The 2006 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was the fourth Red Bull Air Race season and second as a World Championship. It began on March 18, 2006, and ended on November 19.
In the 2006 season Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Zeltweg in Austria, and Rock of Cashel in Ireland were removed from the calendar. The number of races increased from seven to nine. The new places were Barcelona in Spain, Berlin in Germany, Saint Petersburg in Russia, Istanbul in Turkey and Perth in Australia. Only eight of the races were held after the cancellation of the 4th leg in Saint Petersburg. The race in Longleat, United Kingdom was also cancelled due to high winds, however, Friday's Qualifying results were used as the official race results.
Michael Goulian from the US, who had paused in 2005, returned in 2006 to compete again as the 11th pilot. The American pilot Kirby Chambliss, took four wins and became World Champion with a total of 38 points followed by Hungarian Péter Besenyei (35 points). 2005 World Champion Mike Mangold from the United States, finished third with 30 points.
Race calendar
2006 Red Bull Air Race World SeriesRace CalendarLegDatePlaceCountry1 March 18 Port of Mina' Zayid, Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates2 May 6 Beaches of Bogatell and Nova Icària,Barcelona Spain3 May 27 Tempelhof International Airport, Berlin Germany4 June 17 River Neva, Saint Petersburg Russia5 July 29 Golden Horn, Istanbul Turkey6 August 20 River Danube, Budapest Hungary7 September 2 Longleat, Wiltshire United Kingdom8 October 7 Marina Green and Aquatic Park,San Francisco, California United States9 November 19 Swan River, Perth Australia
Standings and results
2006 Red Bull Air Race World SeriesStandings and ResultsRankPilot UAE ESP GER RUS TUR HUN GBR USA AUS Total Points 1 Kirby Chambliss 1 3 1 CAN 1 5 3 1 3 38 2 Péter Besenyei 3 1 2 CAN 3 DQ 2 2 1 35 3 Mike Mangold 2 2 3 CAN 4 3 4 4 4 30 4 Paul Bonhomme 7 8 6 CAN 2 2 1 3 2 26 5 Michael Goulian 6 9 5 CAN DNS 4 5 5 6 11 6 Steve Jones 8 10 7 CAN 8 1 DQ DQ 5 8 7 Klaus Schrodt DQ 4 4 CAN 9 7 8 6 10 7 7= Nicolas Ivanoff 5 5 9 CAN 5 6 9 9 9 7 9 Alejandro Maclean 4 7 DNS CAN 7 8 7 DQ 7 3 9= Nigel Lamb 9 6 8 CAN 6 DQ 6 8 8 3 11 Frank Versteegh 10 11 10 CAN 10 DQ 10 DQ 11 0
Legend: CAN: Cancelled DQ: Disqualified DNS: Did not show
Aircraft 2006 Red Bull Air Race World SeriesAircraftAircraftConstructorPilot Extra 300L Extra Flugzeugbau Frank Versteegh Extra 300S Extra Flugzeugbau Péter Besenyei Paul Bonhomme Nicolas Ivanoff Nigel Lamb Klaus Schrodt MX2 MXR Technologies Michael Goulian (Race Abu Dhabi only) Nigel Lamb (Race San Francisco only) Frank Versteegh (Race San Francisco only) Velox Revolution 1 Velox Aviation Péter Besenyei (Training Abu Dhabi only) Zivko Edge 540 Zivko Aeronautics Péter Besenyei Paul Bonhomme Kirby Chambliss Steve Jones Alejandro Maclean Mike Mangold
External links
Details of 2006 Air Races