Recap Of Buffalo Bando 2018

Courtesy: Cathy Vanover

This past weekend MultiGP sanctioned the Buffalo Bando Race in Buffalo, New York. Hosted inside the Buffalo Riverworks complex, a 60,000 square foot entertainment venue that hosts roller-derbies, weekly soccer and hockey matches… the world of fpv drone racing took center stage as over 55 pilots from across the United States and Canada competed for their share of podium awards, recognition and the first WILD CARD slot to be awarded in the 2018 MultiGP Regional Series presented by the Academy of Model Aeronautics. MultiGP Chapter NLFPV hosted the event presented by ReadyMadeRC,  featuring 3 flight lines – the first, an indoor qualifying course managed by MultiGP Chapter Safety 3rd Racing, the second, the outdoor Championship Course, and an indoor Tiny Whoop course. Championship Sunday was broadcast via livestream hosted by Joe Scully along with guest commentators Nurk – the charming Paul Nurkkula and Keeley FPV, Kelly Stanley.

Qualifying races started Friday, June 22 and ran to almost midnight.  The competition carried over to Saturday morning, finally after 8 rounds of qualifying the stage was set for the championships. The field of pilots was sliced to the top-16 to be “the Pro Class”, and 17th through 32, the “Intermediate division”. Each group battled in a top-16 double-elimination bracket to decide the podium and the Wild Card Slot.

Pro:

• 1st – CaptainVanover  4/1:07.596
• 2nd – EthanFPV 4/1:13.512
• 3rd – Bull-FPV 3/51.690
• 4th – NURK    1/21.940

Intermediate:

• 1st – Sidewinder 3/1:13.819
• 2nd – APC_FPV 3/1:18.904
• 3rd – punkkills 2/54.079
• 4th – RickyBobby 2/56.551

As Captain Vanover is the reigning MultiGP Champion, he has a bye into the Fast-56 at Championships, so the Wild Card ticket he earned was passed to the reserve champion EthanFPV Ethan Kling from Massachusetts. A lot of happy pilots continued freestyling the ruins and silos through Saturday night and Sunday as well.  Truly a great time had by all.