British teenager Luke Bannister won the outdoor drone competition in Dubai’s World Drone Prix. Luke Bannister’s team, Tornado X-Blades Banni-UK were racing against the Dubai Dronetek for first and second place. The Drone Prix saw 32 best pilots as participants from around the world at the Dubai 2016 Aerial Track, which is one of the firs to its kind.
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With a tournament pool of $1 million the World Drone Prix is easily the biggest sign yet that drone racing is now growing into something that’s bigger than just a weekend hobby.
The resulting effect is that the pilot feels as though they’re flying onboard the drone, giving them an unprecedented view of the race circuit. Mohammed al-Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates’ minister for Cabinet affairs, announced that Dubai will be hosting the first-ever World Future Sports Games in December 2017.
Competitors navigated the track wearing goggles showing a live video feed from their camera-equipped flying machine as it hurtled around the course.
He may be on to something, as a video of a drone racing a Police McLaren 650s through the city of Dubai demonstrates.
Oh and when we mentioned drone racing was a big deal, we weren’t kidding.
“The lights were awesome”, Bannister told CBC News in an interview upon getting the team’s trophy.
On Saturday night at the World Drone Prix, the novelty of the competition seemed to hold the audience’s attention as the drones buzzed around the track.
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