Red Bull Air Race Detroit practice 2008

Britain's Paul Bonhomme set the pace in the final timed training session at the Red Bull Air Race in Detroit on Friday ahead of the weekend's racing, topping the time sheets on the windswept course that twice crosses the international border between the United States and Canada. Red Bull World Series Air Race championship points leader Bonhomme, who is unbeaten in 2008 and looking for his third straight victory in Detroit after winning in Abu Dhabi and San Diego, was clocked in a time of 1:13.86 in the final session, ahead of American Kirby Chambliss in second (1:15.28) and Hannes Arch of Austria in third place (1:16.13) ahead of Saturday's Qualifying Session that will whittle the 12-man field down to eight for Sunday's Super Eights. "I had a better run than the others due to the weather conditions being less bumpy when I was out there," said Bonhomme, who leads the championship with 18 points after two races and watched from his hangar as winds picked up and scattered rain marred the training for many who followed him. "So it wasn't really a good assessment of where we all stand today." The heavy winds forced the cancellation of the third and final training session on Friday. With his newly refurbished 2007 engine and last year's propeller reinstalled in his Edge 540 as part of a routine overhaul, Bonhomme led the field through the 3.8-mile long course over the Detroit River at speeds of up to 230 mph just a few metres above the surface while enduring forces of up to 10G. A sell-out crowd is expected for Saturday's Qualifying session and Sunday's race. The nearly 50,000 tickets on the Detroit side of the river have already been sold out while there are still a few tickets available on the Canadian side in Windsor. The Red Bull Air Race pilots twice cross the international border during the race and spend about 13 seconds of the 75-second run in Canada. American Mike Mangold, the defending champion who trails Bonhomme by three points after two races, had the fastest recorded time in the first training session on Thursday but fell back to fourth on Friday. Hungary's Peter Besenyei grabbed fifth and Britain's Steve Jones, helped by extensive modifications to his plane's aerodynamics since San Diego, was sixth. Spain's Alejandro Maclean, who took delivery of his new MXS just before the race in Detroit, has struggled with the new plane and was 10th -- more than 28 seconds behind Bonhomme. http://redbullairrace.com

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YouTube | May 31, 2008

Tags:. .rain. .due. .river. .sunday. .reinstalled