Pilots Get Set for Turbo-Charged 2024 FAI World Drone Racing Championship
Over 100 drone racing pilots from 33 nations are counting down to their most high-pressure competition of the year: the 2024 FAI World Drone Racing Championship (WDRC) in China.
Live and on-line spectators are promised high-octane action in Hangzhou, China between 31 Oct - 3 Nov 2024 as the quadcopters whizz around the triple-level, 650m long track, with its 55 obstacles.
This electrifying event brings together the globe's most talented drone pilots in a high-flying spectacle of speed, precision, and technological prowess. This year, pilots from Estonia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Romania will join nations who competed in the Championships last year.
As a hi-tech young sport, the FAI World Drone Racing Championship attracts significant numbers of junior racers: around 40% of entrants overall, and the majority of the female pilots. The competitors have been selected by their national organisations for their exceptional potential in this competitive arena, with each nation permitted a maximum of five racers upon whom is enormous pressure to perform.
In addition to the national team pilots, a handful of wild cards will compete, including the reigning overall World Champion, and the Junior World Champion. MinChan Kim and MinJae Kim, both from Korea, will therefore be battling to retain their titles. In 2023, Korea also won the nation overall ahead of USA and Japan, who are each entering a five-strong team in 2024. Among the female competitors, the remarkable junior pilot Wanraya Wannapong of Thailand will hope to retain her Woman World Champion title obtained in the fourth previous Championships.
The track for the Championship is available for pilots to practice remotely on a simulator from 26 October, and this same track will be used for the 2024 FAI WDRC e-Drone Racing World Cup, an online race in which anyone around the world can compete from home, with the finals taking place on 9-10 November.
Schedule
- 30-31 October: Model processing and judges’ briefing.
- 31 October: Flight practice, track walk-through, team managers meeting and Opening Ceremony
- 1 November: Qualifying rounds
- 2 November: Additional sequence rounds and elimination rounds
- 3 November: Final elimination rounds and finals. Award and Closing ceremony.
About Drone Racing and the World Championships
Drone racing is an exhilarating, high-speed sport that challenges pilots to outmanoeuvre opponents on specially constructed tracks featuring numerous obstacles.
2024 is the fourth edition of the FAI World Drone Racing Championship. Asia has hosted all of the championships, with the 2018 and 2019 events hosted in China: Shenzhen and Ningbo, respectively. After a pause due to Covid, the third 2023 edition was held in Namwon, Korea.
Key facts:
- Up to six radio-controlled multi-rotor model aircraft at a time compete to be the fastest around a closed circuit.
- The drones used are multi-rotor craft that weigh no more than 1kg.
- On-board video cameras transmit real-time video images to the goggles worn by the pilots. This ‘first person view’ (FPV) facility allows pilots to control their tiny aircraft around the circuit.
- The drones can reach speeds exceeding 160 km/h (100 mph), requiring lightning-fast reflexes from the pilots.
- The circuit includes numerous gates and other obstacles that the pilots must navigate successfully to avoid penalties and reach the finish line in the fastest time.
- Drone racing events can take place indoors or outdoors.
- Each race lasts one to two minutes.
- The winners of each race go on to compete against each other in successive races, culminating in a final round that determines the overall champions in individual, junior and female categories.
- Drone Racing offers equal opportunities for both women and men to excel and become champions.
- More about Drone Sports
Photo credit: Antonis Papadopoulos; KAMA/Young-chan NAM
