Porto 1

Time is flying by here in Porto as we prepare for the racing. Here the TRW for the racing is on a carpark down near the beach on the coast. The race track is a few kilometers away on the river valley with high hills along the side and high bridges at either end of the course. Prior the raceplanes arriving today at the TRW, they were based at Maia, a General Aviation airport some 20 km away. The last 2 days have been spent there preparing the planes after their ferry flights from Budapest

Yesterday afternoon Yoshi had Rob drove down to the race area to recce the course which curves around with the river. It is unique in that you can't see one end from the other and due to the width constraints, there are no horizontal turns or quads.
Check out the course at: Porto

The photos show some of the barges already set up on the river but without the pylons and some of the old buildings around this famous old port city. One can imagine the sailing ships of yesteryear tied up to the banks near the mouth of the river loading the Port wine for which the area is famous. For a brief history of Porto go here: History

Last night there was a public autograph session at the Sao Bento Railway Station which is considered amongst the most beautiful in Europe.

Today the race planes flew into the TRW from Maia and the TRW was officially opened by the Mayor of Porto Mr. Rui Rio and CEO of Red Bull Air Race GMBH., Mr. Bernd Loidl.

Each of the pilots was introduced to the Mayor. See photos.