May 7, 2010 - Paul Bonhomme of Britain topped the time sheets in the first Red Bull Air Race training session on Thursday ahead of the weekend’s race in Rio de Janeiro. Compatriot Nigel Lamb was second under brilliant blue skies and Frenchman Nicolas Ivanoff put in a strong performance with third place after making major modifications to his engine’s exhaust system.

Bonhomme, the defending champion and overall points leader this year, posted the fastest time of the day (1:21.58) after a flawless display of flying on the 5,634-metre course of 15 Air Gate obstacles set up in front of Flamengo Beach, where a million viewers are expected for Sunday’s race. Bonhomme, who won the first Rio race three years ago, said it is a wonderful race track that should produce fast times.

But the British ace also cautioned against reading too much into the results as Austria’s Hannes Arch - who beat him in the last race in Perth, Australia - appeared to use the training session to focus on learning the track before presumably raising his speed later on.

The weekend’s race in Rio is the second consecutive race this year in the Southern Hemisphere, the first time in Red Bull Air Race history that there have been back-to-back races south of the equator and a reflection of the growing popularity of the high-speed, low altitude sport around the world. Brazilian rookie Adilson Kindlemann will only be a spectator after his plane was wrecked in an accident in Perth. But Michael Goulian of the United States will be carrying Brazil’s national colours into the race after signing a sponsorship deal with Brazil energy giant Petrobras. Goulian has already been dubbed “Gouliano” by the local media.