Paul Bonhomme soared to victory in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship with a thrilling win over rival Hannes Arch in Windsor, Ontario, on Sunday.
It was the Briton's ninth career triumph and put him just one point behind Arch in the championship.
Even though most of the frontrunners struggled to avoid penalties on the windy, turn-filled course straddling the Canada-US border on the Detroit River, Bonhomme produced a series of flawless runs, posting a winning time of 1:08.16 on the 15-gate course.
Austria's Arch was second, 1.15 seconds behind, and Kirby Chambliss, of the US, took third.
Canada's Pete McLeod got the first championship point of his rookie career with 11th place to the delight of the big home crowd.
"This was by far the hardest race I've ever won if you look at the times the other guys have been posting all week," Bonhomme said.
"There were times when I thought I was going to hit a pylon. You just have to push. If you want to win this thing you have to go to the limit."
Bonhomme became the pilot with the most number of wins, since the Air Race championship began, with his ninth victory and first since Perth, Australia, in 2008.
Mike Mangold is second in the all-time standings with eight career wins. Arch, who won the first race in Abu Dhabi and was third in San Diego, leads the championship with 33 points ahead of Bonhomme on 32 and Nicolas Ivanoff in third with 24.
The race in Windsor, the third in the six-race championship this year, was also a triumph for three Americans.
Chambliss, the 2006 world champion, got the first podium of the season after struggling with just three points in the first two races thanks to his powerful new engine while Mangold, a two-time champion in 2005 and 2007, got his campaign back on track with a season-best fourth place.
Michael Goulian also made a big jump higher, climbing to sixth after coming 14th in the first two races in Abu Dhabi and San Diego.
A total of 290,000 spectators attended the weekend's racing in Windsor, the first race to take place in Canada.
The championship heads to Europe for the next stop in Budapest, Hungary, on August 19-20.
Standings: 1. Arch (Austria) 33 points; 2. Bonhomme (Britain) 32; 3. Ivanoff (France) 24; 4. Hall (Australia) 19; 5. Lamb (Britain) 18; 6. Mangold (US) 18; 7. Rakmanin (Russia) 17; 8. Chambliss (US) 13; 9. Besenyei (Hungary) 10; 10. Maclean (Spain) 8; 11. Goulian (US) 6; 12. Dell (South Africa) 3; 13. Dolderer (Germany) 1; 14. Muroya (Japan) 1; 15. McLeod (Canada) 1.