Red Bull Air Race flies to Istanbul

It’s all engines go as the Red Bull Air Race World Series heads to Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday 29th July. The world’s best pilots will be tackling a race course in the sky, flying at speeds of more than 400kph, as they battle it out in a bid to win points in the fifth leg of the international series.



Taking place for the first time in Istanbul, the race course will be situated over the estuary which divides the city, known as "Golden Horn" (or Haliç in Turkish), between Old Galata Bridge (Eski Galata Köprüsü) and Unkapani Bridge (Unkapanı Köprüsü).

As in the first two races of the season in Abu Dhabi and Barcelona, the pilots will race over water but the course has new features that will make it even more exciting and present an extra challenge for the pilots. Two new ‘slalom gates’ will be introduced and set up as single pylons along the narrow race track which have to be navigated as in slalom race. Pilots can decide whether they fly wide or narrow through these gates. Making tight turns is much more difficult, requiring great skill but will result in a shorter course and potentially, a faster time.



After the cancellation of last month’s race in St Petersburg, the pilots are eager to get back in the cockpit and will be fighting hard for success in Istanbul. The results remain as they were at the end of the Berlin race in May, with American, Kirby Chambliss currently leading the World Series, having won that race and also the season’s opener in Abu Dhabi. Hungary’s Peter Besenyei who won in Barcelona follows in second position and it’s currently a close competition between Chambliss, Besenyei and last year’s champion, American, Mike Mangold, with only one point standing between them in the World Series rankings.



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