Race Officials Offer Preliminary Details About 2012 Race Prep

ANN has received the following statement from Airventure Cup Race Organizers in regards to the 2012 Airventure Cup Race:

Over the past week, there have been many posts on social media sites and web forums regarding the 2012 Airventure Cup Race. This statement is meant to clarify and correct some of the statements that were made, as well as provide the public with information regarding the fate of this year's race.

Last week, we were contacted by EAA officials announcing they would no longer support air racing, including the Airventure Cup. This move was a shock to us as much as it was the rest of the aviation community and we are still in the process of evaluating our options to continue the race. However, in an effort to clarify some of the misinformation that was shared in the public forums, we would like to offer the following facts.

• It should be noted that the race was founded by EAA with direct support and influence by Tom Poberezny. Not long after its inception, we sought to minimize the impact of the race on EAA staff time by bringing in more volunteers to organize the race. In the last 7 years, the race has been run almost exclusively by volunteers and reported to various EAA staff members for certain projects when necessary.
• The current Airventure Cup logo design was developed in 2005 by race organizers with explicit direction from EAA officials, the design of which was approved, in writing, by EAA.
• Race insurance has always been provided by EAA. The insurance paperwork EAA requires from the racers and volunteers are unlike those required of other non-EAA sanctioned events associated with EAA and Airventure. This further supported our understanding that this was an official EAA event.
• EAA provided input on, and approved, the press releases we issued on behalf of the race, including a release issued as recently as February 21, 2012, calling it the, "EAA Airventure Cup Race" - further supporting our belief that this was an EAA event.

  

We understand there has been significant changes at EAA over the past year and believe the misunderstanding could be a result of the recent changeover. Regardless of these facts, we understand EAA's position remains the same and no longer wishes to have their name associated with the race. As such, we have agreed to remove all references to EAA from the website and other marketing materials. We are pleased to report however, that EAA has agreed to continue providing support to race volunteers as they have done in the past, and we want to express our appreciation to EAA for doing so.

With respect to this year's race, we are happy to report that the Sport Air Racing League (SARL) has offered to help us and the race will take place this year as planned. Stay tuned for more information regarding the race in the coming weeks.

In closing, the Airventure Cup Race staff would like to thank our volunteers, racers, sponsors, SARL and the many fans we have for the amazing outpouring of support these past few days. We are committed to keep air racing alive through the Airventure Cup Race this year, and for years to come.

FMI: www.airventurecup.com