Home race for “The Matadors”

The sixth Red Bull Air Race of the season takes place in Longleat, England, on September 2. It's the perfect moment for the local heroes, “the Matadors" Steve Jones and Paul Bonhomme, who are the current high-flyers of the Red Bull Air Race World Series.

A 450-year-old castle and magnificent parkland in softly undulating countryside provide the most English of English backdrops for the sixth race of the Red Bull Air Race World Series: Longleat in the county of Wiltshire. The premiere race in the ambience of one of the most impressive stately homes in the country was firmly in US hands last year, with Mike Mangold winning ahead of Kirby Chambliss. This year, however, could see a double victory for the English: Finishing first and second at the last race in Budapest, stunning performances by Steve Jones and Paul Bonhomme preceded the home race.

 

A special atmosphere, special spectators

Lord Bath VI, father of the current host and owner of Longleat, was the pioneer of Britain's modern stately home tourist industry at the end of the 1940s, and since the 1950s the area also hosts as a safari park with giraffes, lions, tigers and rhinos. Longleat is no stranger to visitors. Which is an advantage, given that 100,000 fans will be following the race on Saturday. Incidentally, spectator capacity has been doubled since last year, but demand has still exceeded availability: all tickets were sold out weeks ahead of the event.

New plane, better luck

The performance curve of the two British hopefuls is remarkable: Steve Jones and Paul Bonhomme - privately best friends and, as "The Matadors", a highly popular aerobatics team - collectively scored just one point in the first three races of the season. Bonhomme finished second at the fourth race in Istanbul and at the fifth in Budapest, finishing behind Steve Jones in the Hungarian capital. The secret of their success? Both English pilots changed their aircrafts during the season and are now tearing through the pylon gates in Edge 540s. "This aircraft is just perfect for the Red Bull Air Race," explains Paul Bonhomme. "The three championship leaders (Kirby Chambliss, Mike Mangold and Peter Besenyei) are no longer fighting among themselves for victory, leaving the rest of the field to battle it out for fourth place. I think that from now on, it won’t be possible to predict the results any more. The Red Bull Air Race is more exciting than ever."

A home advantage? Only if you're camouflaged!

Is there any such thing as a home advantage with the Red Bull Air Race? Not really, says Paul Bonhomme: "There’s always enormous pressure on the local pilot, but I’m lucky not to be the only Briton in the field. I hope I’ll be able to share the pressure of the home advantage with Nigel Lamb and Steve Jones." And incidentally, Bonhomme has an elaborate plan for avoiding the hype surrounding his home race: "I’ll wear camouflage and spend the night in a small green tent somewhere deep in the woods." Hopefully the lions will leave him to sleep in peace.