Melbourne teen wins major drone race in Orlando

MELBOURNE teen Thomas Bitmatta had to battle jet lag, windy conditions and a crash but still managed to take the first major drone race of the season in Orlando, Florida last month.

TEEN drone master Thomas Bitmatta has maintained his reputation as the Roger Federer of the drone racing world after he took out the $US40,000 MultiGP Sebring 2018 Air Expo in Orlando, Florida last month.

The Air Expo, which featured many of the world’s top pilots, was the first major drone racing event of the year.

Bitmatta, 18, qualified third-fastest for the event before winning his first round convincingly.

DRONE KING WINS AGAIN

BITMATTA WINS WORLD TITLES

Things got a bit hairy in the second round when Bitmatta crashed his drone due to radio interference from a competitor.

The setback meant Bitmatta would have been eliminated if there had been any more mishaps.

However, in what is becoming a familiar sight for his competition, the Roxborough Park Rampage cruised through remaining rounds to make the final.

Bitmatta gets in some practice at Epping’s St Monica’s College. Picture: Tim Carrafa.

He recorded his fastest lap times of the competition in the decider to leave more seasoned pilots in his dust and take home the $US10,000 first prize.

Despite making winning look easy, Bitmatta said it takes a lot to prepare for competition.

“The biggest hurdle was overcoming Jetlag flying from Melbourne to Orlando,” he said.

“I had to be extra careful how I used my energy during the event as that much travelling can really take it out of you.”

Bitmatta said it also took a bit to get use to the race conditions.

Thomas Bitmatta during competition at the 2017 RIOT-MultiGP International Open, the world championships of drone flying, in Indiana USA. Picture: Supplied.

“During qualifying the wind began to pick up and become gusty which continued through to the main races meaning each lap had to be handled differently as the conditions kept changing,” he said.

In August, Bitmatta won two world titles at the MultiGP International Open in Indiana.

He recently signed a sponsorship deal with Mission Foods.

@paulshapiro1117