Matthias Dolderer has extended his lead in the 2016 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, scoring his second win of the year in Budapest on Sunday.
The German relegated Austrian Hannes Arch into second place and Australian Matt Hall into third on a race weekend plagued by turbulence and rain.
The traditional Final 4 round had to be canceled, with the race results determined by the best times recorded in the Round of 8. Only 75% of the usual points scored were awarded.
Remarkably, Dolderer had copped two penalties totaling four seconds in his Round of 14 clash with Czech Petr Kopfstein, but was still able to win the match race and progress to the next round.
"It was crazy with the rain and wind," Dolderer said afterward. "After a penalty in my first flight today I thought it was just a bad weekend, but then the second flight went really well."
Dolderer eliminated Spaniard Juan Velarde in his Round of 8 clash, clocking 0:58.653. Arch was hot on his heels with a 0:58.942 in his win over Briton Nigel Lamb, and Matt Hall beat Frenchman Nicolas Ivanoff with a 0:59.236.
Had the Final 4 have been run, the fourth person to race would have been American Kirby Chambliss.
“It’s nice to be back on the podium after what has been a really, really hard week,” Hall said.
“We didn’t fly very many times because of the weather but there was a lot of time waiting around preparing which can be really mentally draining.
“On top of that, the track was the most challenging of my career."
The third place is Hall's first podium finish of the year, and the 6.75 points awarded elevates him into seventh in the championship with 18.75 points, 22.5 point adrift of leader Dolderer, who has accumulated 41.52 points..
“To sit in seventh at the halfway mark isn’t really what we anticipated at the start of the year but the good thing is I am improving and getting close to my best,” Hall said.
The series now moves to Ascot Racecourse in the UK on 13-14 August.