You’ve seen Ken Block’s Gymkhana and Ford’s Snowkhana series, but now it’s time to see a couple of drones competing in a race, jammed packed with Ford obstacles, in the Blue Oval’s latest Dronekhana One.
Drone racing is rapidly becoming a fad (we should’ve seen this coming), with Luke Bannister (16) and Brett Collis (22) being the planet’s best drone pilots. That’s why Ford challenged them to tackle a unique course that includes (among other things) a drifting Focus RS, a Mustang performing a burnout, and two robot hands.
The special goggles used by the two pilots offered a first-person view as they navigated the course, while a rig composed of 36 GoPro action cameras captured the aerial machines in mid-action, in a style made famous by the 1999 film The Matrix – according to Ford.
“It’s basically like stepping into the cockpit. It was a tough course and we had some mishaps – but at least the Mustang’s all right, that’s all that matters,” said 16-year-old World Drone Prix champion Luke Bannister who took on the course with Tornado XBlades team-mate and fellow Brit, Brett Collis, 22.
So, step back, relax, and enjoy 2 minutes and 2 seconds of high-speed droning and amazing remote controlling. The stunt was put together at Ford’s HQ in the city which this week hosts Europe’s biggest interactive games trade fair.