Davey FPV leads Canberra's tight Australian drone nationals qualifying race

Davey FPV has turned Canberra’s Australian Drone Nationals board into a two-class pressure cooker. At the Canberra Multirotor Racing Club, the same pilot sits first in both Open Class and Pro Spec qualifying, and with Nationals spots limited to 96 in Open and 48 in Pro Spec, every remaining lap before the June 30 cutoff carries real weight.

AUFPV’s 2026 qualifying series runs from March 1 to June 30 and uses the best three consecutive laps on the approved track. Club officials or delegates submit times, and pilots who cannot attend in person can still post DVR runs, with Pro Spec requiring the full flight and the software configuration shown before arming. The prize is a place at the Australian Drone Nationals, set for September 30 to October 4 at Western Districts Rugby Football Club in Toowong, Queensland, with Open Class qualifying and finals on October 1-2 and Micro racing on October 3. Pro Spec carries a competition fee of $150.

Davey’s Open Class time of 30.67 seconds is miles ahead of the Canberra pack, but the chase behind him is crowded enough to matter. Whodeany is next at 40.54, then BEAR at 43.27, JustHappyToBeHere at 44.08, Spark at 45.73, Nacho at 47.82 and Magic Soup at 48.04. TommyD, Cal, Carnage, timmytron and Snorlax follow in a tight band through the low 50s, and the list keeps going through names like Littel FPV, Wedge FPV, Karade, Snapper FPV, JohnnyGMachine, Djay, Spanna, PhilbyC, Croz, C Charl, Has0, Callsign, Panda FPV and Aussie Dog FPV. Nationally, the Open board is already deeper than 100 pilots, with IQ0 holding the overall lead at 26.39.

Pro Spec is no less sharp. Davey FPV tops that board too, turning in a 49.12-second run on HDZero, with BEAR at 54.63, Magic Soup at 61.49, Whodeany at 62.28, timmytron at 62.48, Spark at 63.04 and Cal at 65.11. Nacho, Snapper FPV, Karade, JohnnyGMachine, Spanna, Djay, Croz and Has0 fill out a field that mixes HDZero and analog setups, a reminder that hardware still shapes the edge. This is the first year Pro Spec requires qualification, and with only 48 national spots, there is no cushion.

The club standings show the same competitive spine. Davey FPV leads Micro-A, Pro Spec and Open Class A, sitting on 200 points in Micro-A and Pro Spec and 191 in Open A. Magic Soup leads Micro-B and Open Class B with 200 in Micro-B and 191 in Open B. CMRC says it is the ACT’s dedicated FPV drone racing club, running Open Class, Pro Spec and Tiny Whoops across a 10-event Open season, while its micro series meets monthly at Holy Trinity Primary School in Curtin. Heats are typically sorted into 6-8 pilot final groups by qualifying rank, so the next Canberra rounds can still reshuffle seeding, but the front of the board already looks like a Nationals fight in miniature.