An event that was set to bring more than $8 million into Lake Macquarie’s local economy has been cancelled.
The Air Race World Championship has posted on social media overnight that they have cancelled the three events they had planned for 2022, the Malaysia event in September, the October race in Indonesia and the November 19 and 20 event at Lake Macquarie.
The organisers said ” despite the tireless efforts and support of all our race teams, specialist suppliers and partners, some of the challenges presented by COVID and further implications posed by the current global economic situation have simply been too great to overcome”.
“The safety of our pilots and fans is paramount and without all of the intricate parts required for safe racing firmly in place we have been force to make this very difficult decision to cancel the 2022 World Championship series.”
“We remain totally committed as event organisers, competitors and fans of the incredible sport as we now focus on 2023.”
“Our thanks go out to fans around the world for their ongoing resilience and support. We’ll be updating on plans and news as it happens, stay tuned.”
Dantia, Lake Macquarie’s economic development company has been very much involved in bringing the Air Race to the Hunter and their CEO Josh Sattler has told NewFM it is disappointing.
“It is a huge hit, a real punch in the guts,” he said.
“We are working quite closely with the NSW Government as well to look at what we can put on during that time so rest assured we’re working hard at delivering something for those dates and hopefully we can crystallise something going forward for those dates on November 18, 19 and 20.”
“Hats off to all the team on the ground here in Lake Mac, Council and all the people who have tried to put this together in such a short space of time. It has been extraordinary to see the amount of effort that has taken place and I’m confident that if anything happens in 2023 we will be able to deliver a sensational event,”
“I’ve been blown away by the enthusiasm and support of the community and I’m confident that if anything happens in 2023 we can deliver a sensational event,” said Josh.
There is no word yet on whether or not the event will take place in 2023.
“We were informed earlier in the year that Malaysia, Jakarta and London weren’t proceeding and we were the only championship event for 2022, it looks like the whole championship has been cancelled for 2022 and hopefully we can put something in place for 2023 but we will work through that as we get closer to the end of the year,” said Josh.
“With that in mind, it all makes sense from our perspective but we were hopeful that we would get one event here in 2022.”