For three days the Sportplatz SV07 Aich sounded like a beehive with a jet engine. Europe finally got its own MultiGP Championship—and it didn’t tiptoe onto the calendar, it kicked the door in. Eighty-six pilots from eighteen countries funneled through six double-elimination mains—A Main (Top 16), B Main (17–32), all the way down to an anything-goes F Main for the 64th seed and below—until Sunday delivered a winner who felt inevitable the moment he armed.
The show ran like a metronome. The Tier 1 MultiGP Chapter Aircrasher called race control with surgical calm, backed by another MultiGP Tier 1 Chapter Bavarian Multirotor. Matt Andrews hosted an eight-hour live stream that never lost the plot, and TBone FPV’s track—fast, flowing, just technical enough to punish greed—made sure speed alone wasn’t a winning strategy.
Seeding across Friday and Saturday delivered drama from the start. Minjae, a young but veteran Korean pilot, lit up the timing screen first, stopping the clock at 49.556 (P1)—a lap so fast it turned heads across the paddock. Pawelos from Poland, the reigning MultiGP World Champion, replied in his trademark, calculated style with a sharp 52.992 (P2). This year’s man to beat, Yuki, wasn’t the outright fastest in qualifying—but with a composed 53.132 (P3) he looked every bit the pilot to fear once racing got serious.
Europe’s flag was carried high as well. Marv, representing Liechtenstein, stayed ice-cool and punched in a 53.959 (P4). the pluri decorated Killian Rousseau from France clawed back after a shaky start to plant a 54.885 (P5), while NZMFPV of Turkey hovered right on pace with 55.245 (P6).
And then there was Jbox, the lone American in the field, making himself right at home in Europe with a 57.323 (P7). Sweden’s Timmy slipped into the Top-10 with 58.428 (P10), while ArvinFPV stood tall as the fastest German in the field at 57.614 (P8). France showed its depth better than anyone—three tricolores in the Top-12, with Fenoman (P11) joining countrymen Killian Rousseau and Pastis. The cut line was merciless: Pastis (P12) just squeezed into direct A Main access with 59.118, while Scorb, Danbuster, Trinxbaguette and Akra all found themselves seeded into the B Main and needing to fight their way upward.
The Bump-Up Stories
Thanks to the double-elimination format, the A Main didn’t belong only to the Top-12 qualifiers. Four pilots clawed their way upward: Danbuster (UK), Akra, Scorb and Trinxbaguette all earned bump-ups into the A Main, proving that Sunday wasn’t just about raw lap times but about survival and execution. Danbuster’s climb became one of the stories of the weekend—fighting his way out of the B Main and then carrying that momentum deep into the final rounds, where he finished an impressive 5th overall.
Sunday: A Main Bracket Battles
The A Main opened with 16 pilots and a flood of tension. Yuki and PawelosFPV quickly established themselves as the most consistent, advancing heat after heat from the Winners side. Both looked untouchable, heading straight into the Grand Final without a single misstep.
For others the story was more complicated.
For Marv, the road wasn’t so smooth. The Liechtensteiner was sharp all weekend, but a stumble in Race 11 pushed him into the Redemption Bracket. That meant survival mode: every heat from that point forward was win-or-go-home, and Marv answered with ice in his veins. He clawed through Race 10 and Race 12, then delivered under the lights in Race 13 to book his ticket to the grand final.
NZMFPV faced a similar fate. The Turkish pilot was quick from the outset, but a third-place finish in Race 6 forced him onto the long road. From there, he was relentless—grinding through Redemption heats against the likes of Fenoman, Jbox, and Timmy—before sealing his comeback in Race 13, joining Marv as the second Redemption bracket survivor in the grand final.
Jbox carried the American flag alone and did it with pride. He battled through both Winners and Redemption heats, even eliminating tough opposition, before falling just short of the final four. His 7th place overall was a strong statement in a European field stacked with world-class talent.
Perhaps the biggest shock of the entire weekend was the elimination of Minjae. The Korean had dominated qualifying with a 49.556, the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the event, but his A Main run ended abruptly in Race 10 of the Top-16. From the paddock favorite to an early exit, it was a reminder that in double elimination even the quickest stopwatch time guarantees nothing once the brackets go live
Timmy, the Swede, had his own moments of brilliance. Solid in qualifying (P10), he fought deep into the Redemption bracket, going prop-to-prop with some of the biggest names. His run ended in Race 9 against Fenoman and NZMFPV, but not before showing flashes of pace that earned plenty of respect in the pits.
Among the fresh faces, Smallyuki stood out. The young Japanese talent showed maturity beyond his years, battling his way into the A Main Top-16 and holding his own against some of the world’s best. His run ended in Race 9, but the speed and composure he displayed marked him as one to watch for the future
The Champion Crowned
With back-to-back wins in the final race of the A-Main, Yuki closed the deal 2–0, leaving no need for a third ace. His blend of pace and control—never the outright fastest qualifier, but always the sharpest when it mattered—proved decisive.
Under the Chase the Ace scoring system (1 point for 1st, 2 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd, 4 points for 4th), the remaining three pilots all finished the two rounds tied on 6 points each:
Marv (4th + 2nd)
NZMFPV (3rd + 3rd)
PawelosFPV (2nd + 4th)
The MultiGP European Championship tie-breaker rule looked at the finishing order of the last round. That meant Marv’s second place in Race 2 secured him the silver medal, NZMFPV’s third locked him into the bronze, and PawelosFPV, despite setting the fastest lap in the opening heat, had to settle for fourth.
No championship of this scale happens without an army behind the scenes. The European debut owed everything to the tireless work of Rolf, Jens, Michael, Andreas, Simon, and the entire team of volunteers and pilots who literally built the track piece by piece. Thanks also to Doug and Henry from MultiGP, whose presence and support connected this event directly to the global stage.
The beautiful grounds of Sportplatz SV07 Aich proved to be the perfect host, wrapping the intensity of racing in a true community atmosphere.
Most of all, credit goes to the 86 pilots from 18 countries who turned Aichtal into a festival of speed and sportsmanship. They made this first MultiGP European Championship not only historic, but unforgettable.
But everyone who left Aichtal knew one thing: this was not the end, but only the beginning. The road now leads to the MultiGP Championship in Tulsa—the next chapter of drone racing history.
🎟️ Tickets are still available at shop.multigp.com.
