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Air Racing

The Red Bull Air Race World Series features the world’s best pilots in a motor sports competition based on speed, precision and skill.

Using the fastest, most agile and lightweight racing planes, pilots navigate a low-level aerial race track made up of air-filled pylons, reaching speeds of 400 kilometres per hour while withstanding forces of up to 10 Gs.

Touching down in ten cities worldwide in 2008, each Red Bull Air Race is unique. From the heart of the city to the open countryside, over land or water, a Red Bull Air Race can take place almost anywhere. Spectacular backdrops and jaw-dropping action guarantee that spectators experience one of the most innovative and exciting new sports competitions around today.

Source: www.redbullairrace.com. Click on the link for full information about the Red Bull Air Race World Series including locations, results and much more.

The following extracts from an interview given by Nigel to Red Bull earlier this year illustrate his particular racing strategy for 2008.

What the are your goals for 2008? I am hoping that this year I will be starting the season in a very competitive aircraft. My aim is to win the 2008 RBARWS.

The air at the top got thinner last year with so many pilots so close and some races decided by just 1/100th of a second. Where can you as a pilot 'save' 1/100th of a second? Stay focused and aggressive for every second of every lap.

Do you think about fractions of a second? Absolutely! During training I practice certain manoeuvres and try to shave small fractions of a second off.

Some pilots have made considerable modifications to their planes to gain an advantage. Is that a good thing? Of course! Small modifications, each of which save a few fractions of a second can add up to one or two seconds over a race. That is more than enough to move from outside the points to winning a race.

There will be a new format in 2008. Will that be good for you? I believe the new format will be much better. Whatever it is, as long as the rules are applied rigorously, it will be the same for all the competitors.

What's the best way for you to get ready for a race? A well prepared machine, being fit and in good health (e.g. no cold etc), a good night’s sleep and then a pre-race routine on the day which gets you into the perfect zone of preparedness… not too relaxed and certainly not hyped up.

A realistic shot at the podium requires the drawing together of a dream team of flying, design, engineering and logistical skills. To gain some insight into the process which lay behind the decision to use MXR Technologies to provide the aircraft for Team Breitling, read the following comment made by Nigel in 2007.

The Red Bull Air Race requires an aircraft which, in relation to other competing aircraft is at least equal in terms of:

agility
power to weight ratio
aerodynamic efficiency (minimum drag)

To be competitive, the pilot needs an aircraft which scores well in all three aspects. In 2006 I was racing the Extra 300S which scored ‘average’ in all three. So, which plane to choose for 2007? Well, most pilots were heading towards the Edge which scores very highly on 1 and 2 and very well (but not brilliantly) on #3.

After many discussions (mid 2006) including with the Extra factory, the Extreme 3000 project and Zivko, I decided to look at the MX project to see if the MX could score very highly on all 3. The only aircraft available at the time was the MX2 (two-seater) as the MXS (single-seater) was still in production. I came to the conclusion that the MX2 scored highly in 1 and 3 but, because it was a two-seater (bigger/more weight), is average in number 2. This would not be the case with the MXS which we hope will have the same power/weight ratio as a stock Edge 540 (the MXS shloud be 9% less weight than the MX2).

I also had the impression that the MXR Technologies company would embrace the Red Bull project with enthusiasm and that this would be to my advantage in the long-run…better support. It was therefore logical to join the MX project to fly the MX2 for one season and wait for the MXS which I believe will score highly in all three. I found in 2007 that I was right … the MX2 handicap was only the power/weight ratio.

Had there been less advance with the Edges during the off-season 2006/7 (aerodynamics/drag reduction and power), the MX2 would have been very competitive despite its weight disadvantage. The MXS is 9% lighter than the MX2 so I am hoping that the Edge's performance and that of the Extra 300SR will not be improved too much during the 2007/8 off season and that the Breitling team will, for the first time, start the season with a competitive aircraft.

What is worth mentioning is that some aircraft in the 2008 series will have approx 10% more power than the MXS and the same weight i.e higher score on #2 so I have to hope that the MXS will score sufficiently higher in #1, #3 (and pilot skill!!!) to be a winner!