She may be surrounded by men but Melanie Astles’ third-placed finish in the Red Bull Air Race’s Challenger Class in Abu Dhabi proved she has what it takes to be top gun.
The half French, half British pilot debuted in the competition last season and caused quite a stir – not just because she was the only woman in a male-dominated field, but because she was good.
She finished seventh overall, with eighth-placed Brazilian Francis Barros only competing in three of the season’s seven races, but she didn’t just make up the numbers, taking one podium as she finished on 16 points, with just 12 points separating her in seventh and champion Florian Berger.
The 34-year-old deployed an interesting strategy for a rookie in 2016, pushing the boundaries in a bid to see how far she could go, and she says a second-ever podium place in the UAE yesterday proved she could be on course for further success in the future.
“I’m more than pleased. I’m relieved because I’ve been working so hard for the last few years,” said Astles, born in Rugby, Warwickshire to a French mother and British father.
“The rookie year was interesting because I learnt a lot of things. Last season was the best season I could have expected. I was trying to get to the same level as the guys.
“I made all the mistakes possible, I’ve been pushing the penalties and trying the system, basically using the first year to understand what’s going on, and at the end of the season I was much better than at the start.
“I didn’t want to be afraid to make mistakes because you learn and can always get better. If I know what the limit is I know what I can do, so hopefully I can be better this year.”
Reigning Challenger champion Berger and Swede Daniel Ryfa, runner-up in the class for the last three years, were enjoying their own battle out in front on the Corniche yesterday, and even though Astles had contemplated pushing herself, she is trying to add consistency to her performances in 2017.
“My aim was to get on the podium and get confidence,” she added.
“I was getting penalties and hitting pylons last season so my aim was to be clean, be consistent, and it worked out.
“I put everything together during the winter and it’s worked immediately. It was not luck, training was good and last season I was third and fourth so I knew it was possible. I could have won but I could have been last so I decided to keep things easy and go for third or fourth.”
Next on Astles’ radar is San Diego and the second race of the season, which takes place from April 15-16.
