme won at Ascot and Fort Worth, while Hall took his first Air Race victories at the Red Bull Ring and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Arch completed the championship podium, some 42 points in arrears of Bonhomme.

The series also maintained the Challenger Cup format that was introduced for the 2014 season, for young pilots to develop their skills. Each pilot entered at least five races in order to accrue points towards the Cup rankings, with the top six pilots after the Fort Worth event being invited to a winner-takes-all event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mikaël Brageot of France – who had topped the Cup rankings – won the race by 0.035 seconds over Peter Podlunšek, to take the title.

Aircraft and pilots

Master Class

No.PilotAircraftRounds
22 Flag of Austria.svg Hannes Arch [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
91 Flag of Hungary.svg Péter Besenyei [1] Corvus Racer 540 1–3
Zivko Edge 540 [2] 4–8
55 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
10 Flag of the United States.svg Kirby Chambliss [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
21 Flag of Germany.svg Matthias Dolderer [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
99 Flag of the United States.svg Michael Goulian [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
95 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Hall [1] MX Aircraft MXS All
27 Flag of France.svg Nicolas Ivanoff [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Lamb [1] MX Aircraft MXS All
12 Flag of France.svg François Le Vot [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
84 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Pete McLeod [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
31 Flag of Japan.svg Yoshihide Muroya [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
8 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Martin Šonka [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
26 Flag of Spain.svg Juan Velarde [1] Zivko Edge 540 All
Entering

Challenger Class

No.PilotRounds
77 Flag of Brazil.svg Francis Barros [4] 1–3, 5–7
62 Flag of Germany.svg Florian Bergér [4] 1–2, 4–8
5 Flag of Chile.svg Cristian Bolton [1] 1–5, 7–8
11 Flag of France.svg Mikaël Brageot [1] 1, 3–4, 6–8
18 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Petr Kopfstein [1] 1–2, 4–8
37 Flag of Slovenia.svg Peter Podlunšek [1] 2–8
17 Flag of Sweden.svg Daniel Ryfa [1] 1–6, 8

Race calendar and results

The eight-event calendar for the 2015 season was announced on 25 November 2014. [5] An updated race calendar was released on 3 March 2015, which dropped the round in Sochi, Russia and the round in Rovinj, Croatia returned to the calendar. [6]

RoundCountryLocationDateFastest QualifyingWinning PilotWinning AircraftWinning ChallengerReport
1Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi 13–14 February Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme Zivko Edge 540 Flag of Chile.svg Cristian Bolton report
2Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Makuhari, Chiba 16–17 May Flag of France.svg Nicolas Ivanoff Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme Zivko Edge 540 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Petr Kopfstein report
3Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia Rovinj 30–31 May Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme Flag of Austria.svg Hannes Arch Zivko Edge 540 Flag of Sweden.svg Daniel Ryfa report
4Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary Budapest 4–5 July Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Hall Flag of Austria.svg Hannes Arch Zivko Edge 540 Flag of Sweden.svg Daniel Ryfa report
5Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Ascot Racecourse, Ascot 15–16 August Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme Zivko Edge 540 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Petr Kopfstein report
6Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 5–6 Septembercancelled Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Hall MX Aircraft MXS Flag of France.svg Mikaël Brageot report
7Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth 26–27 September Flag of Germany.svg Matthias Dolderer Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme Zivko Edge 540 Flag of France.svg Mikaël Brageot report
8Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas 17–18 October Flag of Japan.svg Yoshihide Muroya Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Hall MX Aircraft MXS Flag of France.svg Mikaël Brageot report

Championship standings

Master Class

Master Class scoring system
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9–14th 
Points1297543210
Pos.Pilot ABU
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg
CHI
Flag of Japan.svg
ROV
Flag of Croatia.svg
BUD
Flag of Hungary.svg
ASC
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
SPE
Flag of Austria.svg
FTW
Flag of the United States.svg
LVG
Flag of the United States.svg
Points
1 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Bonhomme 1182121276
2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Hall 2235212171
3 Flag of Austria.svg Hannes Arch 4111181310534
4 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Martin Šonka 101023744829
5 Flag of Germany.svg Matthias Dolderer 93671065326
6 Flag of Japan.svg Yoshihide Muroya 681093103423
7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nigel Lamb 555851261020
8 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Pete McLeod 3127413581119
9 Flag of France.svg Nicolas Ivanoff 84914497715
10 Flag of the United States.svg Michael Goulian 126411979613
11 Flag of the United States.svg Kirby Chambliss DNS7111012311129
12 Flag of Hungary.svg Péter Besenyei 7131266812139
13 Flag of Spain.svg Juan Velarde 139131311111390
14 Flag of France.svg François Le Vot 1114141214DSQ14140
Pos.Pilot ABU
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg
CHI
Flag of Japan.svg
ROV
Flag of Croatia.svg
BUD
Flag of Hungary.svg
ASC
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
SPE
Flag of Austria.svg
FTW
Flag of the United States.svg
LVG
Flag of the United States.svg
Points
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Fastest Qualifying Pilot

Challenger Class

As in 2014, Challenger Class pilots had to compete 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 end of the season.

Challenger Class scoring system
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th 
Points1086420

Ranking

Pos.Pilot ABU
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg
CHI
Flag of Japan.svg
ROV
Flag of Croatia.svg
BUD
Flag of Hungary.svg
ASC
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
SPE
Flag of Austria.svg
FTW
Flag of the United States.svg
DropPoints
1 Flag of France.svg Mikaël Brageot 322111428
2 Flag of Sweden.svg Daniel Ryfa 5211331428
3 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Petr Kopfstein 2141261228
4 Flag of Chile.svg Cristian Bolton 1335241224
5 Flag of Slovenia.svg Peter Podlunšek 643442818
6 Flag of Germany.svg Florian Bergér 446553414
7 Flag of Brazil.svg Francis Barros DSQ556656
Pos.Pilot ABU
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg
CHI
Flag of Japan.svg
ROV
Flag of Croatia.svg
BUD
Flag of Hungary.svg
ASC
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
SPE
Flag of Austria.svg
FTW
Flag of the United States.svg
DropPoints

Final

At the last race of the season at Las Vegas, the top six pilots in the standings took part in a race to determine the final ranking of the Challenger Cup.

RankPilotsTime
1 Flag of France.svg Mikaël Brageot 1:00.521
2 Flag of Slovenia.svg Peter Podlunšek 1:00.556
3 Flag of Chile.svg Cristian Bolton 1:00.920
4 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Petr Kopfstein 1:02.117
5 Flag of Germany.svg Florian Bergér 1:02.255
6 Flag of Sweden.svg Daniel Ryfa 1:02.459

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "pilots". RedBullAirRace.com. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  2. "Besenyei unveils new raceplane". Red Bull Air Race World Championship . Red Bull Air Race GmbH. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  3. "New Challenger Cup ready to take off in 2014". RedBullAirRace.com. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  4. 1 2 "New Challenger Cup duo land for 2015". RedBullAirRace.com. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  5. "2015 race dates announced in Japan". RedBullAirRace.com. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  6. "Red Bull Air Race Announces New Race Location for 2015 Season". RedBullAirRace.com. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.