BONHOMME FASTEST IN BUDAPEST QUALIFYING

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Paul Bonhomme of Britain, current leader of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, came first in Qualifying for the race in Budapest on Tuesday while Kirby Chambliss, his closest rival, saw his championship hopes shattered by two three-second penalties that pushed him to tenth place and means that he will not go through to the Super Eights on race day.

‘I just don't know what happened out there,’ said a disappointed Chambliss.

Austria's Hannes Arch came second in Qualifying behind Bonhomme and now stands to gain from Chambliss' mishap by moving closer in the overall standings to the British leader. Local pilot Peter Besenyei came third on the course over the River Danube, a testimony to the skill and hard work of his crew who changed his engine overnight in an effort to give him greater speed.

Pilots completed a truncated course on Tuesday after the Red Bull Air Race Committee decided that it would not be possible for the pilots to fly underneath the Chain Bridge. Heavy rains in Austria and Germany caused the level of the Danube to rise, reducing the room that pilots have to fly beneath the structure.

Bonhomme, who has three first-places from five races, was pleased with his result and relieved that he had managed to avoid a repeat of his disappointing performance in London, the previous stop of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. ‘I am very happy and I am pleased with the consistency in my flights today because there was just a very small difference between my times in the two Qualifying sessions,’ he said.

Fellow Brits Steve Jones and Nigel Lamb finished either side of defending champion and fifth-placed pilot Mike Mangold. Michael Goulian of America is showing renewed speed and finished seventh while Alejandro Maclean of Spain overcame a pylon hit in the first Qualifying session to finish eighth overall.

A three-second penalty for incorrect knife flying in each of his Qualifying runs left Kirby Chambliss in tenth place, outside of the Super Eights. His best hope now is to pick up a point tomorrow in the Point One competition against France's Nicolas Ivanoff, Russian Sergey Rakhmanin and South Africa's Glen Dell.

II am out of the championship now,’ said Chambliss. ‘For me, I have won the championship before and so to be second or third doesn't matter. I am only looking for first.’

Chambliss' performance means that the competition has opened up and is likely to play into the hands of Arch, who is currently level-pegging with Chambliss in the standings on 36 points - just two points behind the leader, Bonhomme.

Thousands of spectators are expected to line the banks of the River Danube on Wednesday, a Hungarian national holiday, to watch the 12 Red Bull Air Race pilots compete for points and a place in the finals.