Roxburgh Park drone racer Thomas Bitmatta wins national championships
World-beating Roxburgh Park drone racer Thomas Bitmatta has been crowned king of Australia’s skies for the third time in four years after reaching speeds of up to 150km/h at the national titles in Canberra.
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World-beating Roxburgh Park drone racer Thomas Bitmatta has been crowned king of Australia’s skies for the third time in four years.
Bitmatta, 20, triumphed in the first person view event at the Australian Drone Racing national championships in Canberra earlier this month, reaching speeds of up to 150km/h on his was to the title.
The two-time world champion tore the drone around the 500m track three times in less than a minute, winning by just under a second in 49.18 seconds.
As well as almost 100 other drivers, Bitmatta also battled jet lag, having just arrived home from a competition in South Korea the day before the national championships.
Bitmatta said he was thrilled to take home the top prize, especially with extra competition due to the growing popularity of the sport.
“This year was one of the unique years where we had so many new pilots come on board, including from New Zealand, which is awesome,” he said.
“There were a lot of straight line sections, which is a different style and allowed us to reach higher speeds than usual.”
Bitmatta was back at training in Bundoora this week as he prepares for an event in the US in November and to represent Australia on the world stage in China in December.
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“I try to practice around three days a week,” he said.
“You do train for it just like any other sport.
“I really love it and the biggest thing is to have fun.”
Bitmatta took home $3000 prize money for winning the event.