Ever since its founding in 2016, the World Championship of professional drone racing teams had been won by the UK’s XBlades Racing. But that changed in the sixth and final race of the 2021 season on Sunday, when Raiden Racing broke the streak and claimed the first DCL title for Japan.
The day started with Raiden and XBlades locked in an overall tie, meaning that whichever team finished the race in a higher position would win it all. The drama started early when both teams struggled to dominate in Round Robin competition, and for a time it looked like perhaps neither would make it to the final round. The championship was decided when Raiden advanced to a Grand Final against Quad Force One, guaranteeing that they would finish no lower than second, while XBlades only managed a spot in the Small Final against Korea’s Super Sonic X, meaning they could finish no higher than third on the day.
Final race result:
1. Raiden Racing | 2. Quad Force One | 3. XBlades Racing
While Supersonic X missed out on the race podium in fourth place, they could celebrate the efforts of team member MinJae Kim, who scored the most heat points across the day.
2021 World Championship result:
1. Raiden Racing | 2. XBlades Racing | 3. Quad Force One
With their season victory, Raiden was awarded DCL’s first-ever NFT Trophy. The triumph is all the more impressive because Raiden came into the season as underdogs for the title, having failed to earn a single point just two years previously. Their success not only shows how hard they’ve worked, but is also a reflection of just how much the entire field has leveled up.
Raiden team captain David Modig said: “It feels so good! This is a dream come true. At the start of the year, our team manager told us, ‘I want to win this season’ and we all thought, ‘Yeah, maybe…’ But here we are!”
In the DCL Women’s Cup, XBlades’ Evan Desautels claimed the race win over her top rival, Luisa Rizzo of XBlades, in second and Leslie Camarena of Spain’s SDT Euroflytech in third. With that, Desautels, who was nearly unstoppable all season, gave Raiden the overall crown in the competition, which DCL introduced this year to encourage women’s participation in the sport.
DCL Women’s Cup 2021 Final Standings:
1. Raiden Racing | 2. XBlades Racing | 3. SDT Euroflytec
Making that overall podium was especially promising for SDT Euroflytec, as the team made its DCL debut only this year.
Desautels, who designs Raiden’s practice tracks and hints that she may be joining Raiden’s World Championship team in 2022, had this to say: “This is unreal, I don’t believe it. I’m so happy to be on this team, and I’m so happy to bring this home for us. Today is coming up Raiden!”
When it came to track records, XBlades’ Min Chan Kim in the World Championship and Evan Desautels in the Women’s Cup had the respective fastest laps for all four of the Great Wall tracks. Soon, everyone will be able to see if they can do even better, because the new Great Wall tracks will be added to play in DCL – The Game. Stay tuned to DCL social channels for updates, and find track information on DCL – The Game: aero/game/features/
The Season Finale also decided individual season honours. Out of 60 pilots who contended in the 2021 World Championship, MinChan Kim of XBlades captured Pilot of the Year with 202 points. Raiden’s Vicent Mayans was second with 192 points, and XBlades charger Killian Rousseau took third with 187.
“I try to race my best,” said the winner MCK, who on Saturday had topped all nine of his races to become the first pilot in the league’s history to sweep a full day of racing. “DCL races are getting super hard, and I just keep grinding.”
Levi Johnson of Quad Force One was awarded 2021 Rookie of the Year for scoring 160 heat points, more than any other newcomer across this season.
The season may be over, but the thrills keep coming! Don’t miss:
- The DCL Fan Achievements Competition 2021, on DCL social channels NOW! More info here: https://dcl.aero/dcl-fan-achievements-2021/
- The post-season holiday special of DCL’s What the Kwad!? interview series, coming in mid-December and featuring star pilots, live on Twitch.
Keep up with DCL 2.0: Follow @dronechampionsleague on social and stay on top of the news here on www.dcl.aero.
Full race results and 2021 final overall standings after the Virtual Drone Grand Prix Great Wall of China– Race 6.
DCL World Championship – Race 6: https://dcl.aero/race/virtual-drone-grand-prix-great-wall-of-china-race-6-china/
DCL Women’s Cup – Race 6: https://dcl.aero/race/virtual-drone-grand-prix-great-wall-of-china-race-6-china-cup/
Season standings 2021: https://dcl.aero/races/standings/
