2018 MultiGP Canadian Championships Recap

By Calvin Martini

This year saw the first ever MultiGP drone racing series held in Canada. The Canadian chapter organizers worked together with Joe Scully to organize these events to provide this high caliber example of national level league racing.

MultiGP pilots across Canada had been anticipating  a Canadian Series and were very supportive and enthusiastic. Participation was good and the level of racing was high throughout the series. As this was the first year and the resources were limited, there was no standard track layout for the races. Many of the top pilots from across the country gave their best and were highly competitive.

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2018 MultiGP Canadian Champion

Eli “Bull-Fpv” Abitbol

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2nd Place

Liam “LOLDERS” Olders

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3rd Place

Gabriel “Gab707” Kocher

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There were four regional qualifiers:

• Pacific: Kelowna, British Columbia
  • Date: July 14
  • Pilots: 18
  • Hosted by: Okanagan FPV Racers
  • Qualifier Results: fpvCH, illmattak, Stradith, Armonic, RocketFPV, Chaotic, Dam, Pmac, Madi, fwmfpv, Zenith, BenFPV, Simcha, Deadlyfpv, WeekendWarriorFPV, kLawlz, Retro604, Aphinity
• Prairies: Steinbach, Manitoba
  • Date: August 18
  • Pilots: 11
  • Hosted by: Winnipeg FPV
  • Qualifier: Results: highway11, Russ, CrAsHFPV, rcleno, Walub, Smiley, Kuz, Jason, Reflector, Johnnymoondog, Rusty Nails
• Central: Pelham, Ontario
  • Date: July 28
  • Pilots: 27
  • Hosted by: Niagra FPV
  • Qualifier Results: Bull-Fpv, Lolders, PewPew, Sp33d_fr33k, Horhayed, bennymack, PalliX, Patinum-FPV, FrazerFPV, CarbonFury, Cmonster, Just_FPV, Dvonfpv, Gilbolt, Smarky_FPV, Havloc, spun, china_fpv, FlatHat, KimboFPV, JPYflight, Japstar, Fritzy, Valentefpv, TheCleaner73, KrlllFPV, FlippFPV, ConGninja
• Atlantic: Moncton, New Brunswick
  • Date: August 25
  • Pilots: 8 pilots
  • Hosted by: Hub City Rotors
  • Qualifier Results: Gab707, DroopdogFPV, nailedUP, LevesqueFPV, Elpresidirrrte, Kurzaq, Baxony_FPV, CobraFPV
  • Mains Results: Gab707, nailedUP, LevesqueFPV, Kurzaq, DroopdogFPV, Elpresidirrrte, , CobraFPV, Baxony_FPV

All qualifiers followed a top 3 consecutive laps format. The top pilot from each qualifier won airfare and hotel accommodations to attend the Ottawa nationals.

On September 28 and 30, the Ottawa FPV Riders hosted the 2018 MultiGP Canadian Championships. Up to 20 pilots from each of the four regional qualifying events were invited to the nationals, but travel distances made it difficult for some to attend and an onsite Last Chance Qualifier was held to compensate.

Mudassir Shami was the Race Organizer and Race Director for track 2. Joe Scully from MultiGP and FPV Events was the Race Director for track 1 and had the responsibility for the qualifiers, top-16 finals and the team racing. Numerous volunteers helped run the event, some even travelling far to assist.

There was a phenomenal amount of gear to set up, both on Friday evening and on Saturday morning. With two complete tracks, full announcing audio, pilot and streaming video, and lap timing systems, the complexity of organizing and running such a major event cannot be overstated.

Saturday at Track 2 involved practice and last-minute qualifiers. The pre-qualified pilots practiced at track 1. There were some light showers throughout the day, but these didn’t impact the flying significantly. After the practice rounds on Saturday, many of the participants went out for dinner and socializing. This was a nice way to unwind and relax before the racing on Sunday.

Sunday started with qualifying rounds to establish the top 32 pilots based on fastest 3 consecutive laps. The top 16 moved on to the Expert Class and the next 16 to the Intermediate Class. The top and next 16 races followed a double elimination brackets format with chase the ace finals. Here are the results:

Round 6 of the Top-16 bracket was extremely close between GAB707 and LOLDERS neck and neck throughout and right to the end with a photo finish at the gate with GAB707 (1:04:192) overtaking LOLDERS (1:04:202) for the win. The incredible finish was reviewed after the race on video multiple times.

Team racing followed the finals and everyone was invited to participate. Team captains were chosen through qualifiers and then chose their team members. Every pilot and to fly at least once. Here are the results and team members:

1. Top Gun (87 laps): BullFPV, Lolders, JustFPV, Levesque, Armonic, FPVCH, Highway11, Apy3gger
2. DIX (87 laps): Gab707, PewPew, CobraFPV, Baxony, NailedUP, CarbonFury, Spun, MrClean
3. The Dopest (78 laps): EthanFPV, Slow_Poke, Gilbolt, ElPresidirte, Illmattak, PlatinumFPV, Rocket, Zenith
4. Ottawa FPV Riders (69 laps): TimboFPV, QuizFPV, Cmonster, KimboFPV, FPVSloth, Palamin, Yano, Droopdog

Team Canada FPV pilots ended up with the top 5 finishing spots for the 2018 championship. Team Canada FPV had said that they would invite the top Canadian finisher to join their team. They were true to their word and Anthony Resurreccion (RocketFPV) from Calgary became the latest pilot for this elite team. At the conclusion of the event, Anthony posed for a team photo in his new jersey.

Fatshark was the main sponsor and provided equipment and support. Other sponsors donated RC items for the prize draws. The top three pilots overall won prizes.

As with all of the races in this series, this was a MAAC sanctioned event and all pilots were MAAC or AMA members.

This first MultiGP Canadian Series was a success and demonstrated that Canada can support major league events. Having regional and national events is an important part of competitive league racing and gives pilots incentive to race better and faster.