The 2020 season of the FAI Drone Racing World Cup will start with a bang at the Race of Drones Oulu in Finland this Friday 13 March.

The Finnish competition will gather an array of world-class pilots from around the world, including Korea, the Philippines and Morocco, for a total number of 43 registered competitors. It will include last year’s winner of the 2019 FAI Drone Racing World Cup series, Tomass Pētersons of Latvia.

“There has been a lot of interest due to our timing. The World Championships took place just before the end of last year, and most of the other World Cup competitions are not taking place until the summer. This competition will definitely have at least the same high level as last year,” anticipates Ari-Pekka Repo, Chairman of FPV Finland, the Finnish drone association.

The Race of Drones Oulu will take place at Ouluhalli sports arena on Friday 13 March from 10am to 6pm. Entry is free.

It is the first in a series of 19 World Cup races registered in the the official FAI calendar for 2020, and so far the only drone racing competition sanctioned by the FAI in Finland this year.

About FAI Drone Racing

FAI promotes Drone Racing activities to the world. The 2019 season culminated in the FAI World Drone Racing Championship Grand Final, which took place at in Xiangshan Ningbo, China, from 11 to 14 December; the most exciting drone racing competition of the year. 

Multi-rotor FPV (drone) racing competitions consist of successive races, in which several radio- controlled model aircraft fight it out to be the fastest around a pre-determined circuit.

The events can take place both indoors and outdoors, while each pilot taking part has a helper to assist. The high-tech drones are equipped with on-board video cameras that transmit FPV (first person view) images to headsets worn by the pilots, allowing them to steer the tiny aircraft around the race circuit.