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Red Bull Air Race Barcelona Liveblog

Barcelona finale kicks off

September 30.

The Red Bull Air Race Airport at Sabadell, Barcelona was officially opened today in front of a large gathering of Spanish and International press representatives.

The showdown looming between Reigning Champion Hannes Arch and this years Championship leader Paul Bonhomme is the main topic of conversation around RBAR circles here in Barcelona.

Last night two events were held in downtown Barcelona near the race track.

The first was the Pilot activation/autograph session at the beach restaurant "SHOKO".
Enthusiastic Red Bull Air Race fans were able to get up close and talk to the pilots and ask questions of them while getting their autographs.

The second was a party held for departing Teams Dell and Mangold. A traditional Spanish meal was enjoyed with a desert including chocolate pieces with the images of the pilots. A very nice touch to end a great night of comradeship amongst the teams.

Pictures from Porto

A great selection of pictures from Porto

Barcelona Live internet streaming

Watch the Barcelona action live here.
Unfortunately due to broadcast partner commitments the stream can not be seen from the following countries:
* Spain
* Germany
* United Kingdom
* Australia
* New Zealand
* Taiwan
* Malta

Meet Yoshi, Pilot Activation/Autograph session Barcelona

Hi Everybody, Please take the chance to meet Yoshi and other Pilots:
Tuesday; 29 September 2009: Pilot Activation / Autograph Session from 20.30 - 21.00 @

Shoko Restaurant & Club
Paseo Marítino de la Barceloneta, 36. Barcelona

Muroya vs Coulthard

September 21 saw a special event at Yoshi's homebase airport Fukushima Sky Park in Fukushima Japan. David Coulthard's Formula 1 car vs Yoshi Muroya's Extra 300S.

We are not sure who won but from the Video and pictures they had a great time showing off their "rides"!!

It was a great opportunity for two World top level motor sports racers to compare notes on their respective race codes and machinery. Yoshi was sorry that he did not have his real race plane there to show off!

Roll on Barcelona

For the latest on the Barcelona Finale buildup go to:

The Red Bull Airrace Newsroom

See you all in Barcelona!

Next stop Barcelona

The Rookies line up to depart the Porto TRW together enroute to Barcelona while the teams depart to all corners of the globe. In 2 weeks time we will all gather again in Bacelona for the final race of the season. It is sure to be a fascinating race. The front runners vying for top spot and the rookies out to prove themselves to the fans.
Exciting drama will unfold no doubt!

Porto 10

The pilot interviews after today's racing give a great insight into how their day went. Take a look:
www.redbullairracenewsroom.com

Porto 9

A beautiful day in Porto for the final day of racing. Team Moroya had a reasonable day in that our time through the track was quite good and would have had us in 5th place into the super 8. However it was not to be with a 2 sec penalty finishing the day for us.

All in all not a bad effort and we look forward to Barcelona knowning we are getting stronger race by race.

The crowd at the TRW could only be described as extremely enthusiastic as they welcomed the 5 - 15 placed pilots to the autograph session on the far side of the runway.

Porto 8

Onboard Video of Qualifying:
First Quali flight

Porto 7

Pilot interviews from Qualifying can be found here: Quali Interviews





Photos from Qualifying day:
Photos by Taro Imahara

Porto 6

Well, quite a good day for Team Muroya. Everyone is very pleased especially Yoshi. After a mediocre practice in the box Yoshi was not happy with a small modification on the ailerons that we had tested and so we went back to the original settings for the Quali runs. Yoshi is now feeling the courses better and after his good run in the wild cards in Budapest is starting to feel he has the coordination to start to find the potential of the plane. A great run in first Quali and a follow on, although 1 second slower, was smooth and consistent. This is the first time we have achieved 2 consecutive runs with no penalties and is a big step forward for the team.

We hope the weather will allow us to compete in a full day of racing tomorrow. The more racing the better even if we would be 4th if the weather is bad!

Photo: The planes line up for the quali's out of Maia Airport. We had to move there because of the lingering fog at the TRW.

Porto 5

The second practice day ended with no practice again. Although not getting to fly is the same for everyone, it is actually harder on the rookies but I guess we just have to live with it and hope for good weather for the next 2 days.

The official Red Bull Air Race news bulletin about the weather is here:

Red Bull Air Race newsroom

Porto 4

It is now 14:00 and still no training flights. The sea fog is sticking to the coast like glue. The frustrating thing is that the race track is clear and we can see this on our TV screens in the hanger. The RB helicopter has just taken off with Paul Bonhomme on board to check if it is safe to take off and land from the TRW.

Photos:

The TRW as we arrived this morning and Steve Jones describes the way the planes turn at the end of the track for the TV cameras.

Porto 3

It is now 16:20 and we can still hear the foghorns blowing down the coast towards the river and race course. Race training has just been cancelled for the day because of the sea fog remaining in the area all day! Beaten out of valuable training time in the box by the weather. Again.

Porto 2

An interesting news article here about the front runners expectations for Porto as we move into training today (which is delayed due to foggy weather just now)
Arch Bonhomme

Porto 1

Time is flying by here in Porto as we prepare for the racing. Here the TRW for the racing is on a carpark down near the beach on the coast. The race track is a few kilometers away on the river valley with high hills along the side and high bridges at either end of the course. Prior the raceplanes arriving today at the TRW, they were based at Maia, a General Aviation airport some 20 km away. The last 2 days have been spent there preparing the planes after their ferry flights from Budapest

Yesterday afternoon Yoshi had Rob drove down to the race area to recce the course which curves around with the river. It is unique in that you can't see one end from the other and due to the width constraints, there are no horizontal turns or quads.
Check out the course at: Porto

The photos show some of the barges already set up on the river but without the pylons and some of the old buildings around this famous old port city. One can imagine the sailing ships of yesteryear tied up to the banks near the mouth of the river loading the Port wine for which the area is famous. For a brief history of Porto go here: History

Last night there was a public autograph session at the Sao Bento Railway Station which is considered amongst the most beautiful in Europe.

Today the race planes flew into the TRW from Maia and the TRW was officially opened by the Mayor of Porto Mr. Rui Rio and CEO of Red Bull Air Race GMBH., Mr. Bernd Loidl.

Each of the pilots was introduced to the Mayor. See photos.

The road to Porto

TC Robert here sitting in Gatwick waiting for my flight to Porto. It is 30hours now since I left home in Auckland. Yoshi is somewhere enroute from Tokyo via Paris and Tech Takashi is on his way from LA.

We are looking forward to the first race for Team Muroya in Porto and to improving our standings in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 09.

For those that want to meet Yoshi in person there is a Pilot Activation/Autograph session to be held at:
São Bento Station
Praça Almeida Garret, 4000-069 Porto
On 8th Sept. at 20:00 to 21:00

See you in Porto!