Air Race World Championship to debut in 2022

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Adam
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Air Race World Championship to debut in 2022

Post by Adam » Fri Mar 06, 2020 6:45 pm

Recently a website was launched for the World Championship Air Race, the successor to the Red Bull Air Race which was the subject of quite a bit of speculation a month or two back.
https://www.wcairrace.com/

The website gives some interesting details, namely:
  • The first season will run from December 2020 until Q3 2021. That timeframe implies that a significent number of equatorial/southern hemisphere races are planned.
  • Races are promised in ten countries spanning four continents. RBAR frequented North America, Europe and Asia, but it also held races in Australia and South America on occasion, so it's likely one of those is on the cards.
  • The website says 36 pilots will take part. Even assuming all 14 Masterclass and 12 Challenger Class pilots participate (which is unlikely), that's still a big intake of new pilots. So far we know Dario Costa is involved, and Kirby Chambliss and Ben Murphy have indicated interest.
It's fantastic to see the sport returning so quickly, with big ambitions in its first year! Hopefully it's not long until we find out some of the destinations and competitors!
Last edited by Adam on Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Adam » Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:25 am

A big website update recently, with lots more information:
  • The first series is now expected to start in Q4 2021
  • All 14 race teams from the 2019 RBAR Masterclass have registered their interest, as well as new teams formed of Challenger Class pilots.
  • Lots of familiar names are involved in the organisation of this event: Cruickshank, Bonhomme, DiMatteo, Jones, Lamb, Reed & more.
  • The top tier of competition, AeroGP1, will feature 12 pilots in a familiar RBAR-style format.
  • The second tier, AeroGT, will be a feeder competition for new pilots. They will compete in three teams in a Le Mans relay-style format.
  • The third tier will feature VTOL personalised transportation, such as jet packs.
  • Raceplanes in the AeroGP1 and AeroGT tiers will be the same as used in the RBAR, but will use sustainable biofuels by 2022. The series aims to be carbon neutral by the 5th season and will progress to using all-electric aircraft in the long term.
  • The FAI have granted an exclusive license to WCAR to promote track air racing for the next 15 years.
They've clearly got all the know-how and are aiming to be in it for the long term, looking forward to seeing this take off!
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Post by Adam » Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:19 am

Last week, WCAR announced they have entered a 15-year parnership with the FAI to provide safety oversight and governmence (presumably this will also allow WCAR to become an official World Championship). They will be the sole recognised airgate-based manned air racing series during that time.

In other news, at the end of last year, WCAR won investment from a capital investment firm which announced in their press release some of the anticipated destinations for the new series: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Australia, India, China, South Africa, United Kingdom and France. China and Saudi Arabia are no surprise as they were both on RBAR's radar, and RBAR had an unfinished contract in Cannes which perhaps WCAR have taken over. India, Egypt and South Africa are interesting ones! A return to the UK and Australia will be fantastic and I look forward to finding out what the venues are. Surprising to see the USA is not on the list, though.

The first series is now expected to begin in Q1 2022!
Last edited by Adam on Wed Jan 13, 2021 11:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Adam » Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:09 am

Had a great chat with WCAR's new series director earlier in the week for an article about the new series. It's going to be very different from Red Bull - hopefully more competitive, more authentic and more interactive. Some key points:
  • Aero/GT (Challenger Class replacement) will be three teams of three pilots. The season results will be based on the team scores, but the top performing individual pilots will be eligable to graduate to Aero/GP1.
  • Aero/GP1 will feature 12 race teams with oen pilot each. Race pilots will no longer be team owners (there may be a few exceptions in the first few seasons) and instead, there will be an annual transfer window and team principles will be able to choose which Aero/GP1 or eligable Aero/GT pilot to hire to fly their race plane that year.
  • The first season will have 8-9 races. They are currently in talks with 24 cities right around the world, including venues of "all shapes and sizes." The vast majority of these venues are new, and have never hosted a Red Bull race. Venues that allow for a race airport to be created next to the track are considered the most desirable.
  • They are hoping to have more authentic, grittier coverage of the sport than in the Red Bull days, with all the previously-hidden rivalries and frustrations on view. Fans could also be consulted on rule and format changes.
  • They are pretty confident in the early 2022 start date, but have built into their schedule the ability to delay the first season by 3-4 months if needed.
http://thisisflight.net/features/racing ... -air-race/
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Post by awal2049 » Sat May 01, 2021 4:18 pm

Kevin Coleman, former RBAR Challenger pilot, has announced he will be representing the USA. For which tier, he does not specify.
Very excited to announce that we will be representing the United States in the new World Championship Air Race. There is a ton of work to do but we have a great plane and the best team. We should be in a very good spot come 2022! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 #HereToWin
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Post by Adam » Sat May 01, 2021 5:43 pm

awal2049 wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 4:18 pm Kevin Coleman, former RBAR Challenger pilot, has announced he will be representing the USA. For which tier, he does not specify.
Very excited to announce that we will be representing the United States in the new World Championship Air Race. There is a ton of work to do but we have a great plane and the best team. We should be in a very good spot come 2022! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 #HereToWin
Kevin Coleman will race in the top tier, Aero/GP1.

The complete Aero/GP1 line up will be:
Matt Hall, AUS (interim pilot for for Matt Hall Racing)
Martin Sonka, CZE
Yoshi Muroya, JPN
Ben Murphy, GBR (pilot for The Blades Racing Team)
Pete McLeod, CAN
Mika Brageot, FRA
Juan Velarde, ESP
Florian Berger, GER (pilot for the Matthias Dolderer Racing Team)
Kevin Coleman, USA
Melanie Astles, FRA/GBR
Dario Costa, ITA
Patrick Davidson, ZAF
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Post by Adam » Tue May 04, 2021 12:03 pm

Take this with a massive bucket load of salt, but this Indonesia news website seems to have broken news of WCAR's 2022 race calendar: https://www.jpnn.com/news/bamsoet-kesem ... kan?page=3

I say take it with a bucket of salt for three reasons. One, I've heard from someone involved that the first race of 2022 will not be in the UAE, but somewhere else entirely. Two, there are some other dubious RBAR facts in there. Three, one of the sources for this article is Indonesian wannabe race pilot Jeffrey Adrian. I think he may be race-qualified, but he's been saying he'll join RBAR "next year" since 2010 and it hasn't happened yet! I'm not sure how reliable a source he is.

But, with all that in mind, the calendar in that article reads:
Feb: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mar: Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Apr: Cannes, France
May: Chateauroux, France
Jun: Europe TBC
Jul: Indonesia
Aug: Chiba, Japan
Sep: Austin, TX, USA
Oct: Guilin, China

Dammam was almost a dead cert. Very surprising to see two in France, so not sure if that's right. Indonesia has many beautiful parts, but the cities are definitely not among them. Guilin has potential to be one of the most stunning race backdrops in years.
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Post by Adam » Thu Sep 30, 2021 10:17 pm

A new press release from WCAR's new parent company gives detailsin the 2022 season, with a substantially different selection of host countries to the reports in the Indonesian press. It says race 1 will take place in March 2022, without specifying a location.

In no particular order, the following locations are given for races 2 through 8:
Middle East (almost certainly Damman, Saudi Arabia)
Egypt
Greece
Portugal (most likely Porto)
United Kingdom
Russia
Indonesia

It's a bit of a surprise to lose Cannes, France and Chiba, Japan, plus disappointing to see there are no North American stops (and no, from what I understand, none of those locations will host race 1 either), but I'm guessing that will change in future seasons, particularly as WCAR's new owners are Florida-based. Delighted to see the unexpected return of the UK to the calendar!

Full press release: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/touchpoi ... 1633031490
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Post by Adam » Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:25 am

2022 series is now down to 7 stops and more information about venues is starting to slip out. The current plan seems to be for races will take place at:

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia
Thessaloniki, Greece
Location TBA, United Kingdom
Location TBA, Russia (Kazan?)
Location TBA, Indonesia
Location TBA, Egypt
Location TBA, Portugal (Porto?)

Of course Location TBA doesn't mean that a location still hasn't been chosen, just that nobody has announced the specific venue yet. Speculated races in Chiba (Japan) and Austin, TX (USA) are now seemingly off the cards for 2022. Seperately, Matt Hall Racing has said discussions are ongoing to bring the race to Newcastle NSW, Australia, at the end of 2022 - so I would guess there's still an off-chance of an eighth and final race in Australia. The schedule, originally planned for release last month, is now due to be announced early in the new year.

Meanwhile, although the Elite XR/1 pilot line up was announced six months ago, organisers are still yet to firm up the Aero SR/2 line up. Earlier this year I attended an Air Race Academy training camp here in the UK, at which 8 pilots from the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Italy and France were trying out to join the SR/2 series. Sadly the trainees didn't get down between the pylons (paperwork reasons...) and another training camp will be needed early next year to decide who will join SR/2 in 2022. The number and size of SR2 teams is somewhat flexible so I understand all or most of the trainees could be accepted - word is that all eight trainees are very high quality all are probably good enough to race.

Here's Ben Murphy hammering around the training track:
Last edited by Adam on Tue Dec 21, 2021 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Flightline Uk » Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:08 pm

Saudi and Indonesia seem to have slipped off the plot and a rather vague start date of May 2022 is now quoted from the holding company. (I note the original company set up at Sywell is listed on Companies House as In Administration )
The season opener will take place in May 2022 and there are 7 races scheduled to take place at iconic locations in Greece, Portugal, United Kingdom, Russia, Istanbul, United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
They have also signed with Prometheus Fuels
Pursuant to the terms, AIR RACE will use Prometheus zero net carbon aviation fuel to accelerate its goal to become a net zero emissions company by 2025. Prometheus Fuels uses its Titan Fuel Forge to create ‘fuel from air’ by reclaiming atmospheric carbon through its proprietary reverse combustion RAECR™ process. The process strips carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules from the air and energizes them into hydrocarbons that are subsequently made into fuel. The electricity used in the process comes from renewable sources such as solar, wind, wave and hydro, ensuring that zero net carbon emissions result from the use of the fuel.

Prometheus makes high-performance, drop-in replacement fuels that are guilt-free, helping to fuel the power of choice. Starting with gasoline for ground vehicles, California-based Prometheus will subsequently add the production of diesel, jet fuel and aviation gasoline – known as AVGAS - to its zero net carbon fuel product range. Because Prometheus fuels are molecularly identical to those traditionally derived from fossils, they can be used in all existing storage and delivery infrastructure and require no modification to internal combustion engines.

Speaking about the new partnership, Willie Cruickshank, AIR RACE Race Series Director, said:
“As a signatory of the Sports for Global Climate Action Declaration, adopting, showcasing and promoting the latest developments in green aviation is a core principle of the AIR RACE and we are excited about the opportunities Prometheus’s zero net carbon AVGAS brings to both air racing as well as the wider global General Aviation community.

“AIR RACE is working with a growing network of inspirational technology partners who are pioneering a wide range of sustainable energy and propulsion solutions, ensuring AIR RACE remains true to its vision to provide the ultimate proving ground for urban air mobility, aviation and clean technology. Our partnership with Prometheus is the first of many aviation innovations that Air Race will be introducing in the years to come.”

Rob McGinnis, Founder and CEO of Prometheus, said: “We’re proud to partner with AIR RACE in its mission to make the world’s fastest motorsport 100 percent carbon neutral. Our high-performance zero net carbon fuels are a perfect match for air racing’s storied spectacle of speed, adrenaline and skill.”

AIR RACE World Championship is a race format originally developed by Red Bull as the Red Bull Air Race. It was founded in 2003 and has hosted 94 championship series races around the globe. It has attracted viewers in 187 countries and has been broadcast to an audience of over 230 million viewers with over 2.3 billion media impressions worldwide in its most recent season. It is the largest live spectator sports event in the world attracting over 1 million spectators to a single air race on multiple occasions in cities such as Porto and Barcelona.
Last edited by Flightline Uk on Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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