Air Race World Championship to debut in 2022

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Adam
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Post by Adam » Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:55 pm

The info on Touchpoint's website is not accurate. The six host nations are Greece, Australia, UK, Portugal, Egypt and Indonesia. The Saudi race has indeed been cancelled, but not because of any great falling out or anything like that, as far as I know - I expect it will probably return to the calendar next year.
Last edited by Adam on Wed Feb 16, 2022 1:17 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by Adam » Mon Jan 24, 2022 6:07 pm

This may be of interest - an amalgamation of all the current host city lists that are available.
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Post by Flightline Uk » Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:25 pm

Finally...



I'll still take some convincing that this will ever get close to the days of Red Bull Air Race.
Last edited by Flightline Uk on Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Adam » Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:04 pm

Location for the debut race is dropping next Friday, and I've got to say, in motorsport terms, it's absolute genius!
Last edited by Adam on Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Flightline Uk » Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:53 am

Oh dear. So they are going to make the same mistakes as RBAR did with motor racing circuits. Those venues were absolutely awful for aviation as more than half of them had to closed off. They just about got away with the RedBull Ring in Austria even though it snowed (thanks to the superb topography), but the flat US Speedways and Eurospeedway in Germany just looked completely abandoned.

They also need to lose that corporate feel. It is an extreme sport.
Last edited by Flightline Uk on Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:16 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Post by Adam » Sat Jan 29, 2022 11:00 am

Flightline Uk wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:53 am Oh dear. So they are going to make the same mistakes as RBAR did with motor racing circuits. Those venues were absolutely awful for aviation as more than half of them had to closed off. They just about got away with the RedBull Ring in Austria even though it snowed (thanks to the superb topography), but the flat US Speedways and Eurospeedway in Germany just looked completely abandoned.
Ah, I see why my post might have mistakenly implied that. I'd expect this venue will let the crowd get very close to everything. Apart from Spielberg (one of my favourite tracks of them all) I wasn't a fan of those venues either. Didn't help that the US races often had tiny crowds and 15,000 people in the 500,000 capacity IMS looked rather bleak.
Last edited by Adam on Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Adam » Wed Feb 02, 2022 2:40 pm

A bit of a change, it is now a different location that will be announced on Friday. (Actually it's been quietly announced by Touchpoint in the last few minutes, so go out and find it if you're so inclined, but in line with a request from the race I'm not covering it until they do on their official accounts). The announcement will not include the specific venue of the racetrack, which will follow in a week or so. The venue for that debut race will follow in the coming weeks.

In other news, it's not an element of the sport that I personally am most interested in, but personal VTOL air transport company JetPack Aviation has announced that it is in talks with the air race over adding a jetpack round to the competition, potentially starting as soon as September 2022.

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/mayman-on ... ks-jan-22/

According to Jetpack Aviation, it will use a different track to the main air race, with "pylons, rings and hoops", and obstacles that will be "vertical as well as horizontal", with a course that prioritises agility and precision over speed. It is hoped that 2-3 racers will be able to fly the track simultaniously. JetPack Aviation will field the JB10 initially, then the JB14, and maybe one day the Speeder AUV "flying motorcycle". The article indicates they will field 10 race pilots and it's unclear when other manufacturers will be joining the competition. Jetpack racing was alawys one of the intentions of the Air Race World Championship although the original plan wasn't to introduce it until the 2nd or 3rd season.
Last edited by Adam on Wed Feb 02, 2022 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Adam » Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:28 pm

Some details on the 3-year Indonesia race agreement:

The first race (part of a 6-stop 2022 season) will be in Jakarta, Oct 14-16. No details still of the precise venue within Jakarta but one place stands out to me as by far the most suitable venue, which is Pantai Pasir Putih, a man-made beach and park in the northwest. There's lots of development in the area and probably bits of surplus highway nearby they can close to use as a temporary runway.

The 2023 race will be in Bali. Most likely scenario seems to me that they use the main international airport and race next to the beaches in Kuta or Nusa Dua.

The 2024 race will be in Lake Toba, a large lake formed in the caldera of an extinct supervolcano. It's a stunning venue, but the nearest city is 4hrs away on small roads, so it will be interesting to see how many people turn out to watch. I also don't see any places around the lakeshore that have suitable viewing areas for large crowds and it doesn't look like there's much in the way of large hotels. Bul Bul (with a small beach and a nearby airport at Silangit) looks at a glance like the "least worst" option; it'll be fascinating to see what they do here.

But what a brilliant idea it is to rotate the race between several venues, providing the security and certainty of a multi-year contract while keeping the race calendar evolving each year.

Advertising a three-day event in Jakarta suggests Free Practice day will be open to the public, not just Quali and Race Day as in the Red Bull days, which is another good idea in my book.
Last edited by Adam on Tue Mar 01, 2022 3:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Adam » Wed Mar 02, 2022 9:01 pm

I stand corrected on this point:
Adam wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:28 pm One place stands out to me as by far the most suitable venue, which is Pantai Pasir Putih
Some more online sleuthing shows the Jakarta race on Oct 14-16 2022 will probably take place at Ancol Festival Beach, not Pantai Pasir Putih. Plenty of spectator space, concert stage & ground entertainment already in situ and the Formula E circuit nextdoor can probably serve as the race airport (not in the aerial picture as construction only started this year, for completion in April). Using the racetrack as a runway is guesswork on my part but the racetrack location is not.
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Post by Adam » Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:08 pm

More details about the future of the air race in Indonesia seemingly announced by Jeffrey Adrian, an Indonesian aerobatic pilot and a key player in bringing the air race to the country. Firstly, he confirms my prediction that the Bali race will be held over the beach in Kuta. Secondly, he also indicates that the plan is to continue moving the race around Indonesia in future years if the first races are a success. Other potential venues include:
  • Mandalika Circuit, Lombok
  • Lake Sentai, Papua
  • Musi River (I would guess in or near Palembang)
  • Batam
  • Surabaya
  • "IKN" (this probably refers to Nusantara, the planned new capital city, in southern Borneo)
Across 9 years, this will bring the air race to almost every corner of this vast country and show off a wonderful cross-section of what Indonesia has to offer.
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He also said he plans to train with The Blades or Matt Hall Racing this May (both companies seemingly operate as localised Air Race Academies) in the hope of being selected for one of the main Air Race Academy training camps and trying out to become a race pilot.
Last edited by Adam on Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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