Austrian ace Hannes Arch won the Red Bull Air Race Budapest 2008. It’s his first-ever victory, in only his second season. Britain’s Steve Jones was 2nd while Paul Bonhomme, the current leader, was 3rd. The result means Arch is now in 2nd place in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship with three more races to go.

“It is just overwhelming, an amazing feeling,” said an elated Arch, who has had a stellar rise from rookie last year to one of this year’s championship contenders. “I couldn’t believe it. You have to stay focused right until the very end and now I am just really happy.” Arch also had the fastest time of the day with 1:03.34 in the semi-finals.

The race in Budapest, the sixth of the current World Championship, was full of surprises. Mike Mangold finished 4th overall while local hero Peter Besenyei finished 5th, despite a last-minute operation to install a new engine in an effort to increase his speed (check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMgJ5jftT7w)

The biggest blow was dealt to 2006 World Champion Kirby Chambliss who in a dramatic reversal of fortune failed to qualify for the Super Eights. He finished last in the Point One competition after he hit one of the pylons and was penalised for Incorrect Level Flying incurring a total of 13 penalty seconds. That capped off a disastrous week for the American and puts his hopes of winning the championship this year in jeopardy.