Up to the Challenge

More of a European phenomenon than an American one, recently the RBAR has more intensely sought a U.S. audience, holding events in Texas and Las Vegas. The air races are wildly popular at venues in the United Arab Emirates, Japan, and Germany, where the racers fly over castles, historic landmarks, famous rivers, and legendary race courses such as Ascot in Great Britain. In the United States, we’ve offered up the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and, in 2016, the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway (October 1 and 2). Over the years, three Americans have provided their country with solid performances—Mike Mangold won in 2005, Kirby Chambliss won in 2006, and in 2016 Michael Goulian offers up his own brand of athleticism, attacking the track just like the fierce competitor he is.

The races are a combination of high speed, low altitude, and extreme maneuvers around tight turns, around and between pylons. Goulian has described his entry into the competition this way: Chambliss simply told him to go out and fly it. Easy for a veteran aerobatic pilot like Goulian, but for younger and less-experienced pilots, how could they work toward entry in this event, billed as the most exhilarating motorsport in the world? After a hiatus from 2011 to 2014, the RBAR returned with a junior division: the Challenger Cup.

“The Challenger Cup was an idea hatched by Red Bull Air Race to re-create the junior series found in other forms of motorsport,” said Steve Jones, race director and a former Master Class competitor. “These junior championships are a training ground and feeder series for the main championships.”

The Challenger Cup offers a new generation of pilots from around the world a chance to compete without some of the obstacles the Master Cup competitors face: owning their own airplane, putting together a team, and “teaching” themselves the course.

“The twin aims of the Challenger Cup are to give new pilots the chance to develop their low-altitude flying skills under racing conditions and further enhance the overall safety of the series,” RBAR has said.

The eight 2016 Challenger Cup racers all fly identical Extra 330LX aircraft, which are supplied and maintained by RBAR.

“A Challenger Cup racer needs to be a very talented and experienced pilot with enough experience to know their own limits, and possess the discipline to stick with them,” said Jones.

The newest name and first American in the Challenger Cup lineup is 26-year-old Louisiana native Kevin Coleman. But you’d have to say Coleman was born with an advantage—in the hospital at his birth was Aerobatic Hall of Famer Marion Cole; his first airshow was at three weeks old, when he watched his father, a protégé of Cole, perform; and Cole started teaching Coleman when he was just 10. He soloed at age 16 and by 17 was the highest-placing first-time competitor in the 2007 U.S. Aerobatic Championship. Oh, and Michael Goulian is his mentor and coach.

“From the age of 3 I knew I wanted to be a professional airshow and aerobatic pilot,” said the intense young man, whose slow Southern cadence belies his energy. “The earliest challenge for me was not being able to see over the panel in the airplane. My dad made me a special seat to put in the airplane so I could see over the panel to fly.”

The Coleman clan all fly—actually, the youngest member says he is the black sheep of the family. His brother and sister and father fly, and they all are also doctors. This Coleman has a degree in aviation management from Louisiana Tech University. There’s an Extra 330LX in the family’s stable of aircraft, so Coleman can practice when he’s at home.

“I grew up watching the Red Bull Air Race. In 2003, when it started, I was 13 and instantly in love with the concept,” he said. “I always told people that I hoped to be a Red Bull Air Race pilot someday. This is quite literally a childhood dream come true.”

According to Jones, RBAR follows the careers of aerobatic and airshow pilots. “Once a Challenger Cup racer has demonstrated their abilities, they are assessed by the Red Bull Air Race management,” he said. “If they are very lucky, they will be offered the opportunity to move into the main championship. However, competition for main championship places is extremely competitive and places are limited. Not all suitable will be lucky.”

In the race. At the close of 2015, two veteran Master Class racers retired: Peter Besenyei of Hungary and Great Britain’s Paul Bonhomme. Peter Podlunsek of Slovenia and Petr Kopfstein of Czechoslovakia moved up from the Challenger Class and debuted in the Master Class at Abu Dhabi in March 2016. Kopfstein had won the Challenger Cup in 2014. Currently the two are ranked 13 and 14, respectively, in the Master Class.

As of this writing Challenger Class newcomer Coleman had won three second-place finishes that earned him a top spot in the rankings. “I’m doing three different styles of flying,” Coleman said. “I fly airshows full time in the United States, I compete in aerobatics, and now I’m doing [the] Red Bull Air Race. So basically I’m in an Extra 300 airplane every day of my life. For me it’s hard to turn your brain off from doing airshow flying and competition aerobatic flying to race flying. It’s a totally different style: You handle the airplane differently, it’s a different setup. So the first day at a race it’s, OK, I’m in race mode now and not aerobatic mode.”

There are 14 pilots in the 2016 Master Class and eight in the 2016 Challenger Class (see “Move Over, Boys,” page 33). “We rarely see issues which would result in the disqualification of a racer, but low flying would be one possible reason,” said Jones. “Our main focus in all areas of the Red Bull Air Race is safety. The Challenger Cup is no different. The pilots are selected and trained with overall safety as a major part of the equation.”

Coleman says he is loving the intense lifestyle of the air race, but the jet lag is a challenge for the American pilot—that and spending so much time away from friends and family. “Sometimes I get so focused and determined to do something new in aviation, my friend and coach, Michael Goulian, always reminds me to enjoy the journey, to take a minute every day to take it all in and make a mental picture of what’s going on,” he said.

Four races remain in 2016: Ascot, United Kingdom, August 13 and 14; Lausitzring, Germany, September 3 and 4; Indianapolis, October 1 and 2; and Las Vegas, October 15 and 16. As of July 1, Coleman was the leader in the Challenger Class with 24 points.

Photography courtesy Red Bull content pool.