Nigel Lamb wins Red Bull Air Race
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PUTRAJAYA: It was a first victory in 44 races for British pilot Nigel Lamb as he emerged champion in the inaugural Red Bull Air Racing (RBAR) Championship race in Putrajaya here today.
Lamb clocked the fastest time of 1 min 15.023 secs in the Final Four round of the race, beating race favourite and championship leader Hannes Arch (Austria), who came 0.574 secs behind and Matt Hall (Australia), who finished third.
"We had a good race strategy throughout the weekend, and I felt like I really needed to go for it. I took some risks, but they paid off in the end," Lamb said.
He praised the setup that was arranged for the Putrajaya round, adding that the organisers had done well to ensure a "fast-flowing event" throughout.
"At the moment, I have to say Malaysia is my favourite race course," he said.
Hall said the suitable weather in Malaysia had helped him get onto the podium.
"The weather conditions were ideal, we wanted it to be hotter actually, but I am very happy there's a race in Malaysia. I expect it to be an iconic stop on the race calendar for years to come," he said.
The Putrajaya round is expected to become a permanent fixture for RBAR in the coming years after a successful first outing.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government had agreed to continue holding the race here in the future.
"We hope to hold the race here for another five years, subject to a review after the third year.
"The race is also important in boosting tourism, and we hope that it can become a permanent entry in the yearly tourism calendar," he told reporters after presenting the trophies to the winners.
Khairy added that the ministry would sit down with the organisers to discuss how they could secure more sponsorship for future races here.
There are a total of eight races on the RBAR calendar, with the next stop being Gdynia, Poland, from July 26-27.
