Taking part in events like the Red Bull Air Race is a privilege as well as great fun. Whether you are a fan of aeronautics or not, this is unquestionably one of the most original events you could find today, thanks to the histrionic genius of Dietrich Mateschitz and his ability to take any sporting experience to a higher level, whether it is a well-known sports discipline (like Formula 1) or relatively new disciplines like the Air Race. The world circuit of the Red Bull Air Race has its official time-keeper in Hamilton watches that features its own race team and shares the same pioneering spirit with Red Bull and aviation in its genes.
The Red Bull Air Race circuit includes 8 races that will take place during the year 2018 and that will touch almost all of the continents. The race started last February in Abu Dhabi and will end in October in Indianapolis – two additional races will be added in shortly to this schedule. A growing phenomenon and a winning sports formula, where pilots perform complicated maneuvers along a 6km long circuit in an average time measuring less than a minute.
Last weekend it was the turn of Cannes and the "Croisette" to host the European race in an area located on the sea and just a few meters away from the waterfront. The racing circuit was positioned in an extremely convenient position and the spectators could fully enjoy the maneuvers performed by the brave pilots on one-propeller-planes with boxer engines weighing around 700 kilos.
Our privileged position at the Vega Luna beach proved to be perfect for our exciting live on Instagram and it seemed like we could almost touch the aircraft with our own hands!
To top up this marvellos experience we were also able to witness the maneuvers of the Patrouille de France – the French version of our own Frecce Tricolori. The aircrafts darted a few times above the city releasing blue, white and red trails in a light blue sky.
If you are interested in similar events – and believe me when I say that it is worth experiencing them live – we encourage you to subscribe to our Instagram channel, as we are attending these events more and more often. The entrance to the Air Race area on the Croisette also represented the entrance into the world of Red Bull and Hamilton.
On the left hand side was a Formula 1 car from the Austrian team, while on the right hand side was the Hamilton stand with all the brand's special collections that, this year, have been increasingly geared towards the world of aviation and sports timing. A testament to this was the release of an extremely precise quartz chronograph – the Hamilton Khaki Pilot Chrono Quartz that the ambassadors of the Hamilton team were wearing wrapped around their wrists, while performing maneuvers between the poles.
I used the word 'ambassadors' in its plural form, because new people have now joined Nicolas Ivanoff, the historic ambassador of Hamilton. Spanish Juan Velarde, Canadian Pete McLeod and Italian Dario Costa, with whom we had the pleasure to talk during the dinner that took place on the Sunday evening. The sportsman told us some anecdotes and details about his training as a professional Air Race pilot – some of the aspects of this topic actually reminded me of the training followed by Formula 1 drivers.
The Hamilton Khaki Pilot Chrono Quartz is equipped with a quartz caliber with a chronograph, it features a 44mm case, a three-counter-architecture with a 60–second register, a 30–minute chrono register and a 10th–of–a–second register arranged in a V formation.
The dial is silver in color and it sports sandwich-type indexes and printed Arabic numerals – these are the basic features of this special chrono sporting the Red Bull logo engraved on the case-back. The proof of an extended commitment of the Hamilton brand.
A special version of the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Day Date Auto that was presented at Baselworld 2018 was also available – it sports a PVD–treated steel case with a 42mm diameter and a distance between the lugs of 20mm; the perfect proportion for a watch that boasts, among its features, an incredible lume in the dark (and therefore an exceptional readability) and a case crafted in a dark brown and opaque color.
This highlights, together with the brown suede strap, the spirit of a vintage aviator watch, but without the oversize dimensions of some models currently available on the market (to which the beautiful Khaki Field 50mm was added this year).
During these three days I enjoyed strolling around Cannes in the morning, while photographing both watches in a city that is famous for its Film Festival as well as for the "trompe l'oeil" decorations painted across the city's historic buildings that make Cannes a fascinating place and a colorful location, as the event organized by Red Bull and Hamilton fully showed.
My only regret is that I didn't win the draw for a ride on a two-seater-plane in the company of one of the Air Race pilots – an experience that I really hope to enjoy as soon as possible, since I love both the world of aeronautics and speed. Maybe on that occasion I will bring along a GoPro as my witness to all the maneuvers. A big thank you goes to Hamilton for the fantastic organization of the event, from the choice of the hotel (the Radisson Blue Hotel from where you can enjoy a 360–degree–view of the whole city and the waterfront) and for the enthusiasm that the European team put in organizing the event – an enthusiasm that is not obvious and, above all, enthralling.
(Photo credit: property of Red Bull Content Pool, Horbiter®'s proprietary photo-shooting)
Gaetano C @Horbiter-R
