A disappointing result on race day at Wiener Neustadt [Austria] for Michael Goulian ended the day early for Team 99. Picking up a 2-second penalty in the Round of 14, the American was knocked out of his heat against France’s Nicolas Ivanoff.
“Obviously the wind is different today than yesterday, and in the first vertical turn I stalled at the top so I was aware I didn’t want to do that on the second one and I just let off a little too much at the top of the second VTM, which brought me too close to the recovery gate and that meant I had to dive for it and try to get through and obviously I didn’t make it in time so there was a 2 second penalty and that’s that,” Goulian reflects.
What’s a stall, you ask? Find Red Bull Air Race’s Technical Director Jim Reed explain it all here: http://airrace.redbull.com/en_AT/video/tech-talk-understanding-stall
With the final results in the sixth stop of the race series, Team 99 slides down a few notches to 3rd place in the World Championship standings. Despite falling out of his first-place position in the series, Goulian remains focused and hopeful for the next two races on his home turf.
“My plan for the next two races is just to do what we’ve been doing. This race was just an anomaly, just a blip in the road. Yoshi (Muroya) said last year when he won the World Championship, they planned on zero points at two races, so I think if we can stick to that plan, we still have a shot at this year’s World Championship and that’s the goal. It was my mistake today that got us out of the race. It wasn’t the airplane; the airplane was flying fine, and it was just one of those things. Some days you do it and some days you don’t. “
Wiener Neustadt Race Results:
Current 2018 World Championship Standings:
If you missed this weekend’s race in Austria, you can catch it tonight on NBC Sports 7:00PM – 9:00PM EDT (Xfinity). Check your local listings for schedule.
Join Team 99 at the last 2 races of the season in Indianapolis (October 6-7) and Ft Worth (November 17-18).
Visit redbullairrace.com for ticketing, news, and race information.
Red Bull Air Race 2018 Calendar
2-3 February: Abu Dhabi, UAE
20-22 April: Cannes, France
26-27 May: Chiba, Japan
23-24 June: Budapest, Hungary
25-26 August: Kazan, Russia
15-16 September: Wiener Neustadt, Austria
6-7 October: Indianapolis, USA
17-18 November: Ft. Worth, USA
Photos courtesy Red Bull Content Pool