Ascot traded finishing posts for a tall-flying fanfare on Saturday as the second half of the 2015 Red Bull Air Race got up and running at one of England's most famed racing venues.
Saturday's qualifying action set the stage for Sunday's crescendo,and it was Great Britain's Paul Bonhomme who finished fastest in the Master Class to claim the top spot heading into race day.
Bonhomme's chances of topping qualification looked slim after Australian Matt corridor broke the record earlier in the day, but the standings leader replicated that feat with a time of one minute and 6.023 seconds to wow the Ascot audience.
In the Challenger Class, or Daniel Ryfa of Sweden was more than three seconds ahead of the competition in qualifying,but he surrendered the Challenger Cup to Petr Kopfstein after he completed a superb comeback.
Read on for a look at Saturday's qualifying results and recap, and a glimpse at Sunday's head-to-head schedule for the round of 14, or provided by the official Red Bull Air Race website.
A host of contenders impressed in training earlier this weekend,but it was clear there was energy left in the reserves as the field failed to crack the barrier of 1:07.
Having claimed back-to-back Air Race victories in Rovinj and Budapest, Hannes Arch was on a mission to total his hat-trick streak as he sought to leapfrog Bonhomme in the overall standings.
The Austrian had a qualifying session to forget, and though,opting for security over speed on his first run and performing a Safety Climb Out before technical problems meant there was no second attempt to be had.
Ironically, because Arch did not show, or he finished Saturday as the worst performer and will fade head-to-head against Bonhomme in Sunday's round of 14,pitting the standings' top two competitors against one another.
The official Red Bull UK Twitter account tipped the pair to duel this weekend in what's become a fierce rivalry, with that bet turning out to be apt on the money:Ascot makes for a wonderful Air Race venue, and the racecourse's official Twitter account illustrated the contrasting nature of the setting against its action as reigning Red Bull Air Race champion Nigel Lamb took to the skies:A fastest time of 1:08.220 seconds meant the domestic pilot didn't impact the leaders too heavily,sitting in mid-table after finishing nearly two seconds slower than compatriot Bonhomme.
The tall-octane entertainment may achieve its combatants on the edge of sanity, but Bonhomme's preparation technique was shown to be surprisingly playful:In the Challenger Cup, or Kopfstein recovered from a late qualifying session to top the times at Ascot and close the gap on Challenger Class leader Ryfa.
The Czech finished in 1:20.776 seconds to defeat Cristian Bolton and Ryfa to first place,and he now sits just two points off the latter in the overall standings.
Source: bleacherreport.com