LONDON: Deafening claps and shouts greeted American Kirby Chambliss as he scored a thrilling victory on the Red Bull Air Race World Series in London earlier this week. He defeated France’s Nicolas Ivanoff in a gripping final over the River Thames after favorite Paul Bonhomme of Britain hit a pylon in a preliminary round held a day earlier and failed to make the finals. Austrian Hannes Arch came 3rd on a rainy, windswept afternoon.

It was a day full of upsets as American Mike Mangold also failed to reach the podium after suffering penalties for clipping the inflatable air gates.

Bonhomme still leads the championship with 38 points after getting 3 points for 7th place while Chambliss moves into second with 38 points after getting 9 in London and Arch, who picked up 7 points for third, is now third behind with 36.

The Red Bull Air Race planes fly at speeds of over 370 km/h just meters above the surface.

“This track definitely didn’t suit my (heavier) airplane but watching the other guys fall off worked out well for me,” Kirby Chambliss told Arab News. “I had to run hard against Nicolas in the final because the weather was smoothing out and with less wind that’s better for him. In the final the conditions were a lot better than earlier.”

“The conditions were pretty tough and I was just trying to surive. I wanted to put down a good run and watch the others fall away and surprisingly enough that’s what happened. We’re just a couple of points behind Paul now. We’re going to continue doing what we’ve been doing: just going to go out there and try to win and see what happens.”

“I had a little problem with the neck in Rotterdam, pulling Gs as I hit some turbulence and tore up my neck. It hurts now and it hurts more pulling Gs. But I just cowboyed up and did my job. It’s too bad for the Brits because nobody wants to fall out in their home country,” the winner said.

“This weekend did not start off very well. I had some bad runs in training. But today I was really clean. Yesterday I had a good qualifying to make it into the top eight. Hannes was really faster than me in the semi-finals but he made a mistake. Kirby didn’t make any mistakes in the final. Obviously I’m not as fast as these other two pilots,” Nicolas Ivanoff, the 2nd winner said.

“I’m happy with the result. I did my 1:21 time. The pylon hit was part of it. The conditions out there were difficult. I didn’t take enough care. But that’s all part of the game. I’m not super happy because I had a good chance but at least I got on the podium,” Hannes Arch, the 3rd winner said. “Sure I’m disappointed. I was really close with those times I had,” he added.

The race in London was the fifth stop of the 2008 season.

The next race takes place in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 19 and 20.