World Air Sports Federation – Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (World Air Sports Federation) was founded in 1905 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Unlike the other newly funded organizations, this one’s roots are far older. Its focus is not primarily set on drones, but rather on improving all the aeronautical and astronautical activities around the globe. FAI’s main goal is promoting skill, proficiency, and safety in aeronautics, promoting itself through Air Sports. Not only e-sports (drone sports), but it also organizes events in gliding, air ballooning, and flying microlights.
Since the beginning, FAI has ensured the rapid growth of country members. According to the organization, more than 100 countries have a membership.
The branch of drone sports is relatively new in the Federation, becoming more and more known along with the rise of drone technology. However, all of the technological achievements are presented in the International Drones Conference and Expo, as one of the main events organized by the Federation. The other two events from this branch of the FAI are the Drone Racing World Cup and the World Drone Racing Championship. Both of the events follow the idea of the main method of its promotion through Air Sports.

FAI Drone Racing World Cup
Starting from 2016, FAI has been organizing the World Drone Racing Cup. In the first year, 229 competitors from 17 countries marked the start of the event. The next year the participant number almost doubled.
This year, 2018, 669 competitors from 41 countries joined the competition, with 22 locations based in 17 different countries for the final result and placing. The Drone Racing World cup started in Bali, Indonesia in April and finished with the closing race in Prilep, Macedonia on the 14th of October.
The winner of the 6 month Drone Racing World Cup is Rousseau Killian
from France. The second and the third place went to Wielgosz Jan from Poland and Spacek David, respectively. The race between the second and third place was close, considering the fact that both had the same score.
2018 FAI World Drone Racing Championship
This year FAI held the first World Drone Racing Championship. It took place in Shenzen, China from the 1st – 4th of November. The venue is in the Shenzen Universiade Stadium, which is one of the most spectacular arenas in China. The competition brings together the world’s most famous drone racers. It involves the three typical stages for any tournament: qualification, elimination, and the main finale. The drones used are multi-rotor aircrafts, with 3 or more motors or propellers. The event may be held indoors or outdoors and the races last 3 minutes on average.

Participants
Participants come from all around the world to represent their counties. The tournament is held with national teams from over 100 countries. Each country has a different number of participants depending on the level of development of the sport on a national level. The criteria for participating is not strict, as it ranges from amateurs to professionals. Countries with the higher development of the sport have a roster of 10 or more players, while others have less.
The winners were classified on an individual level as well as on the nation teams representatives level. The competition includes classification in both male and female as an addition of the general classification.
The Australian, Rudi Browning won the tournament and became FAI’s first drone racing champion. He’s only 15, and won against 127 players from 34 different countries. Australia was the champion in the team tournament.

The competition for women was held separately, with 13 female participants. The winner was an 11-year old girl, Wanraya Wannapong from Thailand. She is considered the second highest female place pilot of the three consecutive races.

Stay with us and be updated with the news for the upcoming 2019 seasons for both of these Drone Racing events. In the meantime learn more about Drone Racing as a Sport.
Source: World Air Sports Federation