20 balloons to participate in the 57th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett

Following the call for registration which ended on 15 February, the countries participating in the 57th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett are now known, as well as the number of balloons representing each country. 20 gas balloons from 10 nations will take part in the event which will take place from 22 to 31 August 2013. The start point for the race is in Nancy, France.

The list goes as follows:

• Austria: 2
• Finland: 1
• France: 3
• Germany: 3
• Great Britain: 2
• Italy: 1
• Russia: 1
• Spain: 1
• Switzerland: 3
• USA: 3

Benoît PelardBenoît Pelard, the organiser of the competition, said: “We are delighted to welcome 20 teams to the next edition of the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett in Nancy. We are all the more happy to see that 3 French teams have registered, which was not the case in the last few years, and that an Italian balloon will come and compete in France. We asked the French Federation to issue a call for a second round to all nations that have not yet filled their quota.” When asked how the preparations for the competition were coming along, Pelard replied that “Preparations on the site are underway according to plan. On 13 April a balloon will take off from the competition site to test the infrastructure in real conditions and launch the media countdown to the competition. The website is now ready for the registration of competitors. As for me, I always put off starting my diet to be as light as possible on 24 August ! It only remains for us to hope that the weather conditions will be favourable on D-day.”

The Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett is the most prestigious and oldest balloon competition in the world, with the first edition dating back to 1906. The goal is simple: to fly the furthest distance from the launch site aboard a gas balloon. The winner of each year's event has the honour to organise the competition in two year's time. Frenchmen Sébastien Rolland and Vincent Leys’s victory in  2011 gave France the opportunity to host this year’s edition.