Flying in the Red Bull World Championship is very much a team effort according to the pilots who compete. It’s non-stop for everyone involved and with every year that passes, the pressure on team members increases as the sport fast becomes a global phenomenon.

As in all motorsport disciplines, the person at the controls tends to get the most attention as the ‘ambassador’ of the race team but in reality the pilot is supported by key people who make it all happen long before they hear the ‘Smoke On’ signal to fly into the track.

Aside from the actual flying – which only represents the tip of the iceberg – there are continuous technical refinements being made to the aeroplanes behind the scenes, never-ending media requests to deal with and strategy meetings to be held.

Range of expertise

“The Red Bull Air Race really is all-consuming for pilots and teams,” says Nigel Lamb (UK), now in his fifth year of racing. “There’s so much to do in between races as well as during the off season that you need a solid team around you to get everything done properly and on time.”

Generally the teams comprise pilot, technician and team coordinator (known as a TC in the trade). This trio should equate to a well-balanced combination of expertise across the relevant disciplines but in many cases, the knowledge overlaps. Many of those involved have a flying background and often this shared interest provides the setting for how friendships and business relationships first formed.

Paul Bonhomme’s TC Nigel Warren – who the UK pilot describes as the team’s “travelling quartermaster” – is famed for his ability to multi-task and admits he’s fanatical when it comes to paperwork.

The former corporate jet pilot, who has “known Bonhomme for years”, points out just how varied the TC’s backgrounds are and says: “There are people from all walks of life doing this job – you’ve got a lawyer, a wine merchant, a propeller salesman, an online entrepreneur, a nightclub promoter… it just proves that there are many different skills that can be of use in this role.”

Team building

Choosing the right people to support the campaign for championship success is essential and one that 2009 newcomer Pete McLeod is all too aware of. “If you have one weak link in the team then it’s just not going to come together,” says the youngest ever competitor in the championship who secured his first point in Windsor, Canada, last month.

“For me this isn’t a ‘one shot, one go, one year’ thing so I looked for young, hungry people like me who I think have a lot of talent. I selected them with a view to us growing together as a team.”

Nathan ‘Nate’ Herbert, a professional snocross rider and recreational pilot, is McLeod’s team coordinator. He has shown great marketing and PR aptitude in his inaugural season and as someone that McLeod says he “trusts and can work with” Herbert has helped to put Team 84 in the spotlight.

He’s not alone. All teams have realised that they must play ball with the media, give interviews, be photographed… and generally allow the public access to them as people. To ensure this is dealt with in an appropriate manner, one of the main responsibilities of the TC is to field journalist enquiries.

Current world champion Hannes Arch has decided to include an additional team member to help with this task. Fellow Austrian Mario Schoby coordinates the pilot’s media appointments, photoshoots and generally ensures that Arch remains high on the sports news agenda without encroaching upon his TC’s time.

Good diplomacy skills are often required in the team coordinator role and having a commercial mind is a definite advantage in terms of keeping sponsors happy. There is also a very different side to the role, however, which involves dealing with the operational side of running the team.

Good time management and organisational skills are a must and a driving licence essential as there is plenty of ferrying around to be done during race week.

“It’s a case of booking flights, hotels, working with the official schedules and generally making sure that your pilot is where he’s supposed to be at the right time,” says Lamb’s TC Becci Allen, who has been praised for her willingness to pick up a spanner and help out team technician Nigel ‘Hux’ Huxtable. “Sometimes you’ve all got to get stuck in to get the job done!”

Under the cowlings

All the technicians are pilots and bring a deep-rooted knowledge of aviation engineering which is complimented by hands-on experience and a passion for aeroplanes. Many are involved in restoration projects at home having rebuilt many weird and wonderful classic machines over their careers.

Bruno Marlière, tech to Nicolas Ivanoff, is involved in the restoration and preservation of historic aircraft in France, while Sergey Rakhmanin’s tech is a top level aerobatic pilot from Lithuania called Antanas Marciukaitis.

In addition, some technicians – like Team Goulian’s Tim Hess – have specialist technical motor racing experience to bring to the party. There’s also a hint of ‘tech swapping’ that goes on, with some technicians having worked across different teams since the championship began. It seems some pilots are happy to share and share alike!

For rookie teams like that of Germany’s Matthias Dolderer, previous race experience on the technical side is proving useful. His technician, Kelley Brow, is completely familiar with the Edge 540 and the race environment, having been involved in the championship since 2007. It’s a clear technical advantage over some of the other rookie teams who only have limited race experience to draw upon.

Tailor-made teams

A fresh approach to shaping a successful race team this year has also seen new roles created. Spain’s Alejandro Maclean was the first to enlist the services of a dedicated sports coach. As a somewhat emotionally charged competitor, Maclean admits during the 2008 season he became distracted and was unable to remain fully focused on his flying.

He stresses that his team is looking to achieve the necessary synergy between the physical and psychological factors that have an impact on race success.

“I decided to find a professional sports psychologist to help me push the distractions outside of racing from my mind. I went to one of the universities in Spain where I found Eneko Larumbe, a Doctor in Psychology with a special interest in sport psychology. We have been looking at all aspects of racing and concentrating on how we can improve and work better as a team with specific goals and objectives.”

Maclean’s decision highlights the point that each team has a different set of strengths and weaknesses which can benefit from a bespoke solution. With that in mind, Bonhomme has also enlisted the help of a carbon fibre expert from California who has assisted technician Wade Hammond throughout the off season and also at the first three races of 2009.

Selecting this additional expertise underlines Team Bonhomme’s focus on improving aerodynamic efficiency of the Edge 540 and signals a growing trend of teams trying to get ahead of each other with more creative strategies. Having a second tech with a specialist knowledge of aerodynamics has definitely allowed the team to ramp up technical activity as four hands are certainly better than two.

It will be interesting to observe over the coming months how teams try to gain an advantage over their race rivals and whatever focus they take, there will be little sharing of advice. The pilots – and the teams that support them – are all focused on success but the right combination will inevitably vary from hangar to hangar.

The winning formula of personalities and skill sets will remain open to interpretation but a shared goal is the unifying theme. So when the fans see the smiling face of a victorious pilot on the podium after a race, they can rest assured that those back at the hangar will be sharing that sense of achievement.

And later on, when the celebrations are in full swing, the other members of the winning team will be basking in their well-deserved glory.

Anyway, if reading a big post gives you pain, watch those two videos:

Behind the Scenes of Racing: Red Bull Air Race Logistics

Behind the Scenes, Red Bull Air Race, San Diego, 2007