Due to popular demand: Drone Champions League returning to Switzerland
Liechtenstein, 12 March 2019 – “3…2…1…Go!“: The Drone Champions League (DCL), the world’s leading drone racing series, is returning to Switzerland for a race at legendary Snowpark Laax from 28 to 30 March. This follows last year’s hugely successful race in Rapperswil, which attracted an audience of more than 10,000 and met with very positive feedback. For the first time, the Drone Prix Laax will feature a Swiss wild card team among the competitors. Its members qualified via the drone racing simulator DCL – The Game (free early demo), providing them with the one-off chance to now test their skill competing with the world’s best drone pilots. Entry to the event is free.
The Snowpark Laax race is expected to attract thousands of spectators. It will be broadcast live on TV in 100 countries and also be available to watch online. Ultimate thrill is guaranteed as the race will take place at heights of above 2,000 metres. Apart from drones racing at up to 160 km/h, pilots will have to handle the extreme weather conditions in the mountains as sudden gusts can completely turn the race on its head.
The X factor: Swiss pilots wild card team
The world’s best drone pilots compete in the DCL each year. At the end of February in a draft selection in Cannes, the league’s seven international teams were boosted with altogether 21 up-and-coming drone pilots. The slowest team of the last season got to pick its new team members first while the fastest team made their selection last so that balanced teams and the best possible competition for a thrilling 2019 season are guaranteed.
As an absolute novelty, the Laax race features a wild card team whose members – ambitious gamers and drone pilots from Switzerland – qualified via mastering the virtual Laax racing track in the drone racing simulator DCL – The Game. The eight top ranked gamers will compete in Laax on 29 March in a live qualification with real racing drones. The four winning pilots will then make up the wild card team.
Comments on Drone Prix Laax:
“The feedback after our first race in Switzerland last year was absolutely overwhelming. The pilots raved about the outstanding conditions, the audience was extremely knowledgeable and really showed their excitement during the action-packed races. We also received a lot of very positive messages afterwards so that it very quickly became clear for us: We definitely want to return to Switzerland in 2019,” says DCL CEO Herbert Weirather.
“The venue is cool, we’ll take care of some really hot racing – what more could you ask for? There can hardly be a better combination for the audience,” comments drone pilot Alex Campbell of the Quad Force One team.
