Over the weekend, Australian Rudi Browning competed in the FAI World Drone Racing Champion in Shenzhen, China.
The Team Multistar pilot won the prestigious gold medal at the conclusion of the four-day competition. The event saw over 127 drone racers, who gathered from 34 different countries to compete at the Shenzhen Universiade Centre Stadium, among them Team Multistar pilot Ben Mortensen who placed 11th. Shenzhen was an apt location for the race, considering the Chinese tech-savvy city is at ‘the heart of the drone economy'. Secretary-General of the FAI and the World Air Sports Federation, Susanne Schodel, said 'It was a pleasure to see so many competitors from around the world, lots of young people, competing over four days for the title of FAI World Champion.' Schodel described the event as 'the best drone racing competition I have ever seen'. In the highly competitive final race of the event, Browning competed against three other racers, including Bastian Hackl from Austria, who placed second, and Karlie Gross from Latvia, who came in third.
At only 15 years of age, this win is monumental for Browning. In addition to winning the FAI gold medal, Browning went home with a winner's cheque of USD $24,000. Of his win, he said: 'It feels absolutely amazing. I dreamed of this, and it is incredible that it has come true. I couldn’t be happier.' Before adding 'I am a very competitive person and I aim high. The goal was to win everything I could. A lot of luck comes into it, as well as skill, so everything came together and I am super happy.' Similarly, his fellow Australian teammates were elated to hear the news of his win in Shenzhen.
David Crepaldi, Australia’s Team Manager said: "I'm very proud of the boys'. Part of his set up which gave him the competitive edge included the powerful Turnigy Graphene Panther 1600mAh 4S 7C + Turnigy Graphene 1800mAh 4S 65C, available at HobbyKing. While the complex track, built in the shape of a Chinese knot, was a great win for Browning, this is not his first world title win for Team Multistar. In September, he came in first place at the FPV World Cup in Adelaide
Prior to that, he represented HobbyKing’s Team Australia at the Hawaiian Worlds in 2016. To say Browning is a bright star destined for great things in the drone racing industry would be a huge understatement. Having already made waves at such a young age, expect to see him dominate the world drone racing stage again and again. To follow his journey, check out his YouTube channel. Curious to see what setup is used by a world champion like Rudi Browning? Then check out the full list of equipment he used at the event:
- Crossfire Module
- Crossfire micro receiver
- Fatshark HD3
- FrSky 2.4GHz ACCST TARANIS X9D PLUS Special Edition (Mode 2)
- TBS Unify Pro Race 5G8 HV Race V2 5.8GHz Mini FPV Transmitter (SMA)
- Foxeer Predator Mini Camera V2 + V3
- Foxeer lollipop antenna
- Flightone (raceflight) Revolt OSD [30x30]
- Flightone bolt 32 [30x30]
- Turnigy Graphene Panther 1600mAh 4S 75C Battery Pack
- Turnigy Graphene 1800 4S 65C Lipo Pack w/XT60
- Tmotor F40 Pro 2600kv
- Gemfan Hulkie 5055
- XBEE Air X frame
