Abu Dhabi News Letter #2

							MAX POWER
 APRIL 2009




                                                                                           News Letter #2




Pete McLeod takes it to
the Track in Abu Dhabi




     Race Review – Abu Dhabi
Months of preparation in the Pete      to the race runway, just days
McLeod Racing camp was put into        before the race. Sunny skies and
action for the 2009 RBARWC             light winds welcomed the pilots
season opener in Abu Dhabi, April      for training days 1 & 2 leading up
17-18. Despite the constant            to the race. “Entering the race
challenge of daily temperatures        track for the first time was as
soaring into the 40’s and the odd      spectacular as it was challenging.
sand storm, Abu Dhabi proved to        We had a boat tour that morning
be a spectacular location for Pete’s   and it was amazing how tight the
debut race. “Arrival into the          track looked.” Pete progressed
temporary runway (TRW) on the          well through the training with
Arabian Gulf, in downtown Abu          constant improvement in lines and
Dhabi was something really             time. “Every time I go through the
special for me. It’s been a long       track it opens up. I’m learning the
                                                                                PMR’s EDGE 540 sitting
road to get here and this landing is   fast lines quickly, but there is a lot   in the hanger ready for
something I’ll always remember,”       to learn”.                               race day in Abu Dhabi.
Pete said of the team’s relocation


                                                          [1]
   While Pete’s flying was              commanding 1 second lead over the
progressing well, the training          fasted time and looked to have
sessions made it apparent the No.
84 race plane was much slower than
expected, “I knew we would not be
                                        control of a position in the next
                                        round. Out of the quarto, Pete took
                                        a direct line to gate 6, and to the
                                                                                 ABU DHABI 2009
putting the fastest plane into the      shock of everyone had a pylon hit!
track, but I must admit I’m             Pete’s day came to a quick end as
surprised how many seconds we are       he had rare case of pylon debris
giving up because of the slow           stuck on the wing and had to
plane. It’s frustrating, but at the     abandon his run for safety reasons.
same time it forces me to fly more      “I really had the throttle open and
precisely, while others can get away    was dialed in for that run. My
with more mistakes and let a fast       pylon hit was a true rookie mistake,
plane carry them.” Pete entered         I got ahead of the plane and took a
qualifying with a clear aim, “I’ll be   hit on one of the easier gates of the
happy if I fly my race, and for         track. The aggressive line I took
today that means clean runs and a       played the wind different and I paid
time close to 1:40”. As the             the price. But hey, this is racing,
qualifying run approached the           when you push hard sometimes you
winds increased to a level where        find the limit.” Pete received a SCO
they were considered to be fairly       (Safety Climb Out) result with no
strong. Despite the fact the wind       final time on race day. Next race is
made the course so challenging that     San Diego, CA, May 9-10

                                        Location Stats!
a record was set for most pylon hits
on a qualifying day, Pete flew a
technically excellent race and didn't
                                        Abu Dhabi
hit a pylon or incur any penalty
                                        Area- 67,340 km!
points. In addition he flew under his
                                        Population- 1.45 million
target time goal. As a result, Pete
                                        Density- 293.94/km!
qualified 12th and proved he could
                                        Time zone- GMT/UTC +4
be in contention to progress through
the wildcard round into the top 12
                                        Abu Dhabi is capital of the United
on race day.
                                        Arab Emirates, and is the largest of
Race day and the pressure was
                                        the seven emirates. This second
heating up. Dolderer and Dell
                                        most populous city of the UAE lies
posted great times in the wild card
                                        on a T-shaped island, with its
ahead of Pete. “I was in the hold
                                        futuristic skyscrapers rising from
and heard the times, I knew it
                                        the desert coast of the Persian Gulf.
would be tough to beat with my
                                        Abu Dhabi is one of the most
plane and I would have to take
                                        prosperous and rapidly developing
more aggressive lines and go for
                                        cities in the world. In just over half
it”. Entering the track and through
                                        a century it has become a major
the first set of gates, attention was
                                        centre for tourism, as well as
raised as Pete was posting a
                                        transforming from a small Bedouin
textbook speed run, with some of
                                        village into a thriving investment
the tightest lines of the race.
                                        enterprise.
Through the first split Pete had a

                                                         [2]
                         2009 Red Bull Air Race Abu Dhabi Results!!

    Around                  Qualifying Results
                            1 Hannes Arch
                            2 Paul Bonhomme
                                                   Race Results
                                                   1st Arch Hannes
                                                   2nd Bonhomme Paul

     The                    3 Nicolas Ivanoff
                            4 Nigel Lamb
                            5 Matt Hall
                                                   3rd Ivanoff Nicolas
                                                   4th Lamb Nigel
                                                   5th Hall Matt


     TRW!
                            6 Peter Besenyei       6th Rakhmanin Sergey
                            7 Alejandro Maclean    7th Mangold Mike
                            8 Kirby Chambliss      8th Maclean Alejandro
                            9 Mike Mangold         9th Chambliss Kirby
                            10 Sergey Rakhmanin    10th Besenyei Peter
                            11 Michael Goulian     11th Dolderer Matthias
                            12 Pete McLeod         12th Dell Glen
                            13 Glen Dell           13th Muroya Yoshihide
                            14 Matthias Dolderer   14th Goulia Michael
                            15 Yoshihide Muroya    15th McLeod Pete (SCO)



 PMR’s Hanger In Abu




Grid Stand At The TWR




                                 ‘Race
                              Rash’ from a
                              Pylon hit on
                              practice day

Pete Being interviewed
in the hanger



                                     [3]
TEAM TALK FROM ABU DHABI..
Nathan - Abu Dhabi was a blast        our driver, I don't think I'm even   something I will always
even though it was too hot for        half as well connected in the        remember as being special for
me. With this being my first time     small town I grew up in as he is     my first race, and I’m glad it was
at a RBAR it was a great learning     in Abu Dhabi. In any case, bring     in such a great place as Abu
experience. The city was              on San Diego, Windsor and            Dhabi. As a team we have a long
beautiful, the people were more       120V electrical power!               way to go but some big steps
than just nice, the food was                                               have been made. It’s true
outstanding, the hotel was great,     Pete – Putting a Canadian in         McDonald’s is everywhere, and
and our driver was just               Abu Dhabi is like putting a          for the record, the ‘McArabia’
unbelievable, helping to host us      penguin in a sauna. Seriously        counts.
and our families to no end. With      though,
little time to play I am looking      this
forward to going back in 2010         race is
                                                       Pete
and spend a few extra days and
                                                  ripping up the
enjoy the city and heat.
                                                   track in Abu
Ted - It sure feels good to get                       Dhabi
that first one out of the way. It’s
shocking how short some of
these people are when they're not
on TV. Truly excellent people
involved with this whole
operation and I'm looking
forward to getting to know them
all a bit more.
My only regret: as good as all the
catered food was, I didn't really
get an opportunity to try any of
the local offerings, which is
something I wanted to do (and
no, Pete, the "McArabia" doesn't
count!). Big thank you to Zayed,



For interview or other media requests with Pete McLeod, please contact:
Nathan Herbert - Team Coordinator - Pete McLeod Racing
Email: media@petemcleodaerosports.com
Phone: +1-519-495-4066


Sonia Klinger - Red Bull Canada
Email: sonia.klinger@ca.redbull.com
Office: +1-46348-0389




                                                       [4]