Yoshihide Muroya Wins the AIR RACE X 2024 Season Finale Digital Round in Shibuya and Claims the Title of Inaugural Series Champion!

AIR RACE X is an aviation motorsport where eight elite pilots worldwide compete for speed and precision on a designated racetrack. Utilizing cutting-edge technology, the movements of race planes flying at approximately 400 km/h are recorded with an astonishing precision of just 3 cm, allowing for competitions that transcend distance and time zones. It represents a new generation of “extra-dimensional” sports entertainment.

Following the inaugural 2023 Shibuya Digital Round, the second year in 2024 featured a three-race series, with the first-ever Series Championship title up for grabs. In Race 1, held in May as a Remote Round was streamed online, Australian pilot Matt Hall emerged victorious. Japan’s Yoshihide Muroya finished in second place, while Spain’s Juan Velarde secured third.

In the September Race 2 Remote Round, set against the backdrop of Tokyo’s Asakusa, Muroya, who had finished second in the opening round, recorded a Super Lap in the finals to defeat South Africa’s Patrick Davidson and claim his first victory of the season. With this win, he overtook Matt Hall to lead the overall standings.

Race 3 of AIR RACE X returned triumphantly to Shibuya, the site of its inaugural event, with a Digital Round that allowed for a full appreciation of XR (AR/MR) technology. The race took place against the backdrop of Shibuya’s cityscape, with four gates set up along a straight line of over 700 meters connecting two public viewing venues: Miyashita Park and Shibuya Sakura Stage. The planes flew back and forth along this line.

Yoshihide Muroya, who also led the overall standings, took the top spot in qualifying. Matt Hall was in second place, and Patrick Davidson in third, with the top three in the Series Championship race aligning in that order.

In the quarterfinals, the top three from qualifying advanced as expected, along with France’s Mika Brageot, who made his first appearance in the semifinals.

Though it may seem like a simple back-and-forth flight, small differences emerged during turns at either end of the track. Penalties for “pylon hits” were also a factor, applied when pilots deviated from the altitude or boundaries specified by the rules. The race highlighted the difficulty of precisely navigating around invisible pylons that could not be seen during actual flight. Nonetheless, the top three qualifiers showcased their superior skills by completing their flights flawlessly.

After winning their respective semi-final matches—Davidson versus Hall, and Brageot versus Muroya—Hall and Muroya advanced to the final. The two rivals, who debuted in the World Air Race Championship at the same time, were set to compete head-to-head.

In the final, Muroya and Hall were neck and neck in a fiercely close battle. Fans gathered at the Miyashita Park 4th-floor lawn area, using the spatial layer platform “STYLY” on their smartphones to experience the XR (AR/MR) viewing, and were thrilled by the intense competition. When Muroya narrowly clinched victory, applause erupted spontaneously from the crowd.

With his win in Race 3, combined with the 8 points earned from securing first place in qualifying, Muroya amassed a total of 33 points. He shared his joy with the fans gathered at Miyashita Park, saying, “It is a great pleasure to celebrate this victory together here with all of you, especially since AIR RACE X started here in Shibuya last year, and we have been competing in the championship throughout this year.”

Australia’s Hall took second place, adding 5 points from qualifying to achieve a total of 23 points, while South Africa’s Davidson finished third, securing 18 points after combining his race position with the 3 points earned in qualifying. The top three finishers in the final matched the top three in the series rankings, reflecting the order from the qualifying round.

After three races, Japan’s Yoshihide Muroya emerged as the first-ever Series Champion, amassing 92 points. Matt Hall followed in second place with 71 points, and Patrick Davidson took third with 53 points. Muroya secured his second consecutive crown, following his victory at the inaugural 2023 Shibuya Digital Round.

Following the awards ceremony, a special stage was set up at the 4th-floor lawn area of Miyashita Park, where Muroya and Emma McDonald, the first female pilot in AIR RACE X from Australia and a promising newcomer, took the stage for a talk session.

During the session, Muroya and McDonald discussed behind-the-scenes stories from Race 3, strategies for the season, and the unique flying style in AIR RACE X, where the pylons are invisible. The stories captivated the audience, many of which they were hearing for the first time. McDonald’s experiences adapting to air racing under the guidance of her mentor, Matt Hall, especially intrigued Muroya, who is also involved in training the next generation of race pilots.

Although the 2024 season has come to a close, Race Director Desmond Barry announced plans to continue holding multiple races in 2025. He also shared the vision of hosting a “In-person Round,” where pilots would gather at a single location to compete on a race track set up with actual pylons, further expanding the possibilities for AIR RACE X and raising anticipation for its future.