Yes, There’s Such Thing as a Professional Drone Racing Pilot

Drone Racing League founder and CEO talks about how to become the next world champion drone pilot. Hint: never skip thumb day.

byThe Drive Staff|
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What do you get when you combine four powerful electric motors and a light carbon-fiber frame? You get instant speed. Drone Racing League's Racer 3 can get from zero to 80 mph in under a second, making them quicker than a Formula 1 car (0-60 about 2.1 seconds)

These are the racing drones featured in The Drone Racing League. DRL is one of the organizations dedicated to professionalizing the sport of drone racing, pits the best pilots from around the world against each other on three-dimensional courses laid out by neon gates. The races take place in huge physical spaces, like stadiums and abandoned shopping malls. This season, the races will again air on ESPN, for its second season on TV.

Drone Racing League

On this episode of AFTER/DRIVE, we invited Nicholas Horbaczewski, Drone Racing League's founder and CEO, to give us the specs on DRL's newest and fastest drone yet, the Racer 3, and what other changes are in store for season two. 

Joining host Mike Spinelli is editor of Aerial—The Drive's drone channel—Andrew Siceloff. Aside from nerding out over DRL's technical bits, we also go over how to get started in drone racing, and what makes a drone racer a "professional." 

Drone Racing League's Allianz World Championship season will air on ESPN June 20th.

On your way to becoming the world's greatest drone pilot? Post a link to your video below and show us your skills. 

#NeverSkipThumbDay

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