Flying at 230mph and pulling 10g’s on an aerial flip, requires an infinitely cooler head than any ordinary individual. And at 58, Nigel Lamb is the personification of cool.
The South African-born pilot was accepted into the Rhodesian Air Force at just 18. A few years later he moved to England and became the county’s most accomplished aerobatic pilot, winning the British National Unlimited Aerobatic Championship eight consecutive times.
Now backed by luxury watchmaker Breitling, Lamb added the Red Bull Air Race championship to his name last year and in his sixth season, he carries the confident bravado of an athlete at the top of his game.
It’s been a testing campaign so far and Lamb sat down with Sport 360 to discuss his title chances, the growth of the Air Race and what keeps him busy away from the track.
How long have you been with the Breitling team and how do you assess your relationship?
My first involvement with them came 15 years ago when I managed and flew in the Breitling Fighter’s display team.
Of course, I knew who Breitling were for a long time because they have such a big involvement in aviation. In fact, I competed in the first ever Breitling World Cup and won a beautiful Navitimer in 1990 but in 2005 I convinced them to support me in the Red Bull Air Race and as they the rest is history.
How did your flying career take off, as it were?
I was exceptionally lucky that in my A-level year at school in 1975 I was accepted for the Rhodesian Air Force and became a cadet in the military.
I wouldn’t have wanted to change places with anyone but it was very hard work and not always fantastically enjoyable. I had seven hard months before I was allowed to fly. I found it came quite naturally and it was a major turning point for me.
– Interview: Mahela Jaywardene reflects on illustrious career
– #360LIVE: The Open live leaderboard, video and updates
– PCB: Governing body turn to Qatar after UAE league snub
– #360view: Spieth keeping it simple in pursuit of third major
You won the Red Bull Air Race last year for the first time just how did that feel?
Amazing. It’s been a long hard road for me since I started making guest appearances in 2006. Slowly but steadily the skills needed for racing came to me because it’s completely different objective from the airshows and aerobatics.
Luckily, everything came together and from the start it’s been an upward trend that ended with that incredible victory.
So you’re in cockpit on your own, is this an individual sport or are you depending on a lot of other people?
The team philosophy is huge. It’s like any other kind of motorsport because the driver or the pilot is just one part of the team. You need that strong support behind you because there are so many factors that contribute to a winning team.
I’ve been very fortunate in that regard because I have such a strong group of guys behind me who complement me so well. Having that trust with your team is crucial and that’s definitely contributed to the success we’ve had.
When it comes to race day there’s very little that I have to do because my team have got everything prepared and that’s so important as it allows me to focus on the task ahead.
Because each race course is so different, how do you practise and prepare for that?
In terms of preparation you have to be at one with your machine. You need to know every detail of the aeroplane, how it flies and how it feels because it needs to be like a second home.
@Nigellamb disappointed in #Budapest, but all is not over. Ready for Ascot? @Redbullairrace #avgeek pic.twitter.com/yHL26ibI8G
— fromtheskies (@fromtheskies08) July 7, 2015
Practise is difficult but advancements in technology have made it much easier. In the past you’re looking at the courses in 2D but now we’re going around the tracks so fast you need to analyse the course in great depth. This is where my eldest son comes into it because he’s our track analyst.
Now, I can fly the track in a simulator through a 3D version of my machine. This allows me to rehearse the track over and over again so that by the time race day comes I know how to tackle it.
We’re halfway through this year’s edition of the Red Bull Air Race how do you think it’s gone so far?
Honestly, it’s gone from bad to average. It’s been a bad season so far because, as with any competitive sport, if you don’t make changes you go backwards. We’ve learnt over the years to get better you need take some bold steps and make bold changes.
Without getting too technical I wanted to change the pitching control of the aircraft so the new part we’ve put in I’m struggling with at the minute. My MSX-R doesn’t feel quite right and that clearly had an affect at the last race in Budapest. Before Ascot on August 15, we’re going to assess the situation.
Do you still think you have a chance of retaining the title?
Mathematically it’s still possible. There are still 48 points available so realistically I’d have to win the next four races and rely on a bit of luck elsewhere.
To be on the podium is tough enough so my work is cut out but I think we’ll be a stronger position when it comes to Ascot. I haven’t lost hope.
How do you assess the growth of the RedBull Air Race?
The dream from both the organisers and the competitors is to head toward something like Formula One. It’s a huge challenge but I never fail to be amazed by some of the locations we fly in.
We’ve raced in Abu Dhabi, Budapest, Las Vegas and East London, so we’ve been to some incredibly iconic places. Anybody who enjoys any kind of sport can see the appeal of it. You don’t have to understand anything about aeroplanes to enjoy the air race. It’s very simple: a man in a machine against the clock. As a spectacle it will beat a lot of other sports.
Abu Dhabi is the traditional season opener, what do you make of the track and the UAE?
It’s a spectacular place to race; as long as we race early enough to beat the heat. It’s a great place to kick things off and the fans are so enthusiastic.
I think one of the things we need to improve, though, is that at other tracks we have a better connection with fans because we take off right near them, Abu Dhabi’s runway is slightly divorced from the crowd in that sense.
What other sports do you get involved in away from air racing?
Because I love it and because it’s really good for fitness I play a lot of squash. As a family, we ski at least once a year and I restore retro cars with my sons.
What is your career high and low point?
The high for sure is winning the championship in Spielberg last year. There’s plenty of lows along the way, you know, some accidents in the military. I haven’t had any in the civilian life, but yeah, lots of things in the military were lows.
