The 12th consecutive Red Bull Air Race World Championship kicked off at Abu Dhabi’s Corniche waterfront on February 8, 2019, featuring both Master Class and Challenger Class pilots. Air Race 1, which owns the racing program, however, announced the Red Bull Air Race will not continue beyond the 2019 season.
The program features Canadian Pete McLeod who joined the Red Bull Air Race series as a 25-year-old in 2009. The remaining scheduled races include:
• 15-16 June – Kazan, Russia
• 13-14 July – Budapest, Hungary
• 7-8 September – Chiba, Japan
• TBA – Asia
• 19-20 October – Indianapolis, US
• 8-9 November – Saudi Arabia
Jeff Zaltman, CEO and founder of Air Race E and Air Race 1, released the following statement about the discontinuation of the Red Bull Air Race:
The announcement that Red Bull Air Race will not continue beyond the 2019 season is sad news not only for the pilots, teams and fans that put so much effort into that iconic series, but the wider aviation community as a whole.
Air racing can be a demanding and logistically challenging sport and one that requires a lot of time and dedication from everyone involved. Red Bull Air Race set the standard for air racing development and provided a platform for highly skilled pilots to compete in a professional competition to put on an impressive spectacle for its global fans. We wish Red Bull Air Race and the race teams all the best for the remaining three races.
Air Race 1 events will remain a regular fixture of the air racing calendar and is still the only international air race series where pilots fly wing tip-to-wing tip in what is known as formula one air racing. We are due to announce the next Air Race 1 event and other exciting news soon, as we continue to grow towards our long-term strategy of becoming a mainstream sport.
In addition, we have just announced the formal bidding process for venues interested in hosting the world’s first ever electric air race, Air Race E, next year. This will be the first in a series of international electric air racing events aimed at accelerating and promoting the development of cleaner, faster and more technologically-advanced electric engines.
We’re delighted to have Airbus as the Official Founding Partner of the new Air Race E series and we are actively seeking the involvement of other industry partners to collaborate on all aspects of making this series a success.
We welcome interest from anyone looking to get involved in Air Race 1 or Air Race E and we hope that pilots, teams and fans of Red Bull Air Race will continue to support our series as we commit to ensuring the sport of air racing continues to thrive for many years to come.
