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On March 12, local time, the opening match of the 2016 Red Bull Aerobatic World Championship was held over the coastal waters of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This is the 9th consecutive year that Abu Dhabi has hosted the event. 14 aerobatic pilots from 11 countries and regions competed in the air to stage a wonderful "Fast and Furious" show.
To win the race, pilots must travel through the "air gate" composed of inflatable piles at an altitude of 15 to 25 meters from the sea surface in the shortest possible time at a speed of 370 kilometers per hour. At the sharp turn of the circular track, the overload that the pilot must bear can even be as high as 10g, and the difficulty of the event can be imagined, which also makes the competition suspenseful. Before the race, Australian pilot Matt Hall, who was runner-up in the 2015 season, was a big favorite to win the tournament, but fell to 9th place due to mistakes in the competition, while Nicolas Ivanoff from France narrowly won with a time of 58.550 seconds, just 0.1 seconds faster than the second place.
However, this is only the first game of the season, and to become the final winner of qualifying in 2016, the pilots will have to win more in the next seven races in the next six countries. Leaving the heatwave in Abu Dhabi, the pilots will be fully prepared for the second race in Spielberg, Austria, on April 23.