Red Bull Air Series to end with ongoing season

Red Bull, the Austrian energy drink company and sports event organiser, has cited a failure to attract sufficient “outside interest” for an abrupt decision to scrap the long-running Red Bull Air Race series at the end of this season.

In a statement, Red Bull said that it had decided not to continue the Red Bull Air Race World Championship after the remaining races of this season, which will be held in: Kazan, Russia (15 and 16 June); Lake Balaton, Hungary (13 and 14 July); and Chiba, Japan (7 and 8 September). After holding more than 90 races, beginning in 2003, Red Bull said: “The Red Bull Air Race provided sports entertainment of highest quality but did not attract the level of outside interest as many other Red Bull events across the world.”

As recently as January, the series had recruited Andy Meyer, the former director of sales, sponsoring and licensing at German soccer’s DFL who moved into the eSports sector with Riot Games in 2016, as its new commercial director.

The series began in 2003, but January’s publication of the 2019 calendar revealed a number of holes in the schedule. While an event has already taken place in Abu Dhabi on February 8-9, Red Bull has said the Championship’s final races will be held in Kazan, Russia (June 15-16); Lake Balaton, Hungary (July 13-14); and Chiba, Japan (September 7-8).

Two additional events in Europe and Asia were also listed as ‘to be announced’. In India Red Bull Air Racing was broadcasted on Sony Pictures Network. The 2019 calendar had originally included eight events, including races set for Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in the US on October 19-20 and an unnamed location in Saudi Arabia on November In a statement, IMS president Douglas Boles said the Speedway was only informed of the decision yesterday (Wednesday). Boles added: “We are disappointed that we will not host another Red Bull Air Race event, and I know many of our fans will be disappointed, as well. Customers who already purchased tickets to this year’s event will receive refunds. They will receive an email later today with information on that process.”

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