Ararat high school student Nathaniel Kuchel will have an opportunity not many others in Australia have had before later this year.
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17-year-old Kuchel will represent Australia at an international drone racing competition Switzerland in October.
Kuchel has competed at national drone racing events before but this will be his first opportunity to take it up against the best in the world.
“By far this will be the biggest competition I will have raced in,” he said.
“I will competing against the best in the world, people I have watched from afar and idolised.”
Kuchel will compete in the Drone Champions League event in Zurich from October 11-13, “one of the three largest drone racing competitions in the world”.
The competition will take place at picturesque Lake Zurich, with the course planned around a castle at the Lake.
The Marian College student builds his own drones, and he will have to design a new one specifically for the regulations of the competition.
“I have about three drones at the moment but I will have to build some more around the specifications permitted in that event,” he said.
Kuchel has been at the forefront of drone racing in the region, taking on an active role in bringing more people to the sport.
In April this year he created the inaugural Ararat Drone Race in an effort to make it a yearly event. He has competed across Australia in top domestic competitions, feats that presented him with this most recent opportunity.
“I have been competing in Australia and they saw some of my stuff and sent the invite out,” he said.
“The last time I went overseas was when I was five years old so I am really looking forward to the experience as well as doing a little bit of touristy stuff while I am over there to make the most of my time.”
Kuchel has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the expensive costs of his trip.
