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Six Confirmed Pilots Include Multiple World Champions and Rising Stars: Two Debut Pilots to Be Announced in March
TOKYO and OSAKA and SAPPORO, Japan, Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- AIR RACE X today announced six confirmed pilots for its highly anticipated 2026 season, featuring a lineup of world-class competitors headlined by two-time reigning champion Yoshihide Muroya and 2025 series winner Patrick Davidson. The championship will consist of four rounds conducted through AIR RACE X's revolutionary remote racing format, with global broadcast coverage via the official YouTube channel.
Racing at speeds exceeding 400 km/h while enduring gravitational forces of up to 12G, pilots will compete across three-dimensional courses in the most demanding test of precision flying in motorsport. The series represents a new chapter in modern air racing competition, bringing together the sport's most accomplished pilots and breakthrough talent.
The 2026 Pilot Roster
#31 Yoshihide Muroya (Japan) – 2023 & 2024 AIR RACE X Champion. The sport's dominant force returns to defend his consecutive titles.
#77 Patrick Davidson (South Africa) – 2025 AIR RACE X Champion. Last season's title winner enters with championship momentum.
#8 Martin Šonka (Czech Republic) – Former world champion and veteran tactician. One of air racing's most decorated competitors.
#26 Juan Velarde (Spain) – Precision control specialist and accomplished international competitor.
#86 Emma McDonald (Australia) – Rising star and standard-bearer for the sport's next generation of talent.
#7 Aarron Delue (Australia) – Breakthrough performer from 2025, bringing youth and aggression to the championship fight.
Two additional debut pilot announcements scheduled for March 2026. These final entries are expected to reshape competitive dynamics and introduce fresh challengers to the established order.
About AIR RACE X: Where Technology Meets Extreme Performance
AIR RACE X operates on a unique hybrid competitive platform combining remote racing and live events under unified competition standards. This revolutionary format enables pilots to compete from their home bases while maintaining absolute competitive parity through advanced digital systems.
Remote Racing Technology:
- Real-World Competition: The world's top race pilots experiencing the full physical demands of racing through the course at their specific airport location
- Racetrack Global Positioning: Identical three-dimensional course configurations deployed globally, ensuring standardized competitive conditions regardless of location. Advanced technology tracks and measures the pilots' movements in flight with precise measurements
- Performance Equalization: Proprietary algorithms automatically compensate for altitude, temperature, and air density variations, eliminating environmental advantages
Aircraft Specifications:
The championship utilizes the Zivko Edge 540, the world's premier unlimited aerobatic aircraft. With a 530kg airframe powered by a Lycoming high-performance aircraft engine, the Edge 540 achieves:
- Maximum velocity: 426 km/h (265 mph)
- Rotational rate: 420 degrees per second
- Maximum load factor: 12G
- Power-to-weight ratio exceeding high-performance supercars
Statement from AIR RACE X CEO Desmond Barry
"The 2026 season represents a transformative milestone in AIR RACE X's evolution. Our remote racing platform has eliminated geographical barriers while preserving the pure essence of competitive flying—skill, precision, and judgement.
This season's blend of proven champions and emerging talent creates the conditions for truly exceptional competition. We've assembled a field where championship outcomes will be decided by fractions of seconds and singular moments of brilliance.
AIR RACE X continues to pioneer the future of aerial motorsport, and we invite audiences worldwide to witness history being written in the sky."
AIR RACE X Main Website
https://www.airracex.com/
Simone Hawkins
info@airracex.com
+81-90-6722-8492
Desmond Barry
desmond.barry@airracex.com
+81-70-9042-5250
Six Confirmed Pilots Include Multiple World Champions and Rising Stars: Two Debut Pilots to Be Announced in March
TOKYO and OSAKA and SAPPORO, Japan, Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- AIR RACE X today announced six confirmed pilots for its highly anticipated 2026 season, featuring a lineup of world-class competitors headlined by two-time reigning champion Yoshihide Muroya and 2025 series winner Patrick Davidson. The championship will consist of four rounds conducted through AIR RACE X's revolutionary remote racing format, with global broadcast coverage via the official YouTube channel.
Racing at speeds exceeding 400 km/h while enduring gravitational forces of up to 12G, pilots will compete across three-dimensional courses in the most demanding test of precision flying in motorsport. The series represents a new chapter in modern air racing competition, bringing together the sport's most accomplished pilots and breakthrough talent.
The 2026 Pilot Roster
#31 Yoshihide Muroya (Japan) – 2023 & 2024 AIR RACE X Champion. The sport's dominant force returns to defend his consecutive titles.
#77 Patrick Davidson (South Africa) – 2025 AIR RACE X Champion. Last season's title winner enters with championship momentum.
#8 Martin Šonka (Czech Republic) – Former world champion and veteran tactician. One of air racing's most decorated competitors.
#26 Juan Velarde (Spain) – Precision control specialist and accomplished international competitor.
#86 Emma McDonald (Australia) – Rising star and standard-bearer for the sport's next generation of talent.
#7 Aarron Delue (Australia) – Breakthrough performer from 2025, bringing youth and aggression to the championship fight.
Two additional debut pilot announcements scheduled for March 2026. These final entries are expected to reshape competitive dynamics and introduce fresh challengers to the established order.
About AIR RACE X: Where Technology Meets Extreme Performance
AIR RACE X operates on a unique hybrid competitive platform combining remote racing and live events under unified competition standards. This revolutionary format enables pilots to compete from their home bases while maintaining absolute competitive parity through advanced digital systems.
Remote Racing Technology:
- Real-World Competition: The world's top race pilots experiencing the full physical demands of racing through the course at their specific airport location
- Racetrack Global Positioning: Identical three-dimensional course configurations deployed globally, ensuring standardized competitive conditions regardless of location. Advanced technology tracks and measures the pilots' movements in flight with precise measurements
- Performance Equalization: Proprietary algorithms automatically compensate for altitude, temperature, and air density variations, eliminating environmental advantages
Aircraft Specifications:
The championship utilizes the Zivko Edge 540, the world's premier unlimited aerobatic aircraft. With a 530kg airframe powered by a Lycoming high-performance aircraft engine, the Edge 540 achieves:
- Maximum velocity: 426 km/h (265 mph)
- Rotational rate: 420 degrees per second
- Maximum load factor: 12G
- Power-to-weight ratio exceeding high-performance supercars
Statement from AIR RACE X CEO Desmond Barry
"The 2026 season represents a transformative milestone in AIR RACE X's evolution. Our remote racing platform has eliminated geographical barriers while preserving the pure essence of competitive flying—skill, precision, and judgement.
This season's blend of proven champions and emerging talent creates the conditions for truly exceptional competition. We've assembled a field where championship outcomes will be decided by fractions of seconds and singular moments of brilliance.
AIR RACE X continues to pioneer the future of aerial motorsport, and we invite audiences worldwide to witness history being written in the sky."
AIR RACE X Main Website
https://www.airracex.com/
Simone Hawkins
info@airracex.com
+81-90-6722-8492
Desmond Barry
desmond.barry@airracex.com
+81-70-9042-5250
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
AIR RACE X UNVEILS 2026 PILOT LINEUP: World Champion Yoshihide Muroya and Global Elite Set for Four-Round Championship Battle
ANSHUN, China, May 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 21, at the Guizhou Anshun Tourism Development Conference, Mafengwo Travel Group officially launched three flagship "New Mountain Play" benchmark projects — Huangheying Water Cave, Lotus Ancient Cave, and Luoyang Glasswater Gorge — while jointly releasing the 2026 Anshun Mountain Outdoor New Play Playbook with the Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism. By redefining mountain outdoor travel experiences through "new play," the initiative injects fresh momentum into Anshun's positioning as an international mountain tourism destination.
"Personalized travel is rising rapidly. Tourism is transitioning from a 'sightseeing economy' to an 'experience economy.' More than just 'having been there,' travelers today seek emotional value from scenic spots and related projects," said Chen Gang, Founder and CEO of Mafengwo, in a speech titled *Co-creating the Super Play Era of Mountain Tourism*. He noted that leveraging benchmark new-play projects such as Huangheying Water Cave, Lotus Ancient Cave, and Luoyang Glasswater Gorge, Mafengwo will work with Anshun to integrate "new play, new formats, new marketing, and new consumption" into a holistic innovation ecosystem for destination-wide play. Together, they aim to revitalize natural resources, energize industrial momentum, link rural revitalization, and jointly build Anshun into a national hub for new mountain play.
At a time when travelers are increasingly weary of "man-made check-in spots" and homogenized internet-famous projects, the newly launched projects abandon the old path of large-scale construction. Instead, they return to the wild itself, adopting a "light development, heavy experience" approach to create mountain plays that are "wild on the outside, refined on the inside." Huangheying Water Cave focuses on "natural wonders + interactive adventure," using its original "water-cave" karst features to create a genuine sense of "underground exploration." Lotus Ancient Cave, based on a massive natural cave, integrates "light ultimate" activities such as via ferrata, rappelling, and cave drop towers, allowing ordinary visitors to feel adrenaline-pumping "heart-racing moments" in a natural setting. Luoyang Glasswater Gorge follows the original river course, using natural elevation differences to design trails for hiking, canyoning, and waterfall rappelling, with minimal artificial construction, emphasizing the pristine "glass water" and an eco-harmonious, back-to-nature mountain experience.
At the "2026 Anshun Mountain Tourism New Play" sharing session, Mafengwo Travel Group and the Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism jointly released the *2026 Anshun Mountain Outdoor New Play Playbook*. Ten selected plays in non-traditional mountain settings were featured, including "Night Tour of Dupo Tang — Immersive Journey into the World of Journey to the West," "Watch Intangible Cultural Heritage 'Spider-Man' Climb Cliffs for Bird's Nests," and "370-Meter Free Fall at Balinghe Bridge." These showcase how Anshun creatively uses its karst landscapes as a natural "amusement park" for mountain experiences.
He Weihong, Vice Mayor of Anshun, stated in his address: "In Anshun, the 'City of 21°C,' mountains are no longer just scenery to be viewed. They are living fields to be climbed, immersed in, jumped over, and breathed in. Anshun will take this conference as an opportunity to accelerate the internationalization of its mountain tourism and build a first-class mountain outdoor sports destination." During the event, Anshun Tourism Group also promoted its mountain outdoor travel routes.
By early 2026, the number of outdoor sports participants in China had exceeded 400 million, with participation in mountain hiking, trail running, rock climbing, and canyoning rising year by year. Driven by the dual trends of "nationwide fitness" and "pan-outdoor" activities, mountain play is moving from niche circles to the general public. Unlike the high barriers of traditional outdoor activities, Anshun's new plays target the blue ocean market of "light ultimate + strong experience + high shareability." Whether it's a "bridge bungee jump," checking out the natural wonder "Eye of the Great Sage," or experiencing a "Journey to the West fantasy" at night by Dupo Tang Waterfall — these activities are novel, beginner-friendly, and serve as natural content and social currency.
Anshun's mountain play innovation has also attracted international attention. Anouar, Chief Representative of the Tunisian National Tourism Office in China, noted in his speech that Anshun's innovation in integrating mountain tourism and sports is worth learning from for many international peers. He noted that Tunisia has diverse mountain resources across the country, with history embedded in the mountains and culture in the scenery — this is the unique charm of Tunisia's mountains. He looks forward to China-Tunisia cooperation to explore more mountain tourism opportunities and co-create new partnership models.
An international dialogue session brought together representatives from the Norwegian National Tourist Board, Visit Flanders (Belgium), and the Saudi Tourism Authority to discuss mountain outdoor tourism upgrade from a global perspective. The guests agreed that they were delighted to see that Anshun is not simply replicating a "Switzerland of the East" but is creating an entirely new "universal language of mountain tourism." The internationalization of mountain tourism is not about imitation but about excavating the unique narratives of local landscapes — with its green mountains and clear waters as the canvas and play innovation as the brush, Anshun is painting a vibrant new picture for the world.
A domestic dialogue session brought together frontier explorers, practitioners, and experts in mountain sports tourism to discuss the future development of mountain sports tourism from the perspectives of communities, products, and operations. Qin Chuan, Founder of Wanan Youth Travel, noted that with technological advancements and equipment iteration, more and more "outdoor novices" without professional training can enjoy the pleasures of the wild. Currently, Wanan Youth Travel is selecting and developing "super single products" and continuously improving service quality to deliver ultimate outdoor experiences to visitors.
After the conference, industry guests conducted on-site inspections of new play projects, including Lotus Ancient Cave, Dupo Tang Night Tour, Anshun Ancient Town, and Getu River. Wang Yu, Chief Representative of the Norwegian National Tourist Board in Greater China, remarked: "Anshun and Norway share many similarities. Anshun's new mountain plays emphasize 'light development, heavy experience.' Take Lotus Ancient Cave — it doesn't feel like a 'designed' scenic spot, but rather an extension of Anshun's natural mountain charm itself, an experiential field you can fully immerse yourself in. The scale of this 'light ultimate' experience is just right — thrilling enough, yet truly authentic."
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Light Ultimate, High Experience, Original Ecology, Personalization -- Mafengwo and Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism Co-create New Forms of Mountain Tourism
Light Ultimate, High Experience, Original Ecology, Personalization -- Mafengwo and Anshun Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, TV and Tourism Co-create New Forms of Mountain Tourism
