Red Bull Air Race World Champion 2016.
Matthias Dolderer writes new motorsport history as the German won the Red Bull Air Race debut at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and clinched his first World Championship – and the first for Germany – in the process. Additionally he is the first pilot ever to claim the World Championship before the season finale.

Matthias Dolderer and his team fulfilled their dream. The way MD21 secured the World Champion title in Indianapolis was truly masterful: in the technical track of Indy infront of 62,000 knowledgeable motorsport fans the German showed nerves of steel, when securing his third race win and clinching the World Championship.

Matthias Dolderer is one of the most promising newcomers to the Red Bull Air Race since his debut in Abu Dhabi in 2009. The German ace surprised the field of experienced race pilots and made the podium in his first season, taking third place in the season finale in Barcelona.

Dolderer has become a well-known athlete in the German-speaking world thanks to his unbridled enthusiasm for the sport, his network of media and business contacts, and his ability to convey what is so special about the Red Bull Air Race to a wider audience of the uninitiated. Highly focused, Dolderer is always looking for ways to improve his performance and he was one of the first pilots to invest heavily in the newest high-speed version of the Zivko Edge 540 V3.

Dolderer, who once brilliantly compared the precision flying of the Red Bull Air Race to trying to park a car in a garage while traveling at nearly 400 km/h, took his first flight with his father at the age of three. He grew up at his parent‘s flight school and at the age of five got hooked. He took his first solo flight at 14 and his life has revolved around aviation ever since.
The lifetime aviator gained his glider and microlight licence at the age of 17. Just a few days later, he finished 3rd in the German Championships. At 21 he became the youngest flight teacher in Germany. Together with his sister Verena, Dolderer took over Tannheim Airfield to continue their family’s vision: “To establish a meeting place for aviators, enthusiasts, amateurs as well as professionals.” The legendary Tannkosh event, Europe’s biggest Fly-In, became reality in 1993.

Flying has been my passion from the very first moment and my inspiration. I’ve spent my whole life in hangars, on airfields and in the cockpit..

In 2006, Matthias Dolderer intensified his aerobatic activities to become a Red Bull Air Race pilot in the near future. Outstanding achievements in international aerobatic competitions opened him the way for an invitation to attend the Red Bull Air Race qualification camp in Casarrubios, Spain, at the end of September 2008. Of the six candidates, five qualified for the „super license“ required to compete in the world championship. Dolderer is the only German to compete against the world’s best pilots in the Red Bull Air Race.



2009 Dolderer had a sensational run in the second half debut year, scoring more points in the final 3 races (22) than anyone - except world champion Paul Bonhomme and runner-up Hannes Arch - to thoroughly shake up the race hierarchy. He finished his first season in style with a third place on the podium in Barcelona. In the first half of 2010, Dolderer‘s plane wasn‘t competitive enough to keep up. After changing to a new race plane, a Zivko Edge 540 V3, Dolderer could fight back up the field and finished on an excellent 8th place overall.

2016 Dolderer storms to the title. Matthias Dolderer came into the 2016 season declaring that he intended to win the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, and he was as good as his word. Spielberg, the first snowy Race Day in the World Championship era. Accustomed to mountain flying, Dolderer was right at home among the snowflakes and found the race win that had eluded him in four previous seasons, logging a first for Germany as well. In Budapest family, friends and many, many fans were cheering Dolderer to his second win of the season. 62,000 knowledgeable motorsport fans flocked  to the USA’s legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Red Bull Air Race debut at the legendary racetrack. Dolderer made global headlines when he won the race and clinched the World Championship. It was the first time that a pilot had secured the title before the season finale.

„The most fascinating thing about the Red Bull Air Race is the low level flying, the precision and the speed. It‘s a race against the clock and it‘s a competition with the best pilots in the world. With all the fans, the sponsors and the media attention, we‘ve got the chance to show what aviation is all about to a wide audience. We can talk with them, communicate with them and show them the unbelievable things that we‘re able to do with our aircraft.“

Off the track, he easily reverts back to his fun-loving character. The pilot from the south of Germany brought a myriad of innovations to the race, including a charter flight filled with fans to the Budapest round and invited them to his hangar.