This is how the 2018 Red Bull Air Race went – Photo gallery

Budapest is the spiritual home of the Red Bull Air Race. As one of the most popular stops, the Hungarian capital always pulls in a monumental crowd to witness the racing action. So it is no surprise that similarly to last year, the banks of the Danube were full of spectators admiring the incredible events.

This year’s race took place on June 23-24, but pilots practiced for days before and some roads around the event venue were closed for more than a week. Sunday’s Budapest leg of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship was won by Czech pilot Martin Sonka.

For that matter, Budapest Mayor István Tarlós on Monday apologised for the inconvenience caused to residents by the Red Bull Air Race at the weekend and said the capital would not host the event under the present conditions as long as he remains in office.

Asked by public news channel M1 to comment on the opposition Democratic Coalition’s (DK) criticism that the 13 million forints (EUR 40,000) the capital charged the event’s organisers in public space fees for the race was “small change”, Tarlós said the previous Socialist-Liberal governments had staged the race without even charging any fees.