CIRENCESTER pilot Steve Jones caused a stir at the third stage of the Red Bull Air Race World Series in Detroit last Sunday when crashing into one of the inflatable marker gates.

In front of 750,000 spectators lined along the banks of the Detroit River, Jones approached the gate with his wingtips facing the ground and caught it flush.

Apart from the fuselage picking up some of the plastic from the gate, there was no damage to the plane or Jones - except some wounded pride..

"I noticed that the middle gate had moved and I was trying to select the line to get round the fifth gate," said Jones, who won the Red Bull round in Porto last year.

"I took my eye off it for a milli-second and clobbered it immediately. I was probably aiming 10ft away from where I wanted to be. It was a big hit."

It didn't stop Jones from finishing seventh of the 12 pilots and he maintains the same position in the series, which moves to Stockholm on July 5-6.

British pilot Paul Bonhomme leads the overall standings although he was a surprise loser in the Detroit final to American Kirby Chambliss.

Check out the Steve Jones crash online at http://www.redbullairrace.com/index.php?lang=en.