What makes a GREAT drone racing course? (2023 MultiGP GQ track break-down)

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Thanks to Jon and Limon for helping with this video! Which one is your favorite?

[@ChainsawFPV]

Hey! You did not do Boner FPV's track!!

[@massivefpv7751]

@@ChainsawFPV They did it's at 20:52 kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2SYXoaghahol5o

[@KPV_UK]

Limon is my favorite, but Jon is a close second 🤣

[@JoshuaBardwell]

@@ChainsawFPV I did, but I forgot to put the timestamp in. I'll fix it.

[@tehllama42]

I have way too many thoughts (as usual), which makes it hard to actually decide which one is 'best', as far as 'best' for having something that is enjoyable and still stratifies the fast pilots, we're probably stuck with Anthony's track again this year. Not that it's a bad thing, but of the 8, that one achieves that compound set of goals best.

[@JonE5FPV]

So glad houston crew can help to get the word out! Thanks Joshua for letting us help out with this video.

[@MultiGP1]

Thanks JB , Jon and Limon for this great break-down!

[@genjitsu7448]

So this was a kind of different feeling video - I am a big fan of Jon E 5's channel and have often seen Limon on his channel at their night track location which looks very cool by the way. Like usual your content is among the best out there even though this was more of a casual and open conversation it did not get sloppy or boring like these kinds of videos can often get. I did not know that there was a MultiGP GQ event at all so thanks for bringing it to our attention. This is a very interesting sport - I love racing and I always have (used to race motocross, love F1, etc...) but when the drones race they are so fast, and the reaction times of the pilots are so quick it is hard to believe that it is even real. Good luck to anyone that tries any of these tracks and makes it to one of the events. This kind of stuff is great for the hobby. Cheers!

[@sixtofive]

I think the concern of not making the track overly difficult with consideration for newer pilots is definitely worth keeping in mind. Maybe it would be worth considering a transition to two different GQ tracks. A lower difficulty standard track, and a higher difficulty advanced track aimed at those who want to compete at regional and national qualifiers. It can be easy for veteran pilots to lose perspective on just how intimidating these track designs can be for someone just getting started.

[@IshamPadron]

When I first started racing I admit the GQ was a challenge but its kind of supposed to be. Its not for folks that have never flown a race before. There are plenty of chances for a beginner FPV racer to practice before they feel comfortable trying a GQ track. Many clubs have fun flys all the time and I would suggest avoiding the GQ track. Just hone in your skills and have fun with the local guys for at least a year. However, I do agree that clubs need to do a better job bringing in newer pilots and mentoring them so that can at least participate.

[@RCRitterFPV]

Ohh like add in Red gates or something to make it more technical and add length? 10 gate standard general qualifier. 14 gate elite course?

[@sixtofive]

@@IshamPadron That's a good point. The less difficult tracks don't need to be the qualifier track. The chapters just need to remember to change it up from time to time.

[@sixtofive]

@@RCRitterFPV My local chapter that hosts whoop races has done that on several events. Since we have a wide range of skill levels they have set up the track with a couple points that basically have an easy mode and a hard mode. The veterans that push competitively take the difficult path, and the guys that are just having fun get to choose which they'd prefer. It's cool that everybody has been laid back about it to help make sure newer pilots are still enjoying the racing.

[@baggszilla]

This was great! Thank you JB and Jon E5!

[@deice3]

Limon had a lot of good feedback on the track designs, its almost a shame they're already final. Many of them would be better with slight improvements. Its cool to see some racing content, I had fun flying the tracks in Velocidrone trying to find my favorite.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Hyper and Levi spent about an hour flying these tracks and giving their opinion. Well worth a watch! kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6DdZ5KfgtNrhbM&ab_channel=LeviathannFPV

[@IvanEfimovLimon]

This is a good in-depth from the two robot-fast pilots.

[@ChainsawFPV]

Been waiting for this!

[@DoubleA_AMAfpv]

This was a pretty fun review of the tracks, Joshua Bardwell!

[@SpicyFPV]

As someone who has been designing tracks for 5yrs, and race at the top 50ish-100 level, a majority of my opinions aligned with Limon's video. Track design is hard. Just about anyone can toss gates down and make a line through it, but doesn't mean it will be a good track. A good designer will have a flight path in mind, and start building the track that will achieve it. Using that approach, you are greatly reducing the amount of Limon's negative features: 5deg gates, incomplete gates, and worthless hurdles. You wouldn't visualize the line, and then just throw down non-valued added gates if it isn't actually forcing your pilot on to that line, or forcing them to deviate from it. "Gotcha" features are also something that need to be avoided. Trying to create difficulty, but making excessively jerky lines is just not fun. (Put two gates about 5ft apart, but put a 10ft side to side offset. "Makes it harder." No, it makes it annoying without any value.) The last bit that I think a ton of less experienced designers often forget about, is some of the non-race based issues. JonE5 briefly talked about it with the issue of the sun behind a sky gate, or when he referenced straights pointed towards the inside of the track. Have seen several tracks over the years that have really sketchy gates pointed right at the pits. Its just waiting for a gate clip or a midair, and sending the wreckage directly into pits/pilots. Basically have to start visualizing what can happen at the event, and start thinking of ways to mitigate those issues. For me it was a toss up between Grower and Ayyykayyy. AK's had a little better flow to it, but Grower's was a lot more unique and something we haven't overly flown in the MGP realm. 3rd and 4th for me were Hyper and Fastodan.

[@MCsCreations]

Really, really interesting indeed! The idea of a competition like this is brilliant! 😃 Thanks, guys!!! Stay safe there with your families! 🖖😊

[@silkjamfpv]

Thanks for this video! Only flew 4 of them yet but this whole process is a lot of fun.

[@blueskyfpv]

Is there a 'guide' for how to navigate the different types of obstacles on a course? I can't seem to figure out if there is a predetermined path for each gate type or if how you go through any gate is up to the course designer. The same for moving from 1 obstacle/gate to the next is there a way to know from the course setup, or do you simply have to remember the order of the gates? Thanks for any guidance.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

You are required to pass through the gates in the correct order, and from the correct direction. If there is a flag, you are required to pass to the correct side of the flag. For a hurdle, you have to pass over it. The specific path between the gates is up to you to decide, but generally there will not be a lot of variation in what the fastest line is. There occasionally will be one element that really skilled pilots can do a totally different way than less skilled pilots, but for the most part everybody tries to follow the one ideal line between the gates.

[@blueskyfpv]

@@JoshuaBardwell Thanks for the reply. I guess what I'm asking is how to know the 'correct order' of gates and the 'correct direction' or 'correct side' of the flags. Basically I don't know how to read a race course map so that I follow the correct route from start to finish. Once I can understand how to follow a route correctly I can worry about better lines ;-) Do you know of any videos/sites that explain that element? Thanks very much.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

The correct order and direction is learned from videos like I show here. Or, for smaller races, they will do a track walk before the race where the course is described to the pilots. Sometimes someone will fly a few demonstration laps while the pilots watch.

[@blueskyfpv]

@@JoshuaBardwell Awesome....well kinda. Know I know what to do to figure it out. I was hoping for something along the lines of street signs, or standards (like a flag on a gate's left side means enter from the left side or perhaps blue gate = go under, but red gate = split-s). I really appreciate the time for your answers.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Yeah I think there have been some attempts to notate race tracks but mostly people just demonstrate it.

[@RCRitterFPV]

Great video, I entered one local race back when I first had a rekon 5 as my first 5". That was that 3 years ago now? Broke on my first gate... figured maybe that's not for me. that and the fastest guys are so fast I can never tell what's goin on... but I love racing... Think I should put some effort in and work on my racecraft... Time to fire up Velocidrone... gotta find my KAACK

[@KCQuadTronX]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VID !!!!!!!!!KEEP IT UP BUDDY

[@Editer38738]

This hobby is getting so HUGE!!!! Freestyle Everywhere Cheers from Knoxville, Tennesse

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Knoxville represent!

[@Editer38738]

You know it!!!

[@definingslawek4731]

@@JoshuaBardwell you previously estimated the hobby at like 600k pilots, but multigp says they have 30k registered, is that possible there’s such a large percentage of racers or are we just growing that rapidly?

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

8:27 Drifting. Because it resembles drifting in a car. Over Powering then oversteering into a corner to power out of it. Sometimes even a reverse Entry/initiation with the rear end of the car further out than the front. Watch some D1GP or Formula D drifting competitions.

[@adamjnowak1]

I have staked out the GQ'swith RTK in northern Colorado for several years. All the tracks are stored in my survey data collector, and I can drop a track at a moments notice. Not a single person has said yes when I ask if anyone wants to fly one of the old GQ's. haaaaaa

[@midorrscloudsong4860]

Really like all the tracks but as a German, my heart beats for hakkos track ;-) really like all his tracks

[@aphinion]

Tried them and voted Levi. Probably because I'm a beginner looser ;D Still loved the flow and it motivated me most to grind. Fastodon and AyyyKayyy would be 2nd and 3rd for me.

[@IvanEfimovLimon]

Hey guys, I'm still locked inside JBs channel, please help

[@silkjamfpv]

🗝️🔑🔐gotta try them all 😅

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Thanks for letting me include your insights into this video! It was really helpful!

[@PerceptionFPV]

Call the locksmithing lawyer

[@IvanEfimovLimon]

@@PerceptionFPV he took my phone off me, and my passport lol

[@ImLucky-2222]

Like and subscribe

[@Jeff_mindblowing]

Hey guys, I have a hard decision to make, what would you do? Would you rather buy a Max Tinyhawk 2 freestyle or a Baby ape pro V2? Or do you have any other suggestions for intermediat fpv pilots who have a 100 to 160 bucks for drones?

[@nullfield1126]

How does he know where to go? Is it just memory? In some tracks I can see an orange crosshair, but in others I just don't understand how to tell when you're supposed to go over a pile, do a clockwise turn or a ccw one. When under and when above...

[@ToddIrwin]

Great Content

[@walkershot92]

Fasto, AyyKayy, and Levi are my Top 3.

[@unknown-subject8499]

Nice!!!

[@jtroutt19]

IMO the tracks should be kept under wraps until its times to race them irl

[@AntonKoba]

Ivan, do you drink vodka before you fly?

[@IvanEfimovLimon]

Of course lol. Also wrestl with a pet bear

[@ImLucky-2222]

Growers hands down

[@rawfpv]

Awesome seeing Limon and JonE5 chiming in here … I am ShitPilot … #shitpilot

[@like_some_other]

What a "great" thing to see a pilot from Russia on this channel. Hello from Ukraine, Joshua

[@JoshuaBardwell]

I've known Ivan from before the war. We didn't suddenly stop our relationship when his government invaded Ukraine. If you watch my channel, you have seen me interview my editor who is married to a Ukranian and lived in Kyiv. You have seen me interview and raise support for The Nest, who develops and builds drones for the Ukranian army. My support for Ukraine is obvious. If I find out Ivan supports the war, then that would be a different story. Let's point out that he develops Betaflight, which is used by Ukraine to fight the invaders. So in a way, he also supports Ukraine. I don't expect to be held responsible for every shitty thing my government does. And I don't cut off all communication with every Russian citizen because of the shitty things their government does. If you feel different, you certainly have good reason for it.

[@like_some_other]

​@@JoshuaBardwell it's a good answer, thank you for it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen your interviews you're talking about but I will now. I understand your vision about Russian citizens. And I appreciate that you understand different feelings. Shame on me, I didn't know about your support of the Ukrainian army. I'm really glad to know about that. Thank you! Hoping my previous comment didn't spoil your mood. Have a great day!

[@JoshuaBardwell]

I completely understand your feeling about Russians. Thank you for letting me share my perspective.

[@mikeellicott6977]

Track design is far more complicated than most will understand, and likewise so is the gate itself, i spent many 100's of hours in gate design, I just wish I could have continued in this , but economics halted development.

[@Alluvian567]

I think the gate limitation is a HUGE reason why quad racing is so off-putting to those not immersed in the hobby. A layman looking at a course has NO IDEA what the route is. A layman does not see how the gates are linked together or any rule about how you spin around a flag or enter this gate backwards and then fly through it again the other way. I feel if there were more 'wasted' gates and so many gates were not double used a layman would have a much better chance at reading the course and being able to see what the course is. The other issue is of course that the course is not that visible to the on quad camera because of all the pre-steering required to hit the lines, the quad is just rarely pointed at a gate it is going through. A good third person camera is the only real solution there, but that is hard due to the speeds and small sizes of the quads. I appreciate the skill of racing as something I will never be able to do competitively and will watch one or two videos on it a year, but I just find it really hard to get into it as a spectator sport. Personally I am lucky to be able to finish laps at all, much less in any kind of time, I just use them in sims as freestyle gap practice.

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

Valid point. Many layman look at it and try to follow a drone once and are like "Dafuq it would take me a week to understand it. Let alone fly it..."

[@Carboneye7]

Houston crew is the best

[@CDRaff]

Remember when Boner joined the Marines?

[@ah4quadssake885]

I watched the first 2 mins and then thought....I dont care about courses for just a select few.

[@geordil]

a select few? Hundreds of people will fly this track. Over 800 people were on the leaderboard last year.

[@ah4quadssake885]

@@geordil call it 1000 ,still a select few

[@geordil]

@@ah4quadssake885 Its not select either man, its open to every single multigp racer regardless of skill level. Anyone could go race one of these tracks this year if they wanted to. Just because its not your thing doesn't mean it only applies to a select few

[@ah4quadssake885]

@@geordil I'll just leave racing to the few then like MCK or Vannover . Not getting into a feud over the word "select".

[@geordil]

@@ah4quadssake885 man you don't have to be MCK or vanover to race 😂 you just have to show up and try

[@scott_aero3915]

Big Mistkae is my rapper name.

[@miketech2]

Ok how about an AI generated track? Someone’s gotta be working on that model right?

[@geordil]

hahaha I tried it with ghatGPT. It made some nonsense tracks, but maybe it could get dialed in with better prompts

[@MsVideoaccount]

Вот бы Ваня по-русски канал по дронрейсингу вел!