Abu Dhabi: Britain’s Nigel Lamb will have his work cut out when the 2015 Red Bull Air Race World Championship kicks off in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

The reigning world champion will be pushed to the limits by the 2008 world champion Hannes Arch, who finished second overall last year, and the two-time world champion Paul Bonhomme, who won last year’s season opener in Abu Dhabi and was third overall in 2014.

In what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive fields in the event’s history, Lamb will also be trying to stay on top of the expanded roster of 14 pilots in the high-speed, low-altitude spectacle.

There were five different winners in the eight races last season, as the gaps between victory and defeat dwindled to their closest ever, with a mere thousandths of a second separating some heats as nine of the 12 pilots made it onto the podium at least once.

“It’s going to be a very exciting and competitive year,” said Lamb, who was fifth in last year’s Abu Dhabi race and second in 2010.

Britain’s Bonhomme, who has won three of the previous seven Abu Dhabi stops, is already preparing for another win in Abu Dhabi on Friday and Saturday. “I’m excited to race again and we love Abu Dhabi as it’s part of the furniture of the Red Bull Air Race,” he said.

Hot on their heels will be France’s Nicolas Ivanoff, Pete McLeod of Canada, Matt Hall of Australia, German Matthias Dolderer, the Czech Republic’s Martin Sonka and Yoshi Muroya of Japan — all of whom won podium places in 2014.

Former Abu Dhabi winners Peter Besenyei, who won in 2005 and 2007, and Kirby Chambliss (USA), who won in 2006, will also be back. Rounding out the field are American Michael Goulian and two newcomers, Francois Le Vot and Juan Velarde, who achieved promotion from the last year’s inaugural Challenger Cup.

Abu Dhabi boasts one of the most challenging races due to the hot temperatures and capricious winds.

“The winds in Abu Dhabi can shift from one moment to the next, blowing in from a completely different direction,” said Jim DiMatteo, the Race Director. “Those sudden changes make the track even more difficult for the pilots when they’re flying through it at 370 km/h.”