Champ leads Team Abu Dhabi
Defending champion Hannes Arch can claim to be something of a local hero. And with the sponsorship of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority behind him, all eyes will be on him to maintain his meteoric rise to stardom.
ADTA has strengthened its strategic Red Bull Air Race World Championship interests via a bold new partnership with Hannes to form Team Abu Dhabi. The Edge 540 aircraft flown by Hannes will be liveried in the Emirate’s name for all six rounds of the Championship.
“Our commitment to the Red Bull Air Race World Championship now goes significantly beyond the Abu Dhabi Red Bull Air Race,” said Ahmed Hussein, Deputy Director General of ADTA.
Known for his consistency, nerves of steel, and poster-boy looks, 41-year-old Hannes says Team Abu Dhabi’s formation has given him a timely confidence boost ahead of this weekend’s race.
“It’s almost like a home event for me and I’ll be doing everything I can to start the Team Abu Dhabi chapter with a victory on home territory.”
The Austrian turned the Red Bull Air Race upside down last year, winning the World Championship outright in only his second season.
By far the most consistent pilot last year, Arch showed he had nerves of steel in high-pressure conditions; he finished with two victories and seven podiums in the ten races.
Life for Hannes has not been quite the same since his win. “I was really moved by the way my family, friends and fans were so happy about it all,” Arch said. “I didn’t expect any of that. But I was really pleased that everyone came out to celebrate. It was incredible.”
But in returning to Abu Dhabi to defend his title, he knows that being a winner brings fresh pressures.
“I’ve really got to concentrate harder now because I have got a title to defend. I was the hunter last year. Now they’ll all be hunting me,” says Hannes, who brought a unique background in adventure sports to the race.
He started hang-gliding at the age of 16 after years of competitive skiing. He progressed to paragliding, working as a test pilot and making thousands of paragliding flights around the world. The next step was base jumping; he made hundreds of leaps off cliffs plunging at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour. He once climbed the west ridge of the Eiger mountain and jumped off the north face.
On top of that, Hannes is also a professional helicopter pilot. “The expectations are higher than before but I have to live with that,” admits Hannes. “But racing has stayed the number one priority. There have been so many things to do that it’s just not been possible to do everything. But in general I’m soaking it all in as much as I can.” He sounds like a man with his feet on the ground, even if his head is occasionally in the clouds.

 

[caption] Left to right – Bernd Loidl, CEO of the Red Bull Air Race: Hannes Arch of Team Abu Dhabi: Ahmed Hussein from ADTA. Photo: Naim Chidiac

[Originally published in Abu Dhabi Week vol 2 issue 14]