CMRC Micro Series Meet 3 Draws 20 Pilots for Canberra TinyWhoop Racing

Twenty pilots converged on Holy Trinity Primary School in Curtin, ACT, on April 2 for the third round of the Canberra Multirotor Racing Club's 2026 Micro Series, delivering a session of close-quarters TinyWhoop racing broadcast live to national audiences through FPVBits.

The aircraft themselves set the competitive tone. CMRC's official Micro Series rules mandate a ducted frame, a single-cell (1S) battery, and a video transmitter operating on Raceband channels at no more than 25 milliwatts. Those constraints produce lightweight, low-power machines that shrink the safety footprint at a school venue while generating racing that is anything but pedestrian. With the specification window this tight, setup advantages are minimal; gate discipline, cornering consistency, and clean three-lap sequences are what separate the field.

Among the pilots competing, David "Davey" Newman of the Canberra suburb of Nicholls represents exactly the talent pipeline the Micro Series is designed to accelerate. First profiled at the 2022 Australian Drone Nationals when he was a 16-year-old Hawker College student, Newman traced his entry into FPV racing to a toy helicopter given to him by an uncle, and said that building his own drones had taught him a great deal about electronics. Four years on, he is among the Canberra-area pilots cross-listed in Australian FPV Association open-class qualifying records, a trajectory that illustrates how micro-class competition feeds directly into national-level ambitions. Fellow CMRC member Timothy Crofts has made a similar journey to the national circuit, reinforcing how deep the local talent base runs.

The broadcast was produced by FPVBits, the YouTube and Twitch channel operated by Canberra-based RCBits, with William McCann and Dean Koeck handling commentary and race direction. FPVBits streamed real-time heat graphics, DVR links for top runs, and a running leaderboard overlay throughout the afternoon. Pilots and coaches can review the archived stream to assess gate approaches, throttle management on entry and exit, and how competitors responded when traffic compression forced split-second decisions. The recording remains available for replay on YouTube, with live broadcasts also available on Twitch at twitch.tv/fpvbits.

The meet carries weight beyond its 20-pilot headcount. AUFPV's 2026 Australian Drone Nationals Qualifying Series is now active across clubs nationally, and the stakes have been raised: only the top 96 pilots in the country will earn a start at the Nationals this year. The 2026 qualifying track itself was designed by the reigning national champion, known as "Wilf," setting a high benchmark for what consistent qualifying lap splits need to look like. In the Micro Series format, those consistent splits are earned through fast heats, short recovery windows, and head-to-head elimination flights that build the practiced muscle memory open-class qualifying demands.

Canberra's standing as a drone racing hub is well established. CMRC has previously hosted the Australian Drone Nationals, drawing more than 70 of the country's top pilots to the capital. The 2025 Nationals ran an open-class format that split the 96-pilot field across two finals days, with the bottom 48 on Saturday and the top 48 on Sunday, illustrating the depth of the national competition pyramid that monthly club racing feeds into.

Wing Commander Keirin Joyce, a prominent figure in the Australian FPV community, once described the sport's appeal in terms that fit the Micro Series ethos precisely: "the cheapest motorsport around." At $10 for CMRC members and free entry for guests attending their first three races, that arithmetic holds at Holy Trinity Primary School every month. With the 2026 Nationals qualification window now open, Meet 3's field of 20 has every reason to stay sharp before the next round.