The Air Racing Championship
The annual ARC Air Race Championship is a unique racing championship that brings together around three dozen pilots and technicians from various nationalities in Portugal.
With the end of the Red Bull Air Race in 2019, and the final farewell to the legendary Reno Air Races in 2023, the Air Race Championship now attracts an exciting group of elite pilots and coaches. Showcasing the most modern aircraft available on the market, this unique spectacle takes place around a fabulous circuit of 25-meter-high inflatable gantries in a bold and innovative format.
The Air Race Championship made its debut in 2014 and was supported by Portugal’s latest Mobile Telephone network called NOS. This proved to be a spectacular and lavish outdoor event held in Cascais Bay near Estoril.
The Press launch brought together several highly experienced members of the Reno Air Racing Association and representatives from the European aviation scene, myself included. The concept was familiar to American Air Race fans where different classes of sport aircraft took part in an Oval Race Track marked by inflatable Pylons on mounting barges anchored to the sea floor. They utilised a Pace Aircraft that acted as shepherd and controlled the join up and entry to the race track itself. To govern the numbers involved the entry for each class was limited to eight aircraft.
It was a huge success, with pilots from Portugal, Spain, Italy, the UK and the USA all declaring it a worthy European successor to the famous and long established Reno concept. This encouraged the Organisers to form an operating company, based in Estoril, to continue formulating a series of races in following years.
Up until now all the annual events have been centred in Portugal at various locations. Having proved the concept, and especially as the rival championships have ceased to exist, ARC is now poised to expand into new territories.
The race format is completely different. It is designed as an Open Championship split into classes, but this time including an Elite Class with ex-Red Bull Specification Race aircraft and pilots. The other two are called Extreme Class using stock production aerobatic monoplanes, and Sport Class using the ubiquitous RV designed homebuilt aircraft. This literally opens up the option for many sports minded pilots and owners to take part and locations are being sought across Europe with longer-term ideas of using international venues.
The organisers vision is to ensure each event is available to all sport pilots interested in developing their skills and making it affordable to take part. Race Training Camps have been established in the last ten years so that newcomers have a chance to participate and meet the required standard of airmanship and basic race craft. This is my main role, along with American Senior Instructors, to provide coaching and instruction prior to each Race.
