The city that in 2001 saw its greatest aviation disaster and in 2009 a relative aviation triumph will now see aviation’s great racing spectacle; New York City has been selected to host a Red Bull Air Race in 2010. The air race itself is a series and New York will host the fifth race of the 2010 season, on June 19 and 20. The season should see racers visit a total of nine cities around the world, including Abu Dhabi, Perth, and Lisbon. Red Bull didn’t specify the exact location of the race, but judging from the comments of Bernd Loidl, CEO of the Red Bull Air Race, it sounds like the course will be placed in the lower Hudson visible from lower Manhattan and across the river form New Jersey’s Liberty State Park. “Staging a Red Bull Air Race in New York City and Jersey City marks an important milestone in the history of the global motorsports championship,” Loidl said.
Bringing the air race anywhere doesn’t just involve moving pilots and their 15 airplanes, but the transport of approximately 380 tons of infrastructure, including the series’ own traveling control tower. And so, New York, the same city that holds citizens who may be prompted to panic by low-flying commercial (or presidential) aircraft, will in 2010 invite some of the most aggressive low flying imaginable and televise it around the world.
