Hola drone racing fans! The FAI Drone Racing World Cup is touching down in Barcelona, Spain this weekend – and it looks set to be another exciting and closely fought contest.

Organisers are expecting 70 of the best drone pilots from across Europe and around the world to descend on Les Comes, a short drive north of the city centre, for the 2018 Barcelona Drone Racing F3U World Cup.

The seventh event on this year’s buzzing FAI Drone Racing World Cup calendar, it will take place from July 20 to 22.

Activities on offer alongside the World Cup racing will include drone simulators and DJs, as well as a giant drone race involving drones that can go from 0 to 100km/h in under a second – that’s faster than a Formula 1 racing car!

Tickets to The 2018 Barcelona Drone Racing F3U World Cup the cost just €5, and children under the age of five go free.

For those keen to make a weekend out of it, there is also a camping area on site with showers and a restaurant.

It costs €40 per carload of drone sports fans, and the price is the same whether you stay one, two or three nights.

THE FAI DRONE RACING WORLD CUP

The FAI Drone Racing World Cup is a unique event offering fun and excitement for competitors and spectators alike.

It brings together drone racers from all over the world, and gives them a platform from which to show off their considerable skills, while pitting their drones against other top-flight pilots.

With contests in 19 different countries ranging from China to Finland, Brazil to France, and Russia to Australia, it also reflects the international popularity of drone sports.

FAI DRONE RACING WORLD CUP 2018 RULES

• Only specific open international contests are eligible for the World Cup.
• A maximum of two contests can be held per country per year (unless the country covers more than three time zones, in which case the maximum is four).
• Only contests in which competitors from at least two countries have completed flights can count towards the World Cup rankings.
• The number of World Cup points awarded depends on the number of pilots taking part in a contest.
• The highest number of points a competitor can receive for winning a contest is 48.
• A pilot’s total World Cup score is the sum of the points won from his or her best four competition results in different countries.
• The winner is the pilot with the greatest total score.
• In the event of a tie, pilots’ fifth and sixth best results can be taken into account to determine the final placings.

Full list of the 24 contests on the 2018 calendar.

Photo credit: FAI/Marcus King