Lake Macquarie in NSW will host the Australian round of the 2022 Air Race World Championship series.
The official announcement today confirmed strong industry speculation that the 19-20 November event would be held in Matt Hall's home territory.
The NSW government has committed $2.5 million to the race, which it expects will boost the local economy through increased demand for accommodation and other businesses.
Lake Macquarie City Mayor Kay Fraser said the race would have a lot of benefit for the region.
"Absolutely fantastic for Lake Macquarie," she said. "This will make us a destination for adventure tourism. We're already known for adventure tourism now, but this will put us on the world stage. We'll have millions of people looking at this event from around the world, plus we'll have around 150,000 spectators visiting our city ...
"It's been great to have Matt Hall as an ambassador for Lake Macquarie City and he's been trying to get this event here for probably a number of years, so it's absolutely fantastic to have him on board and ... doing all the negotiations on our behalf
Dantia, the economic development company for Lake Macquarie, secured the funding and negotiated the host city agreement with AWRC.
“Dantia is delighted to announce that it has signed a multi-year host city agreement with Air Race to bring the Air Race World Championships to Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, in 2022 and 2023," said Dantia CEO Joshua Sattler.
Australian air racer Matt Hall has his business based at Lake Macquarie Airport, and grew up in Mereweather, only 20 km north of the airport. He goes into the 2022 season as reigning champion and is pleased he will get to defend his title in front of a home crowd.
“I’m extremely proud to be racing in Australia again and it’s a privilege to do that right here where I grew up,” he said. “It means even more to me to be involved in an event that will help get our region through some really tough times.
“The NSW Government funding is extremely generous and a windfall for a big community that really deserves the support. It’s something we can all be very thankful for.
“There is probably more pressure to win at home, but the support from family, friends and fans will carry me through that.
“I’m really looking forward to my grandmother being in the crowd who is in her late nineties. That’s something very special to me.”
The series begins over the iconic Goodwood motor racing circuit on 9-10 July and progresses through Malaysia in September and Indonesia in October to Lake Macquarie in November.
Further venues are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.