Air Race pilots warm up for race over Adriatic's Blue Pearl

Austria's Hannes Arch, Britain's Nigel Lamb and Peter Besenyei of Hungary got a closer look at the
brand-new Red Bull Air Race World Championship track in Rovinj, Croatia and the breathtaking scenery
of the historic town with a Recon flight on Thursday ahead of the weekend's racing.
ROVINJ (Croatia) - Three Red Bull Air Race pilots got a spine-tingling glimpse of the new track set up in
the waters in front of Rovinj, one of the most picturesque towns on the Mediterranean, on a traditional
pre-race Recon flight on Thursday ahead of the second stop of the 2014 Red Bull Air Race World
Championship on Saturday and Sunday (April 12/13). Austria's Hannes Arch led the high-speed, lowaltitude
warm-up for the race on the western coast of Istria with his rivals Nigel Lamb of Britain and Peter
Besenyei of Hungary.
The fly-by in Rovinj, a popular tourist destination also known as the Blue Pearl of the Adriatic Sea,
included an aerial inspection of the iconic St. John at Sea lighthouse a 23-meter high tower built in 1853
on a small island in front of Rovinj. Arch is a close second behind Britain's Paul Bonhomme in the
championship as the world's fastest motorsport series comes to Europe after the season opener last
month in Abu Dhabi. Rovinj is the second of eight races on three continents in 2014 and the first of three
European stops.
With a rich natural and cultural heritage, Rovinj sits on a peninsula that juts out into the Mediterranean
Sea and is full of artists and fishermen. The race in Croatia will also pay tribute to rich tradition of
aviation in the entire region, which includes nearby Slovenia, Austria and Italy.
Pictures: Joerg Mitter and Andreas Langreiter