Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

[First time Juke]

I hear it on TV today...Rio De Janeiro Red Bull Races in Brasil will have over 1 000 000 spectators.

Unreal !

[First time Juke]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

Scroll to find; Paul Bonhomme wins...etc.

http://www.redbullairrace.com/

For some reason I have started to drink more Red Bull Energy Drink !

[Reno_Steve]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

Any chance of getting an unlimited air race to follow the Red Bull Air Races round the world. With a captive crowd of 1 million people what better way of getting some extra money in to the sport as well as some TV air time.
I would think Red Bull would have some interest in this especially if it was organised by someone else at no cost to them. They even have some aircraft suitable to race.
As many of the Red Bull Air Races are held over water, why not bring back the float plane races of the 30's.
Restart the Schneider Cup races !!!

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

As far as the unlimiteds following the "Red Bull" teams around the world we all know it takes money & time just to prepare them for the one yearly race at Reno.Some of the other classes might be able to pull it off but not the unlimiteds.We can dream tho.
Lockheed Bob

[stuntflyr]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

A close friend was the crew chief for yet another friend that flies the Red Bull Air Races. He said that, among other things, Red Bull the corporate entity allowed a lot of dough for custom built shipping containers to the crew chiefs specs. This was just one of a hundred, or thousand other items provided to better support the Red Bull Air Racing teams and personnel.

The Red Bull Air race operation is a business tool, fully funded by the business. That business is operated in the way that alot of companies nowadays are not. Properly. What I mean is the man running the company does it in such a way to properly support the Air Races so they attract the huge crowds they do. And in that way he advertises his product and makes people,1) know that it exists and ,2)think of it in a positive way so that they will want to...,3) buy it from his company.

It is an advertising tool for his drink.

However, all businesses need to do fundamental things to promote their product, whatever it is. That is where the RARA situation is a failure, even though it is a long term success.
It doesn't promote itself.
It doesn't take care participants.
It doesn't sell the product.
They get by on the captive audience of the Reno residents and the Reno "fans" that continue to come.

Simplistic, but I don't think I'm far off.

Also RARA has totally different road to hoe. The operation of the airplanes to totally different (and most of the Red Bull ops are in foreign countries where the safety aspect is totally different than in the US).
All of the Red Bull Air Race pilots are zero height certified airshow performers and extremely competent at low level aerobatics. They practice constantly and the airplanes are well prepared and are not prone to failure. It is a different animal to pylon racing and is much better suited to an operation in a big city where the crowd arrives by walking down the street from their homes. And it doesn't cost anything to the audience.

Hence, in the US it is flown at Fleet Week, and not at a small "pay to get in" venue, such as Reno.

Schneider Trophy indeed. What we need is another Jacques Schneider, with a few extra billion bucks to be the patron of pylon racing!

Chris...

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

The biggest difference between Red Bull and Reno to me.....


The RB races are a marketing method to advertise a drinking product, and little more. Likewise with the mtn. bike, soapbox derby and other races they produce and sponsor.

Reno is true shoulder-to-shoulder racing, and is not owned by a consumer product company, so it really comes down to comparing apples and oranges. I don't consider that a "failure" in any sense of the word, not after 47 years of existance.

In truth, if the red bull races were real races that required you buy a ticket to see them, I don't think they'd survive very long. The 1,000,000 attendance count would be far, far smaller.

Even with a sponsor paying all the bills, I don't think Reno will ever be like Red Bull, because you can't take it on the road to the average citizen. They have to come to Stead, and that will always limit the attendance.

What unlimited racing needs (and can't seem to obtain) is multiple venues around the country to promote and grow, ala NASCAR.

The trouble is that most of the racers don't have the financial means to attend several races per year, and the necessary large areas of land needed to hold the races, but close enough to populations to get people to travel to them, are extremely hard to come by.

[MRussell]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

I understand what the RB event is, but I just wish everyone would stop calling it "races." It is an abuse of the word "race" to call the RB event "air racing." I realize they are calling it that in order to grab the attention of their target market, but in a way they are filling non-airplaneheads with misinformation by suggesting there is a "race" of any kind going on.

If RARA had been more protective of what they've been doing in the desert for the past 45-some-odd years, perhaps they could've pursued RB for infringement, but no.

Thinking about it, I guess the RB event is really the equivalent of aerobatic figure skating, which is fine if you're into that. But racing, it's not.

[stuntflyr]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

The biggest difference between Red Bull and Reno to me.....


The RB races are a marketing method to advertise a drinking product, and little more. Likewise with the mtn. bike, soapbox derby and other races they produce and sponsor.

Reno is true shoulder-to-shoulder racing, and is not owned by a consumer product company, so it really comes down to comparing apples and oranges. I don't consider that a "failure" in any sense of the word, not after 47 years of existance.

In truth, if the red bull races were real races that required you buy a ticket to see them, I don't think they'd survive very long. The 1,000,000 attendance count would be far, far smaller.

Even with a sponsor paying all the bills, I don't think Reno will ever be like Red Bull, because you can't take it on the road to the average citizen. They have to come to Stead, and that will always limit the attendance.

What unlimited racing needs (and can't seem to obtain) is multiple venues around the country to promote and grow, ala NASCAR.

The trouble is that most of the racers don't have the financial means to attend several races per year, and the necessary large areas of land needed to hold the races, but close enough to populations to get people to travel to them, are extremely hard to come by.

You got, my friend.

BTW, the failure, to me, has been that the RARA people never exploited the opportunity to create a circuit so that we have many races like Reno during the year. At one time this was a possibility, and the buying power of the dollar allowed it. Economics do not allow such a possibility any longer.

If there were a series of races around the country, the teams would show and race. I went to air races around the country, and there wasn't ever one held where no one showed up. There is a history of other venues in air racing, and there was always a showing.

Now, as the supply of engine parts dries up, we will see a rapid acceleration of the dire effects long told about, and pooh poohed, by the fans of racing. There will be less Unlimited participation by real racers, and more cruiser operations participating in the race. At least that will be something, though.

Chris...

[stuntflyr]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

I understand what the RB event is, but I just wish everyone would stop calling it "races." It is an abuse of the word "race" to call the RB event "air racing." I realize they are calling it that in order to grab the attention of their target market, but in a way they are filling non-airplaneheads with misinformation by suggesting there is a "race" of any kind going on.

If RARA had been more protective of what they've been doing in the desert for the past 45-some-odd years, perhaps they could've pursued RB for infringement, but no.

Thinking about it, I guess the RB event is really the equivalent of aerobatic figure skating, which is fine if you're into that. But racing, it's not.

Matt,

Red Bull Air Racing is a timed event. Exactly as the Scheinder Trophy, and Bendix Trophy events were timed. Therefore it is, by definition, a race.

It isn't like traditional pylon racing, we know.

Aerobatic contests are like skating (there are about 50 a year plus a National Championship and it gets less covereage than Reno by far). Maneuvers judged for there exellence. Red Bull is like downhill skiing.

Don't worry, Red Bull isn't causing any loss of fans for our style of air racing, nobody knows it happens anyway!

Chris...

[Stevo]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

Red Bull the corporate entity allowed a lot of dough for custom built shipping containers to the crew chiefs specs

Not quite shipping containers... at least in this case. Here are a few pictures passed on by a friend that flies 747's for a cargo carrier. This was their cargo on one trip last year...

[stuntflyr]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

From what I understand this the reason they went to containers. Too much chance of damage when they are in the open.
Cool pics, Thanks.
Chris...

[Stevo]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

You know, years back the Air Force was used to move some of the Aerobatic guys around. I wasn't on the jet at the time but I've seen many pics of the planes being loaded on the C-5... with the wings still on. I guess that would be one plus. Not sure if you'd have much luck of ever seeing that again but it might be worth looking into. I'll see if I can't find a few of those pic when I'm at work tomorrow.

[Stevo]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

Hard to do - in a time of war.

Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to ask the question.

[MRussell]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

Matt,

Exactly as the Scheinder Trophy, and Bendix Trophy events were timed. Therefore it is, by definition, a race.

Chris...

No disrespect intended, but I could not disagree more. I don't think it's even in the same ball park. The fact that someone puts a stopwatch to it as each pilot flies through the "course" does not mean (in my eyes) that it isn't an abuse of word "race." As we all know, they put as much weight into the "style points" as they do into the stopwatch time.

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Red Bull races draw 1 mio spectators !

Oh, it's a race alrighty, but a race against the clock, not against other pilots.

That takes all the fun out of it for me. Gimme pylon racing over timed-trials any day!