Mangold wins in Budapest after near high-speed ditching

AMERICAN Mike Mangold continued his recent run of good form and won the Budapest leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Series on 20 August.

Mangold beat Kirby Chambliss in the race, held over the Danube River in front of a million spectators and the Hungarian parliament building.

The win hands Mangold the lead in the championship - he's now one point clear of British arch-rival Paul Bonhomme after seven rounds of the 10-event series. Bonhomme took third.

The next round was due to be held in Portugal, just as this edition of LOOP was going to press. The final two rounds are in San Diego, USA on 22 September and Perth, Australia on 4 November.

But it was nearly disaster for Mangold when he appeared to lose control of his modified Edge 540 and come within feet of ditching in the river at high speed. The incident was clearly visible on TV coverage of the race, and one of the course judges said Mangold should have been disqualified, However, the race director claimed not to have seen the incident and Mangold's position was secure.
The rest of Mangold's final run was clear and he posted a winning time of 1:12.85.

"We've won two races in a row but there are three races left," said Mangold afterwards. "We've got a good trend going. The machine is doing real well. There is just one minor issue that we're going to work on before Porto. It's very easy for me. I just have to fly it correctly and it's going to win for me."
The race also saw Brit Nigel Lamb score his first championship point of the season in the MX2.
W: www.redbullairrace.com

SOME MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
AS well as Mangold's near miss, there was more controversy when a new Extra 300SR aircraft turned up for Hungarian competitor Peter Besenyei in Budapest. In the end, Besenyei opted to race his existing Edge 540 because he hadn't time to set up the new aircraft.

The new Extra has an assymetric wing (where the wings are unequal) which was not allowed under the rules at the start of the season. Add in a more powerful 334hp engine and a substantial drop in weight over the old 300, and the aircraft should prove highly competitive once the pilots have sorted out the setting up of the aircraft.

Corsican Nicolas Ivanoff had the new Extra for the Swiss round at Interlaken and promptly topped qualifying. Problem with the setup and turbulence upset his race plans at both Interlaken and London, and he suffered an injury to his neck during practice for the Budapest race.


RESULTS
Budapest, 20 August

1 Mike Mangold (USA) Edge 540 6
2 Kirby Chambliss (USA) Edge 540 5
3 Paul Bonhomme (GBR) Edge 540 4
4 Peter Besenyei (HUN) Edge 540 3
5 Steve Jones (GBR) Edge 540 2
6 Nigel Lamb (GBR) MX2 1
7 Alejandro Maclean (ESP) Edge 540 0
8 Frank Versteegh (NED) Edge 540 0
9 Michael Goulian (USA) Edge 540 0
10 Hannes Arch (AUT) Edge 540 0
11 Sergey Rakhmanin (RUS) Edge 540 0
12 Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) Extra 300SR 0
13 Klaus Schrodt (GER) Extra 300S 0

SERIES POSITIONS
1 Mangold (Cobra) 36
2 Bonhomme (Matador) 35
3 Besenyei (Red Bull) 27
4 Chambliss (Red Bull) 20
5 Maclean (Mediterranean Racing Team) 13
6 Jones (Matador) 8
7 Arch (Cobra) 3
8 Versteegh (Lobo) 3
9 Lamb (Breitling) 1
10 Goulian (Dragon Racing) 1
11 Ivanoff (Mediterranean Racing Team) 0
12 Rakhmanin (Dragon Racing) 0
13 Schrodt (Lobo) 0

NEXT RACES
1 Sep Porto, Portugal
22 Sep San Diego, USA
4 Nov Perth, Australia