The Red Bull Air Race in Budapest has been cancelled this year due to lengthy delays in the permissions process, according to officials. Just last week, the Portugal race was cancelled for the same reason. The Red Bull Air Race World Champion will now be crowned after the final race of the 2010 season at EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany on Aug. 7-8.
Budapest has been an annual fixture on the Red Bull Air Race World Championship calendar since 2004 with crowds of more than 600,000 spectators watching the races from the banks of the Danube River. This year’s race, which would have been the seventh annual race in Budapest, was set for Aug. 19-20.
Red Bull Air Race GmbH CEO Bernd Loidl expressed his disappointment over the Budapest cancellation, which comes just a week after a race cancellation in Portugal due to unexpected delays in reaching a revised host city agreement. But he said he hoped Budapest would be back on the calendar in 2011. Loidl also said the 2011 calendar will be announced after the final round in Germany next month — which will include a return to New York after the historic first race there in June.
“Having safely and successfully executed the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Budapest for the past six years, it was a tough decision to make,” Loidl said. “Following so close to the cancellation of the Portugal race last week, we are obviously disappointed and every effort will be made to see a return to Budapest in 2011.”
The battle for the 2010 Red Bull Air Race World Championship will remain intense at Lausitzring in Germany, where defending champion Paul Bonhomme holds a five-point lead over 2008 champion Hannes Arch of Austria. Arch has won three of the last five races.
For more information: RedBullAirRace.com.
