Frenchman Nicolas Ivanoff won the first round of the 2016 Red Bull Air Race in Abu Dhabi on the weekend, beating German Matthias Dolderer and another Frenchman Francois Le Vot in the the Final Four.
Ivanoff clocked a 0:58.550 to shade Dolderer's 0:58.660 and Le Vot's 1:02.281. The fourth pilot in the final, Austrian Hannes Arch, was disqualified for breaching a safety line.
For only the third time in his career, Australian Matt Hall did not progress from the Round of 14 after striking a pylon and earning a three-second penalty. He had qualified fastest.
I was pretty relaxed and happy going into the track, in the right frame of mind and I probably just relaxed a little bit going into that gate,” Hall said.
“It was a lapse in concentration on my part.
“I just made a mistake at completely the wrong time. I’d made no real mistakes the whole week in training. That’s racing and we will be back for round two.”
Ivanoff now leads the championship with 15 points from Dolderer on 12 and Le Vot on 9. Hall is eighth having earn two points for coming ninth.
The next round is in Spielberg, Austria, on 23-24 April.