Austrian Hannes Arch has returned to the winners list with victory in the third round of the 2015 Red Bull Air Race series yesterday, with Matt Hall again on the podium in third place.
The 2008 world champion's last win came at the same track in Rovinj, Croatia last year.
Arch qualified sixth, and defeated Peter Besenyei and reigning champion Nigel Lamb on his way to the final, where he met Czech Martin Sonka, the USA's Mike Goulian and Hall.
Arch's time of 0:54.012 was enough to grab victory from Sonka (0:54.083) and Hall (0.54.160). Goulian was fourth after being disqualified for exceeding the maximum g levels.
"I think this was really important to be on top of the podium here after the disaster of Japan and the slow start in Abu Dhabi, "said Arch. "So I proved [to] myself now that we are fast and have a perfect team, and that's really important."
Matt Hall's third place finish elevated him to equal top spot in the championship and leaves him as the only pilot to have finished on the podium in all three rounds this year.
It was a hard-fought result after losing his Round of 14 clash with Lamb, but going through to the Round of 8 as the fastest loser.
Hall then stunned Rovinj by eliminating the dominant favourite Paul Bonhomme by laying down a blistering 0:53.166, which was easily the fastest official time by anyone on the weekend.
In his frenetic pursuit of Hall, Bonhomme exceeded the maximum g level and was disqualified. Hall went into the final as favourite to take his first race win, but could manage only a time that was one second slower than his previous run.
“That close again, huh,” Hall said. “Coming to work this morning I was confident I could make the podium if I had a little bit of luck on my side.
“It didn’t start the way I had hoped, having to scratch through the round of 14 as the fastest loser but I was really proud of myself in the Round of 8.
“Once again I think any of us could have won today and I’ve just been pipped again by mere tenths of seconds. It’s good to be gathering points and it’s good for a third podium but geez I keep pushing for that win.”
Hall and Bonhomme now share the championship lead on 25 points, with Arch on 17 and Lamb on 12.
The next round is in Budapest 4-5 July.