Junior competitors are once again tipped to dominate the podiums at the FAI World Drone Racing Championship Grand Final 2019 (WDRC2019).

Favourites at this year’s event include Korean junior pilot Minchan Kim (top picture), who claimed the top spot at the recent FAI World Drone Masters in Jeonju, Korea, and FAI Drone Racing World Cup 2018 winner Killian Rousseau of France.

Latvia’s Tomass Petersons, who leads the FAI Drone Racing World Cup 2019 rankings going into the WDRC2019 is also expected to put in a strong performance, as are Pawel Lazczak of Poland, who is currently in second place and last year’s Junior Champion – competing as a Senior this year – Oscar Nilsson from Sweden (below).

And among the Women, last year’s champion Wanraya Wannapong (below) remains the one to beat – despite being one of the youngest pilots in the competition.

Bruno Delor, WDRC2019 Jury President, said: “Many of the pilots taking part are juniors and we are expecting a very high level at this year’s Grand Final.”

About the WDRC2019

We are now on the final countdown to the FAI World Drone Racing Championship Grand Final 2019, which kicks off on 11 December.

This year’s event is being held in Xiangshan Ningbo, China and will involve some 112 drone racing pilots from all over the world. The participants will include 40 junior competitors and nine female pilots.

Just over 100 of those taking part will race as part of the competition’s 31 national teams, with a further six competing individually based on their FAI Drone Racing World Cup rankings, and three Chinese pilots using Wild Card entries.

The schedule for the event is:

• 11 December: Model processing and practice flights
• 12 December: Opening ceremony and qualifying rounds
• 13 December: Elimination rounds
• 14 December: Elimination rounds, finals, medal and closing ceremonies

A team of FAI Officials will be present to ensure the contest is fair, and representatives of FAI Global Technical Partner Noosphere will be on site to manage both the registrations and the live scoring.

Photo credits: FAI/Marcus King