Hall crowned champion of Cannes at historic French premiere

posted:

23/04/2018

The 370 km/h action of the first-ever Red Bull Air Race in France thrilled 83,500 spectators over a three-day weekend in Cannes, and top honors went to Australia’s Matt Hall, who captured his first win since 2016. Matthias Dolderer of Germany was second, and the USA’s Michael Goulian took third. With two different winners in two races, the rest of the eight-stop season is up for grabs.

The long-awaited premiere of the Red Bull Air Race in France sparked high drama over the Riviera. Looking for a return to the form that has twice made him runner-up in the World Championship, Hall flew first in the Final 4, clocking 57.692. The time held up when World Champion Yoshihide Muroya of Japan earned a two-second penalty and Dolderer finished 0.072 behind the Australian. But the shock of the round came when it was announced that Czech pilot Martin Šonka, who had apparently advanced to the Final 4, would in fact finish eighth due to evidence found after the end of the Round of 8: a technical infraction of exceeding the maximum RPM limit. As a result, it was 2018 World Championship leader Michael Goulian of the USA who leaped into his raceplane and concluded the final round, his third-place finish keeping him at the top of the overall leaderboard.

With the World Championship wide open, the next stop in Japan could be pivotal. Not only is it a pressure-filled home race for the defending titleholder Muroya in third overall, but Goulian has had his best start in more than nine seasons of racing. Plus, after a full year of improvements to a new raceplane, the Australian Hall is hungry to take the crown himself, and only three points separate him from the American leader. Dolderer, the 2016 World Champion, is chasing hard in fourth, and at fifth in the standings, Šonka will particularly feel he has something to prove after disqualifications in two consecutive races.

Looking confident, Hall declared, “It’s been a long, hard transition – a very steep climb – from our former MXS raceplane to our new Edge, but now with a new team, this new plane and a new sponsor, it feels awesome. We’re feeling set to make a run for the World Championship.”

Asia is next! The new dimension in motorsport races in Chiba, Japan, on 26-27 May, where ecstatic fans will welcome reigning World Champion Yoshihide Muroya for the first home stop since he captured the title in 2017.