2018 Red Bull Races to include first-ever stop in France

In 2018, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship will make eight stops around the globe, including a premiere in Cannes, the first French race in the history of the sport.

The 2018 season kicks off Feb. 2-3 with a record 11th consecutive season opener in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Cannes then rolls out the red carpet for the series’ debut in France on April 21-22. With French pilots in both the Master Class and the Challenger Class – including the first woman to compete in the series, Mélanie Astles – the over the Riviera will undoubtedly mark one of the high points of the season, officials say.

In May, the towering 25-meter Air Gates will rise at another European location, still under wraps, for the third stop of the season; while the midpoint will be celebrated as the planes once again speed under the iconic Chain Bridge in Budapest, Hungary on June 23-24.

The 2017 World Champion Yoshihide Muroya of Japan – the first Asian pilot ever to claim the overall title – is sure to be the center of attention when the second half of the calendar kicks off with a race in Asia slated for August at a location to be announced.

Then on Aug. 25-26 it’s a return to Kazan, Russia, which had its first race in the series in 2017.

The final two stops will criss-cross the globe, with a showdown on Oct. 6-7 at the USA’s famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the third year in a row, followed by the November season finale, which will make history as the first to be held in Asia (location to be announced).

(Evangle Luo of TTFLY shared with you)