Titan Grand Prix Drone Race Against Formula E Car at New York City ePrix

The Federation of Drone Racing (FDR) has announced that the Titan Grand Prix Racing Organization (TGP) will make their debut in a head-to-head challenge against a Formula E race car at the inaugural Formula E Qualcomm New York City ePrix held at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal July 15 and 16.

Champion drone pilots Zachry Thayer and Jordan Temkin will be at the controls in the world premier of the Titan Grand Prix GFD1 drone in a best 2 out of 3 contest against the Formula E car.

The Titan Grand Prix GFD1 drone, which is powerful enough to lift a 200lb man, will attempt to beat the car over a ⅓ mile section of the track, including the treacherous hairpin T01, at 2:30pm Sunday, July 16. An early version of the drone was clocked at 110mph while the Formula E car’s top speed is 140mph. The GFD1 drone, with eight propellers, is the largest drone racing class at 1100mm diagonally from motor to motor. For comparison, typical racing drones today are 250mm.

TGP owners Joe Herbert, Lee Baran, Joel Jackson, Adrian Taverner, and Scott Phan are confident. “We are so happy to be working with FDR on this. The NYC ePrix is the perfect venue for introducing TGP and the GFD1 to the world. We have enormous respect for the Formula E organization. It’s almost a shame the GFD1 will crush this race so hard.” They like to have fun.

The Titan Grand Prix series will be an international drone racing series with the fastest, largest, and most powerful racing drones in the world. The TGP league will be comprised of teams of top drone pilots, world champions, and engineers from all over the world. Currently in their startup phase, the TGP owners are actively developing plans in cooperation with investors, teams, and media partners, and hope to announce their 2018 race schedule by early fall.

Pilots Thayer and Temkin, in addition to other top pilots, will also participate in the world’s first invitational FDR Team Endurance Race, a high intensity drone race with two pilots and 1 pit engineer per team. Each pilot flies until their battery is depleted, at which time they enter the pits to change out drones and pilots.

FDR Team Endurance Racing is the first of its kind and set up similar to an endurance race in sports car racing. Strategy is key and suspense is high, and any outcome is possible.

More information on FDR and TGP will be located in the Formula E Allianz eVillage where fans can get a firsthand look at the elements of the e-sport and the pinnacle aspects of technology like Fat Shark First Person View (FPV) goggles to experience races through the eyes of the pilot. The owners of GFD1 and the pilots will be on site explaining the format and technology. List of confirmed teams and pilots for the NYC ePrix exhibitions below.

The race happens at 2:30pm on Sunday, July 16. The owners and pilots will be on hand in the eVillage FDR tent on Saturday and Sunday, July 15-16. For tickets to the Qualcomm New York City ePrix, go to www.FIAFormulaE.com.

An official 2018 series calendar schedule will be released at a later date. To learn more and stay up to date on the latest on FDR, go to www.federationofdroneracing.com.