The Liberty Cup 2016 has crowned a winner!

Cain “MAD_AIR” Madere from St. Charles, Louisiana won the drone race with the fastest time of 26.731 seconds. Only 19 years old, Cain has wanted to be a pilot since he was a little kid, and decided that drone racing was the easiest (and cheapest!) way of achieving his dream.

His strategy for winning was to stay smooth and stay fast. “You’ve got to be confident in your flying,” Cain said.

But Cain certainly faced his share of challenges.

“I’ve never flown a 3D course like this before with vertical dive gates,” he said. “I definitely wasn’t ready. It just kind of came out on a whim and I guess I got the good end of the stick on that one.”

Next, Cain will compete in the US National Drone Racing Championships on Governors Island in New York along with the other qualifiers of the Liberty Cup.

“I’m nervous and excited and everything in between,” he said. “It’s going to be unlike anything I’ve ever done before.”

In second place was Pete “Ghost” Grehan from Newcastle, Australia, who finished in 27.726 seconds.

In third place was Rafael “Spook” Paiva from São Paulo, Brazil, who finished in 28.695 seconds.

The top 3

The freestyle competition winner was Colby “SFPV” Curtola from San Francisco, California. Freestyle flying is when a high speed, agile drone performs tricks and extreme maneuvers in a fluid and jaw-dropping exhibition.

The inaugural Liberty Cup was the first drone race to be set against the NYC skyline. Approximately 100 drone pilots from around the world came to Liberty Science Center to compete in the challenge.

If you missed the fun, or just want to relieve the experience all over again, check out our recap video from the weekend:

To see more photos from the race, click here.