MARTIN ŠONKA
World champion of the elite Red Bull Air Race series, European champion and world vice-champion in aerobatics category unlimited - freestyle, member of the Czech national team in aerobatics category unlimited.
"From gliders through powered aerobatics to supersonic fighter... and nowadays, mainly the taming of a special in the Red Bull Air Race... This is the story of Martin Šonka in a nutshell. Actually I enjoy taming anything with an engine, on land, on water, but of course especially in the air..." (source: martin-sonka.cz)
Martin Šonka comes from Dvůr Králové nad Labem, but the beginning of his flying career is related to the town of Tábor, when he moved to Sezimovo Ústí at the age of two. In the aeroclub Tábor he learned to fly motorized airplanes over gliders. As soon as he came to the conclusion that aviation was what he wanted to pursue all his life, he entered the Military Academy in Brno to study as a fighter pilot. In 2004 he made the Czech national team in aerobatics. He is currently competing with Extra 300 SR in the Unlimited category.
In the army he tried almost all the machines available at that time: the L-29 Delfín, the L-39 Albatros, the L-159 Alca and the JAS-39 Gripen.
Since 2013, he has been a regular competitor in the most famous pilot series of the Red Bull Air Race, finishing second in 2017 and 2019, although the 2019 edition was shortened. However, his greatest success came in 2018 when he won the entire prestigious race.
