02. November 2008.

On November 2, in Australia’s sunny Perth, at the final competition of the 2008 Red Bull Air Race series, the winner hoisted a Herend Trophy skyward proclaiming himself World Champion at the same time.

The Red Bull Air Race series is the conquest of the air: it is the combined perfection of 12 pilots, 8 venues, challenges, exciting races, speed and human precision that has been ongoing for five years. The crowning glory of this event is a unique cup, the product of the world renowned Herend Porcelain Manufactory, awarded to the first World Champion.

This meeting is not lacking in history, as the team of Red Bull Hungária, which has also come up with the basic idea of the race series, and Herend have recently cooperated on a number of occasions ; as the trophies of the Budapest race were also supplied by the Manufactory and Péter Besenyei competed in a special helmet, decorated by a master painter of Herend. The order for the World Championship trophy is the recognition of their joint work, which at the same time may also be considered a Hungarian success story.

The World Championship trophy is an over half a metre in height, dreamt up for this special occasion by László Tartó, the young master craftsman whose credits also include the helmet of Péter Besenyei. The main pattern – referring to the eternal desire for flight – is composed of bird feathers, accompanied by various geometric shapes. Traditional and modern at the same time, it is a worthy advertisement for the best qualities human knowledge has to offer.

Many believe that the Red Bull Air Race is the temptation to accomplish the impossible, a struggle at the very edge of physical ability, the elite competition of the greatest acrobatic pilots. Many believe that the luxury porcelains of the Herend Porcelain Manufactory are the manifestations of the temptation to accomplish the impossible, handcrafted products and majestic handcrafted creations. Their meeting is therefore not accidental, and it is no accident that the organisers of the race have commissioned the manufactory to make the World Championship cup.

The Herend Porcelain Manufactory congratulates the Winner, the very first World Champion of the Red Bull Air Race on proclaiming himself the Lord of the Sky!