2017 Red Bull Air Race world champion Yoshihide Muroya is the only Japanese pilot in the history of the sport, and is an aviation hero in the country.
ADVERTISEMENT2017 Red Bull Air Race world champion Yoshihide Muroya set his sights on victory again this year, recording back-to-back wins in spectacular fashion at an Extreme Air Race in Russia on Sunday.
Muroya beat Mika Brageot in the round of eight to secure his berth in the Final 4 and had to fly first in the last round. He was clean and clinical in his run and set an insurmountable time of 1:03.496.
Matt Hall was behind in the splits then gained on the Japanese pilot, but as he crossed the finish gate he was still 0.185 seconds adrift, which saw the Australian take second and his first podium of the year.
Current world champion Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic followed Muroya into the track, but in his first VTM (Vertical Turning Manoeuvre) he went high and was soft in the pull up losing time in his run and he just couldn't make up that loss in the remaining time he had in the track.
Japan's top aerobatics pilot, Muroya is the only pilot from his country in the history of the sport, and is regarded as a national aviation hero. He said: "This is a really important race because we have only four races this year. So this race is, you know, kind of deciding a championship. So we prepared very well for the race in Kazan, and it works out. But yeah, to win in four races [would] be [a] really, really big point."