News & Multimedia

What They're Saying: First Impressions of IMS

October 01, 2016 | By Red Bull Air Race

The pilots of the Red Bull Air Race flew, for the first time ever, in the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. It's a technical track and there are lots of lines to choose from. Here's what they thought...

Matthias Dolderer
"It's an honour to fly here at this location with all the motor racing history. The entry speed is the slowest I've ever seen in my Red Bull Air Race career. It's a very technical track and there are lots of options to choose which line you want. Once you find the line the track is smooth. The vertical turning maneuver is where you can win or lose a lot of time. It has to be done right."

Matt Hall
"I've been battling a bout of gastro this week and I felt pretty flat and drained after that first flight, so I thought it was best to get some rest and recover. I'm happy with the first Free Practice session and tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully I'll be feeling better."

Kirby Chambliss
"It's an interesting track. I'm still trying to find a tenth of a second at each turn. To win here you're going to have to fly really close to the line and if your turns aren't under review by the judges, you're going to be too far away for a chance to win."

Nicolas Ivanoff
"On paper I thought the track was going to be really hard and tight, and as it's 2.5 laps I thought it was going to be physical. The entry speed is quite slow, around 140kts, so when you hit the first turns you have time to think and plan your lines – it was a nice surprise. I wasn't comfortable in the raceplane in the first session, but I felt part of it in Free Practice 2 and that gave me confidence – and when you feel good, you can do anything!"

Martin Sonka
"The track is completely different to all the others. The crucial part is the pull up at the vertical turning manoeuvre when you have to turn 90 degrees. It's where you can gain or lose a lot of time. It's the slowest start, it's around 10kts slower than Ascot and you have to be really sensitive with the controls as you build up the energy in the raceplane. We think we have found the correct line, but if we fly tomorrow and the wind is different we're going to be recalculating the entire track."

Nigel Lamb
"The standing start makes it tough out there. It starts quite gentle and then you build the energy and wind up into the track. As you're gaining energy the lines subtly change. The vertical turning manoeuvre is tough and you pass 22 gates in just over a minute – it's different."

Yoshihide Muroya
"It's quite a challenging track, there are a lot of ups and downs in there but it's a lot of fun to fly. The slow start is fine for us in the Master Class, but the Challengers might find it more difficult. We have more lines we want to test tomorrow."

Pete McLeod
"I like the track so far. The technical side of this track helps us – guys were taking a lot of penalties today. It is a challenging track to fly fast. I really like the handling of my raceplane – I'm comfortable with it and can stay ahead of it in that way, so usually that benefits me a bit. Ultimately it's better for me than if it was just a big open track. So we'll see. There's quite a few Canadian fans coming, and we've got family in town – both my parents are here and my sister – so it's a little busier from that side than usual, but it's nice not to have to deal with jet lag. I'd almost forgotten what it's like to be at a race and wake up feeling normal!"

Michael Goulian
"We were trying lots of different things, but we really only got to put two runs together all day and I couldn't find my rhythm. We didn't have the times we wanted, but tomorrow we'll be ready!"

Juan Velarde
"It's a difficult and technical track. There are a lot of lines to choose in the track. We've found some great lines out there at different times in different parts of the track and now we're trying to put them altogether in one run to be faster.'"
 
Francois Le Vot
"I had a lot of fun out in the track. I felt very comfortable out there. Due to the slow entry speed the first lap is like a warm up and you can check your lines before the second lap. I think I can find some time in the track but the main thing is for me to enjoy it."

Peter Podlunsek
"The track is really flyable, but you have to be so precise and fly error free. It's challenging because of the elevation in the track. The vertical turning manoeuvre is where this race will be won or lost."

Petr Kopfstein
"It looks a lot more difficult on paper, but we didn't post the time we thought we would. It was the opposite, the track wasn't as difficult as we thought, but the times were slow. I'm not happy with my lines but there's nothing spectacularly wrong. We'll be able to find the tenths of seconds we're looking for."

Cristian Bolton
"Today was amazing, I love the track and it's pretty demanding because of the static takeoff. With some of the gates they are so close that you don't have time to make corrections. I'm feeling very confident in the raceplane and the team is great."