The 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was the ninth season of Red Bull Air Race World Championship,[1] and the first since 2010.
In his seventh season in the series, British pilot Nigel Lamb became the champion for the first time, with consistent finishing being the key to his championship success. After starting the season slowly with just five points from the opening two events, Lamb won his first Air Race competition at Putrajaya Lake in Malaysia, before reeling off five consecutive second-place finishes. These results were good enough for him to surpass former champions Hannes Arch and Paul Bonhomme in the standings; Lamb ultimately finished nine points clear of Arch, with Bonhomme a further two points in arrears. Both pilots won two races during the season, as Arch won at Rovinj, Croatia and at Gdynia in Poland, while Bonhomme won in Abu Dhabi and his home event, at Ascot Racecourse. Nicolas Ivanoff was another two-time event winner, winning at Texas Motor Speedway and the Red Bull Ring, with Pete McLeod winning the remaining event, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The series also introduced a Challenger Cup for the 2014 season, for young pilots to develop their skills. Each pilot entered at least three races in order to accrue points towards the Cup rankings, with the top six pilots after the Las Vegas event being invited to a winner-takes-all event at the Red Bull Ring. Petr Kopfstein won the race by 1.1 seconds over Halim Othman, to take the inaugural title.
Starting in 2014 it was sanctioned by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as an official motorsport,[2] meaning provision of FAI medals especially designed for the Red Bull Air Race, the inclusion of all races in the FAI Events Calendar, and the official approval by the FAI of the race Rules & Regulations. Also, the FAI provided a safety delegate who attended all events to supervise safety aspects.[3]
| Pilot | Aircraft | Rounds | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 |  Hannes Arch[4] | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 91 |  Péter Besenyei | Corvus Racer 540 | All | |
| 55 |  Paul Bonhomme | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 10 |  Kirby Chambliss | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 21 |  Matthias Dolderer | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 95 |  Matt Hall | MX Aircraft MXS | All | |
| 27 |  Nicolas Ivanoff | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 9 | Nigel Lamb | MX Aircraft MXS | All | |
| 84 |  Pete McLeod | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 99 | Michael Goulian | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 8 |  Martin Šonka | Zivko Edge 540 | All | |
| 31 |  Yoshihide Muroya | Zivko Edge 540 | All |
| Pilot | Rounds | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Tom Bennett | 1–2, 4–5, 8 | |
| 5 | Cristian Bolton[6] | 4–6 | |
| 11 | Mikaël Brageot | 1–2, 6–8 | |
| 6 |  Luke Czepiela | 2, 4–5, 7 | |
| 18 | Petr Kopfstein | 1, 3–4, 7–8 | |
| 35 | François Le Vot | 1–3, 7–8 | |
| 88 |  Halim Othman | 3, 5, 7–8 | |
| 25 | Peter Podlunšek | 2–3, 5–6 | |
| 17 |  Daniel Ryfa | 1, 3–4, 6, 8 | |
| 23 | Claudius Spiegel | 2, 4–5 | |
| 26 |  Juan Velarde | 1, 3, 6–7 |
The eight-event calendar for the 2014 season.[7] An updated race calendar was released on 15 July, with the scheduled Chinese round being replaced by a round at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.[8]
| Round | Country | Location | Date | Fastest Qualifying | Winning Pilot | Winning Aircraft | Winning Challenger | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abu Dhabi | 28 February – 1 March | Pete McLeod | Paul Bonhomme | Zivko Edge 540 | François Le Vot | report | ||
| 2 | Rovinj | 12–13 April | Hannes Arch | Hannes Arch | Zivko Edge 540 | François Le Vot | report | ||
| 3 | Putrajaya Lake, Putrajaya | 17–18 May | Hannes Arch | Nigel Lamb | MX Aircraft MXS | François Le Vot | report | ||
| 4 | Gdynia | 26–27 July | Paul Bonhomme | Hannes Arch | Zivko Edge 540 | Claudius Spiegel | report | ||
| 5 | Ascot Racecourse, Ascot | 16–17 August | Pete McLeod | Paul Bonhomme | Zivko Edge 540 | Halim Othman | report | ||
| 6 | Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth | 6–7 September | Pete McLeod | Nicolas Ivanoff | Zivko Edge 540 | Mikaël Brageot | report | ||
| 7 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas | 11–12 October | Pete McLeod | Pete McLeod[9] | Zivko Edge 540 | Halim Othman | report | ||
| 8 | Red Bull Ring | 25–26 October | Hannes Arch | Nicolas Ivanoff | Zivko Edge 540 | Petr Kopfstein | report |
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9–12th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 12 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Bold – Fastest Qualifying Pilot |
Challenger Class pilots competed in at least three races throughout the season, with each pilot's best three scores counting towards the Challenger Cup ranking. The top six pilots in the ranking qualified for a winner-takes-all race at the Red Bull Ring.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Pilot | UAE | CRO | MYS | POL | GBR | USA1 | USA2 | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | François Le Vot | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 30 | |||||
| 2 | Daniel Ryfa | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 22 | ||||
| 3 | Tom Bennett | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 22 | ||||
| 4 | Halim Othman | 6 | 1 | 1 | 20 | ||||||
| 5 | Mikaël Brageot | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 20 | |||||
| 6 | Petr Kopfstein | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 20 | ||||
| 7 | Claudius Spiegel | 6 | 1 | 3 | 16 | ||||||
| 8 | Juan Velarde | 3 | 4 | DSQ | 4 | 14 | |||||
| 9 | Peter Podlunšek | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 12 | ||||
| 10 | Cristian Bolton | 6 | 6 | 2 | 8 | ||||||
| 11 | Luke Czepiela | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 8 | ||||
| Pilot | UAE | CRO | MYS | POL | GBR | USA1 | USA2 | Points |
At the last race of the season in Austria, the top six pilots in the standings took part in a race to determine the final ranking of the Challenger Cup.
| Rank | Pilots | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:05.799 | ||
| 2 | 1:06.900 | ||
| 3 | 1:08.112 | ||
| 4 | 1:08.132 | ||
| 5 | 1:15.180 | ||
| 6 | DNS |