7 July 2010
The Red Bull Air Race GmbH today announced that the final round of the 2010 World Championship, which was to be held in Portugal on 4 and 5 September, will be cancelled due to the unexpected delays in reaching a revised host city agreement. The announcement stated, “The negotiation process with Tourism Portugal and the associated cities of Lisbon, Porto and Gaia was positive, however time ran out to execute a race of this size, complexity and of the quality expected of the strong fan base in Portugal.
The 2010 race was originally announced on 21 December 2009 to take place in Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon. Earlier this year the City of Lisbon, in an effort to secure a longer term agreement for Portugal, approached the Cities of Porto and Gaia to develop a joint proposal which would have seen the race alternate between the north and south of Portugal over the next four years.
“The Red Bull Air Race is committed to keeping Portugal on the race calendar. However, due to the delays in finalising the agreement, we were faced with making a tough decision to cancel the race for 2010 due to the time available to plan and execute a quality event.” said Mr Bernd Loidl, CEO Red Bull Air Race GmbH.
“Making such a decision is not easy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our valued sponsors, broadcast partners and fans around the world for their support and understanding. I would also like to thank the Cities of Lisbon, Porto and Gaia, along with Tourism of Portugal and Tourism of Lisbon, as every effort was made from all sides to reach a revised agreement. However, time simply ran out. We hope to continue discussions to see the race return to Portugal again in the near future,” Loidl said.
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