CHOPPY RIDE IN SAN DIEGO

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BONHOMME TOPS FIRST TRAINING

Red Bull Air Race World Series leader Paul Bonhomme had a turbulent ride through the course over San Diego Bay on his first training run on Thursday but the Brit still topped the time sheets and pronounced himself ready for the second race of the season this weekend.

Nicolas Ivanoff of France was second while Britain's Steve Jones, who was fourth in San Diego last year, posted the third-fastest time of the day, ahead of American Mike Mangold, the defending champion, who is looking to bounce back in his home race after a disappointing third place at the season opener in Abu Dhabi. Austria's Hannes Arch, who was a sensational second in Abu Dhabi, struggled to find the best line in Thursday's session of experimenting in the windy conditions with gusts of nearly 20 miles per hour, coming 10th in training.

‘It was a good run,’ said Bonhomme, who won here last year and set the pace on Thursday with a time of 1:19.53. ‘I changed my aileron set-up so it was a bit lively. It's choppy, it is windy. The combination of the wind and the turbulence along with my aileron made it a little bit more exciting than I wanted. But I'm happy with that today.’

Mangold, also eager to bounce back from last year's disappointing fifth place here in San Diego, was clocked in 1:22.20. Mangold said the wind was less of a distraction than all the military aircraft traffic at the Naval Air Station, North Island where the Red Bull Air Race Airport is set up.

‘This is the most intense flight operations in an airport that the Red Bull Air Race has seen and the most intense I've ever had in my career,’ said Mangold. ‘I've never seen anything like this.’

Arch, who had the honour of having his hangar moved forward toward to the front of the field after his second place finish in Abu Dhabi, said he was a bit nervous at first but content for the time being with his improved times at the end of his session.

‘There was a lot of choppiness in the first run but I got on top of it and the final run was quite promising,’ he said. ‘I made some mistakes but now know what I've got to work on. Being a little nervous is normal. There would be something wrong if I weren't a bit nervous.’