2017 Red Bull Air Race World Championship Explained

The 2017 Red Bull Air Race World Championship was the twelfth Red Bull Air Race World Championship series.

Aircraft and pilots

Master Class

	Pilot	Aircraft	Rounds
5	Cristian Bolton	Zivko Edge 540	All
8	Martin Šonka	Zivko Edge 540	All
10	Kirby Chambliss	Zivko Edge 540	All
11	Mikaël Brageot	MX Aircraft MXS	All
12	François Le Vot	Zivko Edge 540	All
18	Petr Kopfstein	Zivko Edge 540	All
21	Matthias Dolderer	Zivko Edge 540	All
26	Juan Velarde	Zivko Edge 540	All
27	Nicolas Ivanoff	Zivko Edge 540	All
31	Yoshihide Muroya	Zivko Edge 540	All
37	Peter Podlunšek	Zivko Edge 540	All
84	Pete McLeod	Zivko Edge 540	All
95	Matt Hall	Zivko Edge 540	All
99	Michael Goulian	Zivko Edge 540	All

Pilot changes

Former champion Nigel Lamb retired from the sport following the final round of the 2016 season.
2015 Challenger Class champion Mikaël Brageot made his debut in the Master Class.

Challenger Class

All Challenger Cup Pilots used an Extra 330LX.

	Pilot	Rounds
6	Luke Czepiela	1–4, 7–8
7	Kenny Chiang	2–6
15	Baptiste Vignes	1–5
17	Daniel Ryfa	1, 3–5, 7–8
24	Ben Murphy	1, 4–8
33	Mélanie Astles	1, 4–8
48	Kevin Coleman	1–3, 5–6, 8
62	Florian Bergér	1–3, 6–8
78	Daniel Genevey	2–4, 6–7

Race calendar and results

On 16 December 2016, it was announced that the first round in the Arabian Gulf, Abu Dhabi will be held on 10-11 February.^[1] Other rounds were announced on 19 January 2017,^[2] with the final two European rounds announced on 8 March 2017.^[3] Due to organisational reasons, the Challenger round in Chiba was later rescheduled to Kazan, making it a double-header round for the class.^[4]

Round	Location	Date	Fastest Qualifying	Winning Pilot	Winning Aircraft	Winning Challenger	Report
1	Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi	11–12 February	Martin Šonka	Martin Šonka	Zivko Edge 540	Daniel Ryfa	report
2	San Diego, California	15–16 April	Matthias Dolderer	Yoshihide Muroya	Zivko Edge 540	Florian Bergér	report
3	Makuhari, Chiba	3–4 June	Pete McLeod	Yoshihide Muroya	Zivko Edge 540	rescheduled	report
4	Budapest, Central Hungary	1–2 July	Pete McLeod	Kirby Chambliss	Zivko Edge 540	Florian Bergér	report
5	Kazan, Tatarstan	22–23 July	Pete McLeod	Kirby Chambliss	Zivko Edge 540	R1: Luke Czepiela R2: Kenny Chiang	report
6	River Douro, Porto	2–3 September	Pete McLeod	Martin Šonka	Zivko Edge 540	Kevin Coleman	report
7	Lausitzring, Klettwitz	16–17 September	Matt Hall	Yoshihide Muroya	Zivko Edge 540	Daniel Ryfa	report
8	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana	14–15 October	Matt Hall	Yoshihide Muroya	Zivko Edge 540	Mélanie Astles	report

Championship standings

Master Class

Master Class scoring system

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11–14th
Points	15	12	9	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0

	Pilot	ABU	SDG	CHI	BUD	KAZ	POR	LAU	IND	Points
1	Yoshihide Muroya	13	1	1	3	13	6	1	1	74
2	Martin Šonka	1	5	3	4	9	1	3	4	70
3	Pete McLeod	3	10	7	2	2	2	5	11	56
4	Kirby Chambliss	11	4	8	1	1	4	6	10	53
5	Petr Kopfstein	12	6	2	5	4	7	8	5	43
6	Matt Hall	10	9	6	8	6	3	2	8	40
7	Matthias Dolderer	4	3	4	12	10	8	12	2	39
8	Juan Velarde	2	11	10	9	5	DNS	4	3	37
9	Michael Goulian	6	8	5	13	3	10	14	7	28
10	Mikaël Brageot	9	13	9	6	12	5	7	6	24
11	Nicolas Ivanoff	5	7	13	7	11	11	9	13	16
12	Peter Podlunšek	DSQ	2	12	DNS	14	9	13	14	14
13	Cristian Bolton	7	14	14	11	8	12	11	9	9
14	François Le Vot	8	12	11	10	7	13	10	12	9
	Pilot	ABU	SDG	CHI	BUD	KAZ	POR	LAU	IND	Points

Bold – Fastest Qualifying Pilot

Challenger Class

Challenger Class scoring system

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6-8th
Points	10	8	6	4	2	0

	Pilot	ABU	SDG	BUD	KAZ	KAZ	POR	LAU	IND		Points
1	Florian Bergér	2	1	1			2	2	4	8	38
2	Daniel Ryfa	1		3	2	6		1	6		34
3	Luke Czepiela	6	3	2	1			3	2		34
4	Kevin Coleman	5	2		7	3	1		5		27
5	Mélanie Astles	3			5	4	3	5	1	2	23
6	Ben Murphy	4			3	5	5	4	3	2	19
7	Baptiste Vignes	7	5	4	6	2					14
8	Kenny Chiang		6	5	DSQ	1	6				12
9	Daniel Genevey		4	6	4		4	6			12
	Pilot	ABU	SDG	BUD	KAZ	KAZ	POR	LAU	IND		Points

Notes and References

News: 2017 season to kick off in Abu Dhabi. 16 December 2016. 18 December 2016. RedBullAirRace.com.
News: 2017 Red Bull Air Race calendar announced. 19 January 2017. 19 January 2017. RedBullAirRace.com.
News: Porto and Lausitz complete 2017 calendar. 8 March 2017. 8 March 2017. RedBullAirRace.com.
News: Challenger double-header in Kazan. 25 May 2017. 26 May 2017. RedBullAirRace.com.