Pilots say “5-Dimensional Motorsport” Coming Soon
As the curtains close on Reno's final Air Race, another contender may have its eye on ascending to its vacant throne - Air Race X, a conceptually similar, but a new take on the sport.
World Champion air racers Matt Hall and Yoshihide Muroya announced a presser revealing their plan to combine traditional air racing with digitized, augmented reality to create a world series of sorts. The "Real Round" will follow the Red Bull Air Race World Championship format, which will be partnered up with the "Digital Round". The change is just as much a product of necessity as it is an effort to entice prospective viewers.
"There are many elements that must be overcome in order to bring back "air racing" as we know it," said Yoshihide Muroya. "Advances in digital technology have made many things possible that were previously impossible. We decided to start with what we could do, while making full use of such technology."
"I think some fans who have experience the frenzy of "air racing" live, may feel that digital is not enough for them. I understand this, and we will stop at nothing to bring them the best possible experience. We will continue to evolve step by step, and we hope you will support us."
"Its has been a long 4 years. It was impactful and disappointing to see the RBAR stop in 2019," said Pete McLeod. "I know I speak for others when I say, we are all athletes and competitors. We want to do our best by compassionately competing against each other. It has been disappointing not to be able to do that."
"It is something we are really looking forward to as far as getting a chance to fly again and compete against each other. It is not just the sports but it is the competition element. And this new race allows us to compete from different parts of the world and overcome some of the barriers that were in the way of the Air Race restarting. It is exciting!I guess I am the youngest of these 3 guys and I have a big passion to keep racing. I can see myself in the track for a number of years ahead. The sooner I can get that started the better."
