18 September 2008
As we reported in the October edition of FLYER magazine, car manufacturer Mazda is to sponsor the World Aerobatic Games which are to take place at Silverstone next August.
Details of the sponsorship deal were revealed at the UK Unlimited Aerobatics Championships earlier this week, also at SIlverstone. Mazda’s Mark Cameron, the company’s UK Marketing Director says that supporting aerobatics is a natural extension of its current interests, and that it will be supporting the sport not just in the top echelons but also at the ‘grass roots’ level.
Flying Aces, the TV company which will be beaming pictures of the event around the world, also spoke of its plans to help bring the event to life, promising large on-site screens and other innovations which it hopes will include in-cockpit cameras. It will also be broadcasting on-line.
The British Aerobatic Association, which is hosting the Silverstone World Championships, says that the Northamptonshire race track has committed to promoting the event. The plans – tested at the UK Championships earlier in the week – involve using the runway which runs across the racetrack, with the ‘box’ (the airspace used for flying the aerobatics) being visible from the existing Silverstone grandstands.
To help promote the event at the UK Championships Mazda had enlisted the help of Kemble-based Ultimate High, who flew journalists in the gaps between the competition flying to give them a taste of Unlimited aerobatics.
Winner of both competitions at Silverstone this week was Tom Cassells, winning both the Neil Williams Trophy and the David Perrin Trophy. Mark Jefferies was runner-up in both events.
