FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact : media@balloonfiesta.com

Albuquerque, NM – The 66^th Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett, proudly sponsored by BayoTech, is under way. As of the latest update at 5:00 am from the Gordon Bennett Command Center, there are currently sixteen balloons in flight. Competitors of this prestigious long-distance gas balloon race launched on Saturday morning, October 7^th from the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. 

Team	Pilots	Country	Distance Covered
AUT-1	Gerald Stürzlinger / Wolfgang Spät	Austria	198.50 km
AUT-2	Christian Wagner / Stefanie Liller	Austria	187.23 km
FRA-1	Benoît Pelard / Benoît Petérlé	France	153.68 km
FRA-2	Eric Decellières / Benoît Havret	France	191.27 km
FRA-3	Hervé Moine / Christophe Blanchard	France	DID NOT LAUNCH
GER-1	Wilhelm Eimers / Benjamin Eimers	Germany	154.42 km
GER-2	Benedict Munz / Matthias Schlegel	Germany	183.21 km
GER-3	Max Michels / Andreas Michels	Germany	186.97 km
LTU-1	Robertas Komža / Romanas Mikelevičius	Lithuania	214.14 km
POL-1	Krzyszotf Zapart / Pjtor Halas	Poland	206.16 km
POL-2	Jacek Bogdański / Przemyslaw Mościcki	Poland	180.64 km
ESP-1	Anulfo González / Angel Aguirre	Spain	234.34 km
SUI-1	Balthasar Wicki / René Erni	Switzerland	175.12 km
GBR-1	Deborah (Day) Scholes / John Rose	United Kingdom	202.16 km
USA-1	Noah Forden / Brenda Cowlishaw	United States	230.96 km
USA-2	Barbara Fricke / Peter Cuneo	United States	185.40 km
USA-3	Mark Sullivan / Cheri White	United States	174.81 km

We will continue to provide updates on the progress of all teams. For the most up-to-date information and to track the balloons in real-time, please visit the official Gordon Bennett Cup website at https://balloonfiesta.com/Gordon-Bennett-2023 and our dedicated tracking site at https://live.gordonbennett.aero. Don’t forget to tune in to Gordon Bennett TV for exclusive coverage and insights. 

About the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta & Gordon Bennett Cup

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, powered by ExxonMobil, is the host for the 66^th Gordon Bennett Cup. The Balloon Fiesta is a festival of hot air balloons that takes place in October in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. For details on events, schedule, entertainment and photographs visit our website www.balloonfiesta.com and follow us on Twitter @BalloonFiesta and Facebook.