The competition for the 2021 DCL World Championship tightened up big time in Round 2 at Reutte, Austria, as Japan’s Raiden Racing faced off in the Grand Final against DCL’s GOAT, XBlades of Great Britain. After losing to the Brits in the season’s first Grand Final at Proptown, USA, Raiden were underdogs, but determined. When two Small Heats resulted in a tie, the remaining Big Heat was a winner-take-all thriller, with eight drones speeding simultaneously. And in the last seconds, Raiden’s Vicent Mayans surged ahead to win the Big Heat and secure Japan’s first-ever DCL race win by just two-hundredths of a second.
For the second stop in a row, the USA’s Quad Force One claimed the third step of the podium over Super Sonic X of Korea.
“I’m speechless.” said Raiden’s David Modig, who has been one of the key pilots in helping Japan climb back from the low of their 2019 season. “Four laps is intense. The Big Heat was 100% focus, because we knew that this was the time to get it done. We were just quiet and hoping and praying. And then, right after, we were not very quiet at all! Finally, we did it!”
Thirty-five pilots from 17 countries took part in the World Championship race in Reutte, with the top scorer being Theo MinJae Kim of Super Sonic X. The 12-year-old captured 49 points despite flying in the middle of the night in his native Korea.
The DCL Women’s Cup opened with a dazzling performance from XBlades’ Julie Kollen in her DCL debut, as she won the very first heat ahead of Raiden’s Evan Desautels, who had dominated the women’s event at Proptown. Then Evan fired up the afterburners, winning the remaining three heats to hold Raiden at the top of the women’s overall standings. Final race results: Evan Desautels first, Julie Kollen second, and SiYun Park of Super Sonic X third.
“That was really nerve-racking. Somehow winning Proptown made me more nervous, knowing that everyone was going to push harder,” Evan said, explaining her uncharacteristically shaky start. Happy with the final result, she added, “I’m proud to be a Raiden pilot and proud to bring this home for Raiden.”
The site of DCL’s first-ever race in 2016, Reutte was a return to the roots, but it was also the first completely virtual race at the Austrian castle ruins. Three new tracks – Night’s Watch, Slingshot and Siege – were packed with challenges like split S maneuvers, a kicker into a massive jump, proximity flying along the castle walls and a one-of-a-kind siege ladder: a dizzying technical task and one of the most spectacular features the series has ever seen.
Voting on Twitch, viewers had the tough task of picking just two tracks for the Finals, voting for Night’s Watch in the Grand Final and Slingshot in the Small Final.
At the end of the day, track records went to: MinChan Kim for Night’s Watch, MinJae Kim for Slingshot, and Min Chan Kim again for Siege, with Evan Desautels claiming the records in the Women’s Cup.
But everyone can try to beat those times, because all three new tracks will be added to play in DCL – The Game, starting with Night’s Watch, which becomes available on Monday, 26 July! Stay tuned to DCL social channels for updates. For more information on DCL – The Game: aero/game/features/
During the race at Reutte, fans seized the opportunity to win great giveaways by entering keywords in the Twitch chat, where following DCL took their chances even higher.
Don’t miss a Reutte recap featuring interviews with some of the star pilots when the next episode of DCL’s new talk show series “What the Kwad?!” streams live on Twitch on Thursday, 5 August.
Full race results and overall standings for Virtual Drone Grand Prix Reutte, Austria
World Championship: https://dcl.aero/race/virtual-drone-grand-prix-reutte-austria/
Women’s Cup: https://dcl.aero/race/virtual-drone-grand-prix-reutte-austria-cup/
Next: With XBlades and Raiden tied in the points at the top of the leaderboard, the racing will head back to a favorite venue in the Virtual Drone Grand Prix Great Wall of China, streaming globally on Twitch on 22 August 2021.
Keep up with DCL all season long: Follow @dronechampionsleague on social and stay on top of the news here on www.dcl.aero.
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About the Drone Champions League
The Drone Champions League (DCL) is the recognised world championship for professional drone racing teams: an innovative race series that blurs the lines between virtual and reality to serve up a new era of sports entertainment. Since 2016 DCL has drawn the world’s best drone pilots, who qualify for each race in DCL – The Game and then go on to compete in seven international teams at some of the world’s most spectacular real-life and virtual settings, from buzzing global capitals to surreal natural wonders and landscapes of the imagination.
Each DCL race is broadcast live, worldwide on TV and also online. From the Great Wall of China to the Champs-Elysées – where 180,000 spectators lined the boulevard – the LED-lit racing drones dart through the custom tracks head-to-head, flashing by fans at speeds of more than 160 km/h as the pilots fly them using virtual reality goggles. First to the finish wins, and with margins breathtakingly tight, contact happens. The daring manoeuvres of bold pilots can boost drones to victory or send them tumbling.DCL – The Game offers complete engagement with the sport and a high-speed experience in your own home. Pilots of all experience levels fly 85 drone racing tracks (and counting) based off real-life locations, including 1:1 virtual replicas of the original DCL tracks, with contenders in the highest racing mode battling for places in the actual DCL Draft Selection, allowing pilots from the game to be recruited by teams to fly in the real-life series.
On top of producing their own events, they are experts in moving image production for live events, using their vast network of drone pilots to create unique, exciting content. DCL also has a dedicated education department that works with organisations around the world to teach drone flying.
DCL partners include Red Bull, Breitling, IQONIQ, Torvol, TeamSpeak and sW Operations. For more information: www.dcl.aero.
