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Milestones: Say it isn’t so!

Red Bull cancels air race series after 2019 season

Red Bull has canceled the Red Bull Air Race World Championship after the 2019 European season and axed the October event in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Austrian beverage company, which sponsors high-energy sports ranging from motorcycle racing to cliff diving, started the series in 2003.
Pilot Briefing August 2019
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Red Bull issued a statement to media outlets announcing the series cancellation and thanked “the pilots, their teams, partners, the host cities as well as the Red Bull employees for all they have done to make these enjoyable and memorable events.”

U.S. competitor Michael Goulian posted the news release on social media and fan reaction was swift, with many holding out hope that another company would take over sponsorship and rescue the series. But crowd numbers never fully recovered after a “revamped concept” and fixed calendar were put into place following a three-year hiatus for restructuring from 2011 to 2013.

AOPA partnered with Red Bull for the past five years on the Red Bull Air Race. “We have become friends with many of the teams and the fantastic staff that ran the race around the world,” said AOPA’s senior vice president of marketing, Jiri Marousek. “We are sad to see their amazing effort come to an end. This is a major loss for all of us, for aviation. This was our chance to have a sport that we call our own, aviation’s sport. The best of aviation, from pilots to their teams and machines, was on display on a global scale, inspiring not just pilots that fly today, but millions of people were inspired to get closer to our world, and even to become one of us, pilots.

“This was our chance to have in aviation what the motorcycle industry has in MotoGP, what the auto industry has in F1 or Nascar. We all lose now that it’s coming to an end.”

Competition in the early 2000s saw U.S. Master Class competitor Kirby Chambliss climb to the victory podium multiple times while claiming season titles in 2004 and 2006. More recently, he was in eighth position overall with hopes to move up to second place on the all-time race wins list. Another American, the late Mike Mangold, won the series in 2005 and 2007.

Master Class 2017 champion Yoshihide Muroya from Japan was leading the 2019 races and defending series champion Martin Šonka from the Czech Republic was in second place, with Goulian in third. The Challenger Class for up-and-coming pilots was led by Germany’s Florian Berger with France’s Mélanie Astles in second place, followed by Americans Kevin Coleman and Sammy Mason at presstime.

Only two races remain in the shortened 2019 season: Lake Balaton, Hungary, July 13 to 14; and the final event in Chiba, Japan, September 7 to 8.

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David Tulis
David Tulis
Senior Photographer
Senior Photographer David Tulis joined AOPA in 2015 and is a private pilot with single-engine land and sea ratings and a tailwheel endorsement. He is also a certificated remote pilot and co-host of the award-wining AOPA Hangar Talk podcast. David enjoys vintage aircraft and photography.

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