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Following back-to-back victories in the Australian and Brazilian rounds of the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, Team Abu Dhabi has its sights on a rare hat-trick of wins as the tour moves to Windsor, Canada this weekend (5/6 June).
Confidence in the Abu Dhabi camp is being bolstered by strong support coming from the city’s large resident Arab population, as team pilot, Hannes Arch, moves a step closer to regaining the world championship title he last won in 2008.
Entering the pivotal halfway mark of the eight-race championship season, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA)-backed pilot trails defending champion, Paul Bonhomme, and title hopeful, Nigel Lamb, by four points and one point respectively.
A win in Windsor would see Abu Dhabi’s Flying Falcon leapfrog the British duo to lead the championship, before the series moves to New York and Europe.
“The team has strong momentum coming off the wins in Perth and Rio De Janeiro, and it would put pressure on the competition to record three consecutive wins,” said Abu Dhabi’s Arch. “I thoroughly enjoy this course and I am sure we will perform well.”
With a course straddling the Detroit River on the US – Canadian border, adverse wind conditions blowing up from the Mid-West make the Windsor leg one of the championship’s toughest. And with the 2010 addition of a new Twin Knife Edge manoeuvre - which is separated by a challenging high-g, 270-degree turn - the fourth round could well be the series’ turning point.
“The weekend’s race promises to be yet another thrilling spectacle,” said Ahmed Hussein, Deputy Director General, ADTA. “Team Abu Dhabi’s surge through the field – buoyed by the last two wins - has created a very high level of interest which provides rich returns for our sponsorship and heightened awareness of the emirate in North America.”
US and Canadian spectators are expected to gather on both sides of the Detroit River – which divides the US and Canada - as the World Championship’s 15-strong field flies at speeds reaching 370km/h and pulls up to 12Gs as it navigates dozens of 20 metre high inflatable air gates.
Last year’s 215,000 strong Windsor crowd is expected to be surpassed with fair weather forecast for Sunday’s race.
The tour next moves to New York on 20th June before heading to Europe for the remaining three races of the season – Lausitz in Germany on the 8th August, Budapest in Hungary on August 20th and finally to Lisbon, Portugal on 5th September.
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