presented by Matheson Tri-Gas
Gas balloons are the ultimate challenge for
balloonists. They fly higher and farther than hot-air balloons,
exposing pilots to all the dangers violent weather offers. This
extreme ballooning pushes fliers’ skills and stamina to
the limits.
First lifting off at Balloon Fiesta in 1981, gas balloons wowed
crowds, getting invitations to return over the next five years.
By 1993, the Fiesta won the right to host the 37th Gordon Bennett
Cup race, the world’s oldest and most prestigious gas ballooning
competition. In 1994, the Eighth World Gas Balloon Championship
thrilled Fiesta viewers.
The America's Challenge Gas Balloon Race was founded by the Balloon Fiesta in 1995 due to the vision and efforts of Mark Sullivan, former Balloon Fiesta President and recipient of the Montgolfier Diplome (one of ballooning's highest honors).
Sullivan, a renowned competitor in all of the major gas ballooning
events, saw the need for America to be identified with the world's
most prestigious ballooning sport.
A renowned
Albuquerque balloonist, Mark Sullivan, saw his own brainchild
take off in 1995 with the new America’s Challenge Gas
Balloon Race. Modeled on the Gordon Bennett, it differs from
the older event in allowing balloons from all countries, without
limits on the number of entries from each. Members of the
world’s best teams pitched in to make this American
original a success.
Soaring aloft in that first America’s Challenge, 13 teams from five countries competed with a single goal –
to see who could fly nonstop the greatest distance from Albuquerque.
By the second
night, all had landed safely, with the American team of Richard
Abruzzo and David Melton taking the prize.
In 1999, Balloon Fiesta again hosted the Gordon Bennett,
officially known as the Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett. From 2000 to 2007, the American’s Challenge race remained the main event for gas ballooning at the Balloon Fiesta.
The race is scheduled to launch on the first Saturday of the Balloon Fiesta.
2008 - 13th America's Challenge Final Results
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