Japanese pilot Yoshihide Muroya has won his second consecutive race in the 2017 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, taking victory in front of his home crowd at Chiba, Japan, on the weekend.
It was also the second time on the run that he has won his home race, after taking his maiden victory in Chiba last year.
The race was one filled with upsets and penalties as even the best pilots were challenged by the track. Six pilots scored penalties on race day, including Muroya, and two were disqualified during the Round of 8.
Muroya defeated Czech pilots Petr Kopfstein and Martin Sonka in the Final 4 round with Matthias Dolderer coming in fourth. Matt Hall was sixth in his best finish for the year so far.
"We are really happy to win again in Chiba, and I want to thank everybody here in Japan for their support," said an elated Muroya.
"I had some luck, but in the end some of the other pilots made mistakes. We have another five races, so we need to continue as we are doing. Our team setup is quite good, and we must stick with the same tactics, stay with the plan and go forward as normal to win more races."
For Kopfstein, it was his first ever podium finish. He was beaten by Muroya in the Round of 14, but went through as the fastest loser. He then progressed to the Final 4 when his opponent American Kirby Chambliss scored a Did Not Finish for subjecting the aircraft to too much g force.
Matt Hall started the weekend well with fifth in qualifying, then beat Frenchman Nicolas Ivanoff in the Round of 14. Coming up against Muroya in the Round of 8, Hall was unable to match his previous time and both pilots copped penalties for incorrect level though a gate.
For Hall, it was his first time in the Round of 8 flying his Edge 540, but admitted to being bemused over the penalty.
"I was happy with the flight and happy that Yoshi won the race," he said, "but to be honest I don't see where I made the mistake and I don't think it was a penalty. If we could protest a judging decision, we would.
"I'm getting there in the new race plane. I'm happy with my flying today and we deserved a result, I just can't see where it went wrong. It hasn't gone as I would've liked so far this season and there will be more changes to the race plane. We're still trying to find the right settings, but I'm looking forward to Budapest."
Muroya now sits on top of championship table with 30 points. Second-placed Sonka is also on 30 points, but has only one race win against the Japanese pilot's two. Matthias Dolderer is on 23 points in thirds and Matt Hall is now in 11th spot with eight points.
The next race is Budapest, Hungary, 1-2 July.