OXFORDSHIRE pilot Nigel Lamb has won the Red Bull Air Race after a gripping final showdown in Austria.

The competition pits pilots against one another around eight global aerial racetracks at breakneck speeds.

Mr Lamb, from Sydenham, near Thame, was tipped as a favourite to win and did not disappoint – placing second in the final race but seizing first in the world championship overall.

He said: “I feel very lucky because I didn’t think that my time was even good enough to get on the podium.

“It was a great day and an indescribable feeling.”

Oxford Mail:

In front of 35,000 spectators at a race circuit nestled among the snow-capped mountains of Speilberg, Austria, above, Mr Lamb fended off Austrian Hannes Arch’s challenge to the title by coming second and staying nine points ahead.

It was the first time Mr Lamb, who was inspired to take up flying by his father, an RAF fighter pilot in the Second World War, has won the world title.

The Red Bull Air Race sees 12 pilots fly aeroplanes around a course through a series of gates – air-filled pylons – with the aim of getting round as fast as possible.

He completed the race, about 5km, in just over 58 seconds.

Pilots endure gravitational forces of up to G10 – almost three times as much as Formula 1 drivers.

Mr Lamb races with Breitling Racing Team in an MXS aircraft. Weighing 580kg, it has a top speed of 253mph and a wing-span of eight metres.