Britain's Paul Bonhomme Takes Over Points Lead With First Place Win in Penultimate Portugal Race

SANTA MONICA, CA--(Marketwire - September 17, 2009) - Britain's Paul Bonhomme won a thrilling Red Bull Air Race on Sunday in front of a record-breaking crowd of 720,000 in Porto to widen his lead to 4 points over defending champion Hannes Arch of Austria. Australian rookie Matt Hall took third place, the first podium of his career, and jumped from fifth to third in the overall championship points race.

"I've been in this situation before. Four points is not a lot when there are 13 points available to the winner," said a cautious Bonhomme on the podium. "It will be 'all-guns-blazing' for Barcelona."

Porto was a disappointing race for Americans Kirby Chambliss and Michael Goulian. Chambliss was forced to retire with engine problems despite posting the fastest time of the day in the Top 12. He ended up eighth. Goulian, who won the first race of his career in Budapest last time out, fell to ninth place. Mangold, the 2007 champion having a remarkably consistent year, salvaged some U.S. pride by taking fifth place, which leaves him fourth overall.

The 2009 Red Bull Air Race World Champion will be decided at the season finale in Barcelona, Spain on October 3 and 4.

Now in its fourth season on Fox Sports Network (FSN), the 2009 Red Bull Air Race World Championship will air on Sunday evenings this fall starting September 20 with the first race of the season in Abu Dhabi. Each race will begin at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT in most markets. For a full list of FSN channels and air times, visit www.foxsports.com and enter a zip code in the "My TV Listings" box on the left side of the home page.

Over three and a half million spectators attended the eight races in 2008 and 300 million TV viewers tuned in to watch the sport in 180 countries worldwide. This season on FSN, the three American pilots endure new challenges including the addition of four new rookie pilots to the competition, a new protective G-force suit required during each race this year and the return to two popular American cities, San Diego and Detroit (hosted by Windsor, Ontario), which air on FSN on September 27 and October 4.

Each FSN episode of the 2009 Red Bull Air Race as well as past season episodes will also be available on www.hulu.com/redbullairrace.

For more information please contact Maddy Stephens in the U.S. at maddy.stephens@us.redbull.com or (210) 414-1904. High resolution photos and b-roll are also available on www.redbullairracenewsroom.com along with the latest standings and scores.