Michael Goulian soars to victory in Abu Dhabi at Red Bull Air Race World Championship season opener

Sport360 staff 20:30 03/02/2018
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  • Michael Goulian flies high in Abu Dhabi

    American Michael Goulian collected his first Red Bull Air Race World Championship victory in nine years as he soared to the top of the standings in the season opener in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

    The 11th consecutive season opener took place on Abu Dhabi’s Corniche and was loaded with surprises, including Goulian, who finds himself at the top of the leaderboard for the first time in his career.

    Defending World Champion Yoshihide Muroya was a close second, with the Czech Republic’s Martin Sonka third.

    Abu Dhabi served up ideal racing weather for 50,000 spectators across the weekend and Goulian took full advantage.

    Known for having great promise but often failing to convert early-race speed into a podium, this time the Massachusetts native was ice cool. Going first in the Final 4, he delivered one of the best times of the day – 53.695 – to Sonka’s 54.650 and a 54.768 from fellow American Kirby Chambliss.

    It was all down to Muroya, and while the Japanese ace flew cleanly, his 53.985 gave Goulian his first win since Budapest 2009, and just the second of his career.

    Some of the title favorites for 2018 will have to scramble back fast if they want to build momentum, like Germany’s 2016 world champion Matthias Dolderer and 2017’s third-place finisher Pete McLeod of Canada, who were both disqualified for exceeding maximum G.

    Then again, Muroya went from 13th at last year’s season opener to taking the title.

    Given their strong starts, Muroya and Sonka appear to be the pilots to beat, but -time titleholder Chambliss looks good and Goulian is in career-best form.

    “It was awesome. It’s been a long time coming to get to the second win and my whole team is over the moon,” said Goulian, who most recently was on the podium as part of a North American sweep at the Red Bull Air Race in Russia last season.

    “Now we need consistency. There are 13 other great pilots in the Red Bull Air Race, and I feel nothing but excitement for the rest of the year.”

    Another unexpected high point came from Great Britain’s Ben Murphy, the only newcomer to the World Championship this season, who advanced to the Round of 8 in his very first race.

    From the Corniche to the Croisette, next up for the world’s best pilots is the long-awaited debut of the Red Bull Air Race in France and Cannes from April 21-22.

    World Championship standings after race one:

    1. Michael Goulian (USA) 15 points
    2. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 12
    3. Martin Sonka (CZE) 9
    4. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 7
    5. Matt Hall (AUS) 6
    6. Ben Murphy (GBR) 5
    7. François Le Vot (FRA) 4
    8. Mika Brageot (FRA) 3
    9. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 2
    10. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 1

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