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to back.

Heading back to Good Luck Airstrip in the Karoo for the final race of the season was less stressful than Race 3, but just as intense. Knowing Greg, he knew exactly what we needed to do and probably had a plan A, B and C. I have to be honest: I didn’t really know how many points we needed or how the bones had to fall for us to win. That’s Greg’s job, and he usually briefs me when it matters. My job is “simple”: fly as fast and safely as I can.

I arrived on Friday with the team already set up and ready. Jarrod and Conner parked the plane and got it ready for practice while Greg and I had a quick briefing and course overview. That usually means Greg calling out the gate sequence while I walk and visualise it. For the first three practice runs, he calls the gates over the radio. After that, it’s about getting used to the course and the sequence.

Between runs we looked at the data and tried different things. It’s always an eye-opener for the team to compare the tailcam footage with what they see from the ground. I’m pretty good at choosing the right lines. That, combined with Greg overthinking and overanalysing, works surprisingly well for us.

Practice was good and the weather was as predicted. Our runs got faster and faster, and super consistent, but we couldn’t match Yoshi’s qualifying run in any of our practice flights. We tried a few turn variations, then went back to our original track because it worked better for us.

We practised on Friday and Saturday and felt really good in the track. Race 4 was more taxing on the body than Race 3. We made the call: Sunday would be our race day.

On Saturday night we had an early braai, and Conner and Jarrod suggested a movie. Gran Turismo it was. Computer gamers racing real drivers. What a fitting movie before Race 4. Thanks to the youths.

Sunday morning. Race day. I was standing in the kitchen having coffee. Greg walked in, made himself one, and we stood staring out of the window. That’s when he told me: we needed fastest qualifying and a win in the final to tie with Yoshi on 99 points. The rules would then give the championship to the pilot or team with the most race wins.

He also explained that winning the race without fastest qualifying wouldn’t be enough for the championship. My exact words were: “Let’s win the whole whole f77ing thing.” And we carried on drinking coffee.

We got to the hangar at 8am. It was −1°C. The plane was already prepped. We did one practice flight, landed and got ready again. Then we saw a change in the wind. Greg and I just looked at each other. “Let’s go.”

We flew a blistering qualifying run: 60.678 seconds. Super fast. We felt we had it in the bag, but nobody said a word.

The quarter-final was easy. The semi-final was supposed to be easy. Teams get two runs per heat, and we always bank the first one and then push on the second. This time we got a penalty on our first semi-final run. Luckily, our second was clean and fast enough to put us in the final. Yes, against the GOAT. Yoshi.

This was it. We had made it. A chance to win the championship again in 2026, something we thought might never be possible after a very, very hard Race 1 and Race 2.

Our semi-final time of 61.9 seconds told us the wind wasn’t ideal. That doesn’t help when you’re racing Yoshi for the championship. We looked at the weather and what it had done over the previous four weeks. Was there a pattern? Was it worth waiting? Would it get better or worse?

We were all outside, standing around the plane, when the windsock started turning a little. I remember us all turning to look at it without saying a word. Let’s do this.

I strapped in with Greg humming the Top Gun theme, closed the canopy and knew: this was it.

61.414 seconds. Greg shouted over the radio: “Patrick Davidson, you are the 2026 champion!” I was happy. I was relieved. But I had one more run left.

We had banked a good one. We had banked a winner. But hey, I could still do one more run in the final. I jokingly said over the radio: “OK, let’s do a faster one! I’ll close the air vents for this one!” Greg just laughed.

61.207 seconds. We did it. We flipped did it. Back-to-back AIR RACE X champions!