British pilot savouring growing popularity of race ahead of London

British pilots Paul Bonhomme, Steve Jones and Nigel Lamb said they have felt the growing popularity of the Red Bull Air Race in the United Kingdom, which will be hosting a race for the fourth straight season. Some 68 percent of the British public knows what the Red Bull Air Race is, but the three Brits said ahead of their home race in London this weekend they have, mercifully, not yet been mobbed like rock stars when they appear in public. Their names and faces are nevertheless well-known in aviation circles, helped in no small part by expanded television coverage on Channel 4 in the UK this season and higher ratings with well over 1 million viewers tuning in to each race.

“The folks who watch the Red Bull Air Race in this country are an enthusiastic bunch,” said Bonhomme, who has been flying brilliantly this season and leads the championship with 35 of a possible 36 points after four races. “If I go to a flying club or an airport where there is an interest in aviation you might get people recognising you. But fortunately I don’t get mobbed when I walk down the street. The interest and knowledge of the race is certainly rising, which is obviously good for the sport.”

Bonhomme, who has three wins and one second place in the first four races of the season, has helped raise the awareness of the race in Britain with his dominance throughout the first half of the season. Bonhomme, who has an unmistakably elegant style of flying the course, will be looking to widen his lead in London, a race that Channel 4 will broadcast on Sunday afternoon.

Jones, who got his first podium of the season in the last race two weeks ago in Rotterdam to move up to 6th place in the standings, has not yet had to fight off any groupies despite the sport’s growing popularity. But he was recently taken aback when he was approached by a stranger in a petrol station who had recognised him even without his racing suit on.

Source: Redbullairraces.com