The 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was the ninth season of

Red Bull Air Race World Championship The World Championship Air Race is a series of air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors navigating a ...

, and the first since

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. In his seventh season in the series, British pilot

Nigel Lamb Nigel Lamb (born 17 August 1956) is an English aerobatics pilot and the 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Champion. Early life Lamb was born in the Eastern Highlands of Southern Rhodesia and was inspired to fly by his father, a Royal Air Force fi ...

became the champion for the first time, with consistent finishing being the key to his championship success. After starting the season slowly with just five points from the opening two events, Lamb won his first Air Race competition at

Putrajaya Lake The Putrajaya Lake ( ms, Tasik Putrajaya) is a lake located at the centre of Putrajaya, Malaysia, roughly 33 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur. This 650-hectare man-made lake is designed to act as a natural cooling system for the city and also fo ...

in Malaysia, before reeling off five consecutive second-place finishes. These results were good enough for him to surpass former champions

Hannes Arch Hannes Arch (22 September 1967 – 8 September 2016) was an Austrian pilot who competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship from 2007 to 2016. Arch won the World Championship in the 2008 season. Early life Hannes Arch was born in Le ...

and

Paul Bonhomme Paul Bonhomme (born 22 September 1964) is a British aerobatics and commercial airliner pilot and owner/race pilot of Team Bonhomme, the Red Bull Air Race World Champion for 2015. Racing career Bonhomme was born into a family of aviators. His f ...

in the standings; Lamb ultimately finished nine points clear of Arch, with Bonhomme a further two points in arrears. Both pilots won two races during the season, as Arch won at

Rovinj Rovinj (; it, Rovigno; Istriot: or ; grc, Ρυγίνιον, Rygínion; la, Ruginium) is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 14,294 (2011). Located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, it is a po ...

, Croatia and at

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

in Poland, while Bonhomme won in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

and his home event, at

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...

Nicolas Ivanoff Nicolas Ivanoff (born 4 July 1967 in Ajaccio, Corsica) is a French pilot and flying instructor, who currently races in the Red Bull Air Race World Series under the number 7. Ivanoff is nicknamed "The Quick Corsican". His highlight of 2010 so far ...

was another two-time event winner, winning at

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

and the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

, with

Pete McLeod Pete McLeod (born February 23, 1984 in Kapuskasing, Ontario) is a Canadian professional aerobatic pilot whose first competitive flight was in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2009. Biography Raised in Red Lake, a small town in Nort ...

winning the remaining event, at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

. The series also introduced a Challenger Cup for the 2014 season, for young pilots to develop their skills. Each pilot entered at least three races in order to accrue points towards the Cup rankings, with the top six pilots after the Las Vegas event being invited to a winner-takes-all event at the Red Bull Ring. Petr Kopfstein won the race by 1.1 seconds over Halim Othman, to take the inaugural title. Starting in 2014 it was sanctioned by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as an official motorsport, meaning provision of FAI medals especially designed for the Red Bull Air Race, the inclusion of all races in the FAI Events Calendar, and the official approval by the FAI of the race Rules & Regulations. Also, the FAI provided a safety delegate who attended all events to supervise safety aspects.

Aircraft and pilots

Master Class

Challenger Class

* All Challenger Cup Pilots used an Extra 330LX. *Three new pilots (Bolton, Czepiela and Othman) earned race wings and officially joined the Challenger Class on April 5, 2014, after they surpassed rigorous training and testing which took place at the Red Bull Air Race Qualification Camp in

Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; german: Olsnitz;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. hu, Muraszombat) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Race calendar and results

The eight-event calendar for the 2014 season. An updated race calendar was released on 15 July, with the scheduled Chinese round being replaced by a round at the

in Spielberg, Austria. ;Notes

Championship standings

Master Class

;Master Class scoring system

Challenger Class

Challenger Class pilots competed in at least three races throughout the season, with each pilot's best three scores counting towards the Challenger Cup ranking. The top six pilots in the ranking qualified for a winner-takes-all race at the

Ranking

;Challenger Class scoring system

Final

At the last race of the season in Austria, the top six pilots in the standings took part in a race to determine the final ranking of the Challenger Cup.

References

External links

* {{World championships in 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship seasons

Red Bull Air Race The World Championship Air Race is a series of air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors navigating a c ...