Frenchman becomes the fastest flier

Embracing the bright side: A guide on how to cultivate optimism

The power of solitude: Why you should go on a solo trip

How to get your kids to read: Essential tips for parents

Nicolas Ivanoff and Team Hamilton won the Master Class Catergory of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi - The Air Race requires pilots to fly in a circuit, about five kilometres long track, at maximum speed, while going through seven narrow gates.

Silvia Radan

Published: Sat 12 Mar 2016, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Sun 13 Mar 2016, 10:50 AM

Nicolas Ivanoff won the fastest race on the planet, the Abu Dhabi Red Bull Air Race, on Saturday. The French pilot performed the fastest and most skilful flight, winning the race in 58.550 seconds. He was followed by Germany's Matthias Dolderes, finishing the race in 58.660 seconds and Francois Le Vot, also from France, in third place, with a 1.02 minutes finishing time.
"I propose to stop the championship now and move on straight to the next year's season," joked Ivanoff after finding out the results.

And the winners are...
. Nicolas Ivanoff (58.550 seconds)
. Matthias Dolderes (58.660 seconds)
. Francois Le Vot (1.02 minutes)

"I'm really happy to win! After the first round [of 14] I thought the race is going to be really hard, but I was confident," he added.
Now in Abu Dhabi for the ninth year, the Red Bull Air Race is a world championship series of races taking place throughout the year in different cities around the globe.
Launched in 2003 as the most advanced aerial challenge the world has seen, the Red Bull Air Race requires pilots to fly in a circuit, about five kilometres long track, at maximum speed, while going through seven narrow gates (25 metres high inflatable pylons).
The race began here on Friday with the qualifying round that determined the order of the 14 pilots who competed in the final race on Saturday. Among them were Pete McLoud who was on the podium in Abu Dhabi last year and Matt Hall, who qualified with the fastest time on Friday.
Hall began the race as the favourite for the podium this year, but right from the start disaster struck and he got eliminated in the first round of 14. He was racing against US pilot Kirby Chamblis and even finished 1.5 seconds ahead of him, but Hall hit a pylon and the penalty put him out of the race.
"I was feeling good and relaxed a little bit too much. I was over concentrated on the crowd line instead of what I had to do," he explained in the break between the rounds.
Thousands turned up to see the race on the warm Saturday afternoon on the Corniche.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com