Championship rules

• The inaugural season runs from the first sanctioned event in late 2026 to the 2027 Australian Drone Nationals.
• Every sanctioned event counts. There are no dropped rounds and no best-of scoring.
• There is no limit on how many events a pilot races and no minimum. A pilot who misses an event scores nothing for it.
• The leaderboard closes once the Nationals results are verified. The pilot on top is the ADRC Champion.

You score at a sanctioned event if:

1. You hold a membership at an AUFPV affiliated club on the day of the event. The membership must be recorded on the AUFPV platform.
2. Your result is linked to your AUFPV account. A result entered under a name the platform doesn't recognise is still recorded, and is matched to your account afterwards.
3. The name you race under matches your account. Use the same pilot name everywhere so your results end up in one place.

AUFPV may waive the membership requirement for an event it runs on behalf of an affiliated club that isn't on the platform yet.

If any of these is missing on the day, your result is still recorded and you keep your place. Your points are held until you're matched (your result linked to your account, or your membership recorded for the day) and are added then. Nobody moves up in your place. Points still held when the leaderboard closes don't count.

You don't need to register for the championship. If you race at a sanctioned event and meet the three points above, your results count.

There is one leaderboard and one ADRC Champion, whatever class you race. Open Class, Pro Spec, X-Class and Tiny Whoop all score on the same leaderboard, using the same points table. AUFPV may consider other classes.

A host club must run at least one class. If you race two classes at the same event, both results count.

Each sanctioned event is given a tier. The tier sets the points multiplier and the standards the event must meet.

The pilot count is every pilot who competed at the event, counted once across all classes. Events with fewer than 16 pilots can't be sanctioned.

If fewer pilots turn up than the event's tier needs, the event drops to the tier its field does reach. If fewer than 16 pilots compete, the event scores no points.

Points depend on your finishing position, multiplied by the event's tier, then rounded to the nearest whole number.

• Points are awarded only for positions that exist. A 16-pilot class awards 1st to 16th.
• There are no bonus points this season.
• Only each class's main final scores. Side brackets run under the same class, such as a masters or juniors final, don't score a second time.

No two pilots in a class share a position. The host club must decide the full finishing order before submitting results. AUFPV won't verify results that contain a shared position.

• Only AUFPV affiliated clubs can apply. Events run by non-affiliated clubs, businesses or individuals don't score.
• Clubs apply through the AUFPV platform at least two weeks before the event.
• Each club can have one standard club event sanctioned at Tier 3 per season. Any further sanctioned event the club hosts must be Tier 2 or above.
• The club requests a tier. AUFPV reviews the application and assigns the tier, which may differ from the one requested. AUFPV has the final say on every event's tier.
• Clubs that are not using the AUFPV platform at this time, may request sanctioning via info@aufpv.org.au and the event will be added to the AUFPV website.

• The host club submits final results through the AUFPV platform within its tier's deadline, with a full finishing order for every class and each result linked to the pilot's account. ADRC results are one finishing order per class, entered for the ADRC. If the event also counts towards a club championship, the club enters those results separately, however its own championship needs them.
• AUFPV checks the results before any points are applied. Points appear on the leaderboard once the results are verified.
• If verified results are later corrected, the points are withdrawn until AUFPV verifies them again.

If a sanctioned event is cancelled before racing starts, no points are awarded and it is removed from the calendar. If an event is abandoned after racing starts, AUFPV decides whether the partial results count.

Disputes about points or standings must be sent to AUFPV in writing at info@aufpv.org.au within seven days of the results being published. AUFPV will investigate and its decision is final. Verified errors can be corrected at any time before the leaderboard closes.

Entry to the Nationals is decided by its own qualification, a national time trial, not by the ADRC standings. Nationals results score at ×3, so a Nationals win is worth 150 points.

The ADRC Champion is the pilot with the most points after the Nationals. If two pilots are level on points, the pilot with more event wins is ahead. If they are still level, the pilot with more 2nd places is ahead, then more 3rd places, and so on.

Pilots at sanctioned events must follow AUFPV's code of conduct and the host club's event rules. AUFPV may remove a pilot from the leaderboard for serious misconduct under its disciplinary procedures.

AUFPV may amend these rules with reasonable notice to affiliated clubs. AUFPV will review the championship at the end of the inaugural season and publish any changes before the next season starts.