I shot more than 1,800 photos plus some video on this first day of the Red Bull Air Race 2017 here in Porto. Highlight of the day: the one Canadian pilot, Pete McLeod, had the best time in the Master Class qualification race. It’s anyone’s race tomorrow, but GO CANADA!
There’s no time to even view the whole batch of images — let alone process them — so I’ve chosen a few to whet the whistle while I recharge my batteries to do it all over again tomorrow.
There was a pylon hit, but the crew got it back up in no time.
Pete McLeod’s plane, sporting the Canadian flag.
Quotes from the Master Class pilots after today’s qualifier here. I was at the press conference and have some video of it, but here’s an excerpt:
Pete McLeod:
“Thanks to the city of Porto for having us, it’s a great venue, fan base and it has a lot of passion. It’s special to be back and to take top spot in Qualifying – I’ll take that any race. We’ve had a good season but no wins yet. The raceplane’s running good, flying’s good and the team is working well together. We need a bit of luck and things to go our way on Race Day. To come out with two second places this season and think it’s underperforming, shows how far we’ve come. There’s a lot of speed out there and if I do my job well, we’ve got the chance to win. The gameplan is to keep flying fast and keep putting down fast times. That’s all we can do. I just need to go out there and keep flying. When race control tell me I’m in position number one, that’s all I need to hear.”
September 2, 2017
Album: Red Bull Air Race 2017 – Porto