A newcomer in the Master Class category, young French pilot Mika Brageot is now flying the Breitling colours in the Red Bull Air Race at the helm of his high-performance “Skyracer” with its truly extraordinary appearance

After flying under the Breitling banner for eight seasons and winning the Red Bull Air Race World Championship 2014 in particular, British ace Nigel Lamb has retired from competition. He will however not be leaving an empty seat behind him, as Frenchman Mika Brageot will now be heading the Breitling Racing Team.

The youngest pilot to have joined the French Aerobatics team, Mika Brageot (born 1987) swiftly climbed his way up the ranks of aeronautical competition at national, European and international levels. In 2014, he was selected for the Red Bull Air Race Challenger Cup and pulled off the amazing feat of winning it as early as his second season. In 2016, he was selected to inaugurate a new mentoring program as Nigel Lamb’s “protégé” which enabled him to become acquainted with the high-speed, low-altitude competition.

Trained by the best, Mika Brageot is also taking the controls of Nigel Lamb’s high-performance airplane that he already had opportunities to fly throughout 2016. But to mark this new start, the MXS-R re-named “Skyracer” has been completely repainted with an original, daring, military-inspired design that creates as much of a surprise in the air as on the ground. It flaunts a style that is a blend of “vintage” and “hardworn” aspects, with the fuselage and wings in rust colour as if the plane – albeit in the vanguard of technology – required some serious restoration.

An offbeat tip of the hat that is perfectly in sync with the Breitling spirit. The presence of a large brand signature running across the plane from one wing to the other, together with an XXL winged logo under the wings, also ensures optimum visibility – in every position – during these competitions that are amongst the most spectacular in the world.

Mika Brageot and his MXS-R “Skyracer”: two new stars set to soar in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.