THE BURNING QUESTIONS
Who’s the biggest of the big three? On the hunt for a fifth consecutive DCL title (and fourth team title), Britain’s XBlades have been strong, but they haven’t been able to shake off Denmark’s APEX Racing and the USA’s Quad Force One. The trio stand head and shoulders above the rest with 1,410 points for the British defenders, 1,290 for the Danes and 1,270 for the Americans. So at Lake Zurich, it’s going to come down to whoever wants it most across 12 hours of racing for a global audience. (Given that 1.2 million fans watched the previous livestream from the Great Wall of China – no pressure!)
Could history repeat itself? Lake Zurich also hosted the DCL grand finale in 2018. In front of 10,000 fans at Rapperswil Castle, XBlades (then known as NEXXblades) clinched the championship, with Quad Force One in the runner-up position by a margin of 110 points. (APEX wouldn’t join the World Championship until the following year, when they themselves would manage to finish second overall.)
What surprises will the tracks serve up? Stunning Swiss settings have been a favorite with DCL pilots and fans ever since the very first season in 2016, but this year’s virtual campaign has enabled the track designers to add outrageously difficult features that would be impossible in real life. The eight teams will fly four different tracks across Saturday and Sunday, and they’ll be on tenterhooks until they get their first glimpse of them in Qualifying.
Who are the wildcards? The fastest pilots from an intense online competition open to Swiss and Liechtenstein residents have been named to the McDonald’s Wildcard Team. A mix of newcomers and pilots with experience on DCL’s big stage, they are: David Muller aka Nitr0 FPV, Janis Jenkel aka Gundren_Fpv, Joshua Baeriswyl aka Josh, and Daniel Blatter aka QtFPV.
HOW TO WATCH
Follow the action on Saturday and Sunday, 3 and 4 October, at 14:00 UTC, on juked.gg.
In the meantime, follow us on Twitch
TEAMS FOR THE MCDONALD’S VIRTUAL DRONE GRAND PRIX, LAKE ZURICH
XBlades Racing (GBR)
APEX Racing (Denmark)
Quad Force One (USA)
Falcons Racing (Korea)
Raiden Racing (Japan)
China Dragons (China)
Drone Sports Global (Russia)
McDonald’s Wildcard Team (Switzerland)
