Milestones: Say it isn’t so!
Red Bull cancels air race series after 2019 season
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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“It’s a pretty sad time around the racing world as so many of us poured our hearts and souls into our race teams. We will continue to fly airshows in North America as we have for more than 20 years but with an increased number of shows. We hope to put together a West Coast tour in 2020 and maybe even add some European shows if my sponsors want to continue to have a presence globally. Many of our team members work for both our airshow and racing disciplines so with an increase in our airshow participation, they will simply shift some of their focus to that side of things.” —Michael Goulian
“We are saddened by the news. It was a great thing for the aviation world. With that being said, I am very fortunate to continue my 15-year relationship with Red Bull North America and will continue to fly airshows. We will fly about 15 airshows in 2019. I’m sure we will be adding five or more shows in 2020.” —Kirby Chambliss
Defending series champion Martin Šonka from Czech Republic said he “was in shock” and questioned the race series’ leadership, the Czech news site iDnes reported. “When 600,000 people come to the race” it meant the audience for air racing was available, he said. He pointed his finger at finances. “It means that the only air sport that has captured attention and has a trackable format is over,” Šonka lamented.
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