In 2018, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship will make eight stops around the globe, including a premiere in Cannes, the first French race in the history of the sport.
The 2018 season kicks off Feb. 2-3 with a record 11th consecutive season opener in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Cannes then rolls out the red carpet for the series’ debut in France on April 21-22. With French pilots in both the Master Class and the Challenger Class – including the first woman to compete in the series, Mélanie Astles – the over the Riviera will undoubtedly mark one of the high points of the season, officials say.
In May, the towering 25-meter Air Gates will rise at another European location, still under wraps, for the third stop of the season; while the midpoint will be celebrated as the planes once again speed under the iconic Chain Bridge in Budapest, Hungary on June 23-24.
The 2017 World Champion Yoshihide Muroya of Japan – the first Asian pilot ever to claim the overall title – is sure to be the center of attention when the second half of the calendar kicks off with a race in Asia slated for August at a location to be announced.
Then on Aug. 25-26 it’s a return to Kazan, Russia, which had its first race in the series in 2017.
The final two stops will criss-cross the globe, with a showdown on Oct. 6-7 at the USA’s famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the third year in a row, followed by the November season finale, which will make history as the first to be held in Asia (location to be announced).
Ticketing for the 2018 Red Bull Air Race World Championship is underway.