August 2004 (Newstream) -- Everyone knows what aerobatics is. And what you have to do in a ski slalom. The Air Race is a sort of combination of these two disciplines: an aeroplane race against the clock through several obstacles in a very tight space. On 20 August, the second race in the new Red Bull Air Race Series 2004 - right in the heart of Budapest's city centre - will make its own very special contribution to the celebration of St. Stephen's Day, the Hungarian national holiday.

Kirby Chambliss at RBAR UK 04 (c) Stefan Aufschnaiter

The Red Bull Air Race celebrated its premiere at the AirPower03 air show in Zeltweg in Austria with six world-ranking aerobatic pilots taking part and race inventor Peter Besenyei emerging as the winner. After the second Air Race, which started at Tököl Airport in Hungary, the Red Bull Air Race World Series was created. This year is the first season with races taking place in England, Hungary and the USA. The Air Race in Budapest promises to be a particular high spot, as the race, which can reach speeds of up to 400 km/hr, will be taking place on St. Stephen's Day, in the town centre directly above the Danube. The eight pilots will start their race against time right in front of the Hungarian parliament building between the Chain Bridge and the Margaret Bridge. Included in the aerobatic challenges are several flights between obstacles in the knife-edge position, half and full rolls, also in the vertical upward flight, and a touch and go on a small artificial island. After performing a large figure eight in front of the parliament building, the world-class pilots will then fly under the Chain Bridge to reach their goal.

The choice of place and time is a particular honour for the Air Race and its pilots. And this will be an unforgettable day for one of the big favourites in the race - who is also its creator. Peter Besenyei is a national hero in his homeland. It will be a special challenge to the three-times World Aerobatic Champion to fly along the Danube in front of hundreds of thousands of local fans - and many times more that number watching the event on their television and computer screens.

The Red Bull Air Race in Budapest will be broadcast live on 20 August from 7:30 pm via live stream on www.redbullairrace.com and on Hungarian television on RTL Klub.

Competing pilots:

Frank Versteegh, 49, Netherlands
Frank is one of the most versatile aerobatic pilots in the world: He has been performing aerobatics for more than 30 years, was a member of the Czechoslovakian aerobatics team and has already flown more than 150 different aeroplanes.

Kirby Chambliss, 44, USA
The three-times US National Champion and World Aerobatic Champion in 2000 also sets records for his profession. The youngest pilot at Southwest Airlines at 24 years of age, Kirby became their youngest captain at 29.

Klaus Schrodt, 57, Germany
When he was young he cleaned the hangars in exchange for flying lessons. This paid off for the Lufthansa pilot. He has won the German Aerobatic Championship eight times and in 2001 was victorious in the World Freestyle Aerobatic Championships.

Paul Bonhomme, 39, Great Britain
His career began with cleaning aeroplanes, now he flies Boeing 747s und Boeing 777s with British Airways. In 1986 he caught the aerobatics bug, and some time later Paul got together with his best friend Steve Jones and founded the aerobatics duo the "Matadors".

Peter Besenyei, 48, Hungary
In the eyes of many he is the best aerobatics pilot in the world - he is certainly the best known since in 2002 he flew upside down under the Chain Bridge in Budapest. Peter continues to develop the sport of aerobatics: The inverted flat spin and the knife-edge spin are his creations. In his civilian life Peter Besenyei tests aeroplanes for the Hungarian aeronautical authorities.

Ramon Alonso Pardo, Spain
Ramon is a typical Spaniard: proud, a bit of a daredevil and hot-blooded. A few years ago at the 1st World Air Games in Antalya his Sukhoi got into difficulties, Ramon had to perform an emergency landing on a motorway and only just escaped from the burning plane. As 15-times Spanish Aerobatic Champion he has of course already put his nerves to the test many a time.

Steve Jones, 44, Great Britain
In 1995 Paul Bonhomme's teammate was the British Freestyle Aerobatic Champion, and one year later he was British Aerobatic Champion. It all started in 1978 in a rickety old Cessna Aerobat, which he also used for giving flying lessons. Perhaps it is because of this old plane that, alongside his career as an airline pilot, he also became a flight engineer for British Airways.

Alexander MacLean, 35, Spain
Alexander's flying career did not begin with cleaning aeroplanes like that of so many others, but in an ultralight aeroplane. He notched up more than 1000 flying hours in this and then went to the USA to learn aerobatics. In 1999 he became European Champion in his special discipline - Unlimited Aerobatics.

Being Peter Besenyei

If you've ever dreamed of challenging the world's greatest aerobatic pilot, now's your chance: Red Bull Air Race is now available as a breath-taking online game.

Red Bull Air Race online puts the players in the Sukhois and Extras of Peter Besenyei, Paul Bonhomme, Klaus Schrodt etc. and makes the same demands on screen as the contestants in the real air races have to meet in their cockpits: precision, rapid reaction and absolute perfection in handling their sport aircraft.

Before the championship there are of course practice flights for the online pilots: in a personal training plane. It is slightly slower and a bit lighter than the racing planes - and therefore much easier to manoeuvre.

After a few training flights it should be no problem to change to the "Race Plane" and enter the competition - the fight for the top positions in the rankings of the respective courses can begin.

The precise recreations of the courses at Kemble and Budapest are now online, and the stopwatch on the virtual course at Reno will start ticking soon.

Just as in the real world of aerobatics, first there will be three individual winners in the virtual Red Bull Air Race - one for each of the courses: Kemble/UK, Budapest/HUN und Reno/USA. They will be determined on 20 September - and fly against each other on 21 September in a superfinal for overall victory and the title of the Red Bull Air Race Online Champ. The prize for the best online pilot? A thoroughly unvirtual aerobatic flight.

... 3, 2, 1 ... here we go!

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