Since the dawn of the caveman age, man has looked to the sky and wondered what it would be like to fly. Once you’ve figured out how to fly, the next step is to figure out how to race. The same principle that guides airplane racing applies to drones too. As soon as we all got drones off the ground we started to race them.
And while the history of professional drone racing isn’t particularly long, it’s always worth looking back at where we came from.
Where It First Began
While we’re sure guys have been racing their drones since drones were first available to consumers, drone racing as a sport wasn’t an official deal until a couple years ago.
The first big race? The 2015 U.S. National Drone Racing Championship, held at the California State Fair. From there on out, drone racing became an even bigger deal.
Australian Chad Nowak took home the trophy (and $25,000 to boot but who’s counting?). He’ll likely be back for the next National Drone Racing Championship, if non-Americans are allowed to compete next year. And while only a handful of people (including a couple thousand people who watched the event’s live stream) actually sat down and watched the initial competition, that doesn’t mean drone racing doesn’t hold a lot of promise. If anything, there’s never been a better time to get involved, right as drone racing is still in its infancy.
Take the new Drone Racing League, which hopes to become the Formula 1 of drone racing. And with plenty of money on the line, DRL is looking to be become the name for high stakes drone competitions.
Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins, donated $1 million dollars to the Drone Racing League in order to help get the League off of the ground. And he’s far from the only big name openly supporting the idea of a big time drone racing league. RSE Ventures and CEO Matt Higgens got in on the fun as well, openly backing the idea of the League.
What to Look Forward To
While drone racing hasn’t taken off everywhere, we do have the 2016 World Drone Racing Championships, with qualifying events all around the world. Apparently, pilots from over 30 countries around the world will be competing so you may want to check in with your drone community in your home country to figure out how to get involved.
The World Drone Racing Championships will be held in Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii (where the Jurassic Park movies were filmed) and it’ll be a six day event starting on October 17th, 2016. The grand prize? A sweet $200,000 over multiple categories. There will be multiple events throughout that week including individual, free style and team competitions. So if you want to make a name for yourself as a drone pilot, there’s never been a better time.
All you need to get involved is a drone, some sweet piloting skills, and a willingness to travel. Who doesn’t want to be known as the best drone pilot around?
