British pilot Nigel Lamb has won his maiden Red Bull Air Race after 40 starts, in the Malaysian round held at Putrajaya yesterday.
Lamb qualified slowest for the Final Four, but posted a course record in the first run to take the top spot on the podium from Hannes Arch and Matt Hall. Canadian Pete McLeod finished fourth.
Matt Hall started race day by eliminating 2006 champion Kirby Chambliss in the round of 12.
In the subsequent Super 8 round, Hall clocked a 1:16.261 to qualify in the last spot of the final four behind Lamb (1:16.200), Arch (1:15.795) and McLeod (1:15.573).
The shock going around Putrajaya at the time was the elimination of reigning champion and equal series leader Paul Bonhomme, who's run of four straight podiums was broken when he could manage only fifth fastest in the Super 8 round with a 1:16.423.
Lamb's blistering run of 1:15.023 in the Final Four forced Matt Hall to do a personal best of 1:15.691 to stay in contention for a podium spot. Third place for the Australian was confirmed when McLeod broke the maximum allowable entry speed and was called out of the race.
Hannes Arch was unable to match Lamb in the last run, giving the Brit his first RBAR win after seven seasons of trying.
“I am really happy with the result today because getting on the podium in a Red Bull Air Race is so damn hard,” Matt Hall later said.
“I came here today wanting to fly all day without a penalty and without hitting a pylon and I was able to do that. My other goal was to record a personal best if I made the Final Four, and I did that too and in some ways that’s as satisfying as finishing on the podium.”
The evenness of this years series was evident when the Final Four was contested between two pilots flying MSX-Rs (Hall and Lamb) and two flying Edge 540s (Arch and McLeod). Hall's podium makes the third pilot to finish third after three races.
Hall scored seven points to make him fifth in the championship behind Arch, Bonhomme, Lamb and McLeod.
The next round is in Gnydia, Poland, 26-27 July.
Championship Standings
Hannes Arch (AUT) 30
Paul Bonhomme (GBR) 25
Nigel Lamb (GBR) 17
Pete McLeod (CAN) 17
Matt Hall (AUS) 14
Martin Sonka (CZE) 8
Yoshihide Moruya (JPN) 7
Nicholas Ivanoff (FRA) 5
Matthias Dolderer (GER) 4
Peter Besenyei (HUN) 2
American pilots Kirby Chambliss and Mike Goulian are yet to score any points in the series.