Belgium Revamps Drone Racing Championship With Two-Heat National Selection Format
Belgium's drone racing championship shifts to a two-heat pre-selection format, with the opening heat in Leopoldsburg kicking off this Saturday, March 28.
Two days before the first gate drops, Belgian defence and national organizers have locked in a fundamentally different pathway to the national drone racing title. The Open Belgian Drone Racing Championship has been restructured around two national pre-selection heats, with pilots earning their place in a championship final rather than simply showing up to compete for it.
The opening heat runs March 28-29 in Leopoldsburg, giving competitors this weekend to post the qualifying performances that matter. A second heat follows before the field converges on Florennes, where the Belgian Air Force Days take place on June 27 and 28 at Florennes Air Force Base and will serve as the stage for the championship final.
The military backdrop is not incidental. Belgium has been organizing its national drone racing championship in collaboration with the Belgian Armed Forces for several years, and the 2026 structure deepens that partnership by anchoring the season finale to one of the country's most prominent military aviation events. Belgian Air Force Days is a two-day event that has built a strong reputation among European aviation fans for mixing modern combat jets with partner-nation performers and ground-side exhibitions.
The format shift carries real competitive weight. The previous championship structure ran three heats, each dedicated to one of the branches of the Belgian Armed Forces: Army, Air Force, and Navy. Condensing the pathway to two pre-selection heats concentrates the pressure on every race weekend. A pilot who drops laps in Leopoldsburg has limited runway to recover before the final selection closes.
The Open Belgian Drone Racing Championship welcomes international FPV pilots to compete in a professionally organized national event, with results counting toward the official Belgian Champion F9U ranking. That international-facing posture makes the Florennes final, set against a backdrop of military jets and tens of thousands of spectators, a significant showcase moment for the sport in Belgium.
With the first gate just hours away, Leopoldsburg is where the 2026 title race begins in earnest.
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