This Sunday was Race Day in Cannes, where top honors went to Australia’s Matt Hall, who captured his first Red Bull Air Race win since 2016. Matthias Dolderer of Germany was second, and the USA’s Michael Goulian took third.

Hall flew first in the Final 4, clocking 57.692. Reigning World Champion Yoshihide Muroya of Japan earned a two-second penalty and Dolderer finished 0.072 behind the Australian.

Asia is next as the circuit now heads to Chiba, Japan, on 26-27 May.  

Here is all you need to know about the action in Cannes: 

- The shock of the final round came when it was announced that Czech pilot Martin Šonka, who had advanced to the Final 4, would in fact finish eighth due to evidence found after the end of the Round of 8: a technical infraction of exceeding the maximum RPM limit.

- As a result, it was 2018 World Championship leader Goulian who leaped into his raceplane and concluded the final round, his third-place finish keeping him at the top of the overall leaderboard.

- After a full year of improvements to a new raceplane, Hall was hungry for the win, and only three points now separate him from Goulian overall, with Muroya in third.

- Hall declared, “It’s been a long, hard transition – a very steep climb – from our former MXS raceplane to our new Edge, but now with a new team, this new plane and a new sponsor, it feels awesome. We’re feeling set to make a run for the World Championship.”  

- Red Bull Air Race made its debut in France with five French pilots experiencing their home race in both the Master and Challenger categories.

- 83,500 spectators gathered on The Croisette over three days.

- The event took place at the glitzy coastal resort before the famous film festival rolls out the red carpet from May 8-19.

For more details about where each pilot stands in the 2018 Championship, visit www.redbullairrace.com.

Photo credit: Mihai Stetcu/Red Bull Content Pool