Abu Dhabi: The skyline along Abu Dhabi's corniche will be transformed into a unique race track when the capital hosts the opening round of the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Series on April 10-11.
The event - held under the patronage of Shaikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan with the sponsorship of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority - will see a new race format that guarantees spectators will enjoy watching all 12 competing pilots in action on the race day.
The new format also means the pilots will only a fly a maximum of three times each day as opposed to four last year, a fact that won't affect the action but which will lessen pilot fatigue in what is a serious international motorsport challenge.
Red Bull Air Race Aviation Director Heinz Moeller firmly believes the new format not only adds to the excitement factor, but also underlines the commitment to pilot safety.
"This improved format fulfils the safety requirements that were discovered throughout the 2007 season,'' he said.
"The pilots will now fly a maximum of three times per day to counteract the fatigue factor. However, it also means that the spectators will now get the chance of seeing all the pilots perform on race day itself."
Last year's global attendances in the 10-round series exceeded the four million mark and hundreds of thousands are expected to gather on the Abu Dhabi corniche to witness the pilots race at up to 400kmh through a low-level slalom-style course just metres from the ground.
On Day One when the qualifying will be gone through, each pilot will compete in two qualifying sessions with the better result being counted for the final day.
The top eight qualifiers will proceed directly to the Super Eight where they will again take on gravity and the slalom course for semifinal places.
Invaluable points
The other four pilots from day one will battle it out in the 'Point One' round for one world series ranking point which may prove invaluable when the series reaches a climax in Perth later in the year.
The race day (April 11) will get underway with the 'Point One' round before the 'Super Eights' take to the skies.
With fast times and the least number of penalties as targets, action in the finals will be tense with crucial semifinal berths at stake.
The semis will see the fastest pilot from the 'Super Eights' compete against the slowest of the top four with the second fastest taking on third quickest in a knockout against the clock.
The grand final itself will see the top guns from the semis in action, while the losing semi-finalists slug it out for third place on the podium.
The overall winner will claim nine precious points with points awarded all the way down to ninth position.