• Canadian Pete McLeod won his first Red Bull Air Race after wind canceled most of the race-day events. (Red Bull Content Pool)
    Canadian Pete McLeod won his first Red Bull Air Race after wind canceled most of the race-day events. (Red Bull Content Pool)
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Canadian Pete McLeod secured his first win in a Red Bull Air Race round after high winds forced the Las Vegas race to be canceled yesterday.

Eleven of the 12 pilots had completed the Super 12 match-racing round when the rest of the racing was called off due to winds exceeding 30 knots. The one pilot who declined to compete in the Super 12 was McLeod.

Officials elected to revert to Saturday's Qualifying times to decide the placings, which gave McLeod the win over Nigel Lamb and Matthias Dolderer. Matt Hall was fourth.

Before the session was canceled, Hall had comfortably flown through the track without penalty, defeating Japan’s Yoshi Muroya in the Super 12 round. He also recorded the third fastest time of the session as championship leaders and former world champions Paul Bonhomme and Hannes Arch were seemingly eliminated after a series of errors.

Hall said that although the conditions were windy, he believed every pilot in the field had the chance to fly a valid session and that the Top 12 round would be validated. Had that happened, Hall would have scored his third podium finish for the year.

“Safety is the main concern for the Red Bull Air Race and I fully support that mantra but I thought we all had a chance to fly in the same conditions,” he said.

“It was by no means easy but we all had the opportunity to start and finish. It’s a shame that didn’t get to happen."

The result moved McLeod to fourth place in the standings, pushing Hall down to fifth. The Australian says he will now focus on a strong result at the final round of the 2014 RBAR season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

“I will have to put this behind me and get my mind onto a strong finish to the year in Spielberg. I’m now fifth in the standings so I will aim to move up again.

After qualifying second on Saturday, Nigel Lamb now leads the series on 53 points from Hannes Arch on 48. With Austria being the last round, the championship is still wide open, although Lamb now has some breathing space from Arch third-placed Paul Bonhomme on 47.

The next round is at Spielberg in Austria 25-26 October.

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