15-Year-Old FPV Drone Racer Wins First JDL Pro Class Title
News reached me that 15-year-old high school FPV drone racer Yuki Yamamoto won the Pro class at Round 6 of the 2025 JAPAN DRONE LEAGUE (JDL), held on September 21, 2025 at Sky Ground in Kato, Hyogo Prefecture. It is autumn 2025 news, but a young pilot's result left a strong impression on me, so I'm sharing it.
More than 50 people took part. Yamamoto qualified first, went through the semifinal, and beat his rivals in the final heat. Second place went to Rikuto Nakazawa and third to Takahiro Kodaka. It was his first championship after five years in JDL, and he said, "I've finally reached the top."
Just before that, from September 12 to 14, Yamamoto also competed at the 2025 MultiGP European Championship in Aichtal, Germany. In this event with 86 pilots from 18 countries, he qualified seventh, advanced to the A-Main (top 16), and finished 15th. The trip was funded by crowdfunding: about 1.03 million yen from 111 people. In 2024 he represented Japan at the FAI World Championship in Hangzhou, China, and the team finished third in the world.
FPV drone racing is often called the "F1 of the sky": pilots fly by watching the onboard camera feed through goggles and race at over 200 km/h on three-dimensional courses. Participants range from teens to people in their seventies, which is part of the appeal. I hope the domestic scene keeps growing.
Source: DRONE.jp
More than 50 people took part. Yamamoto qualified first, went through the semifinal, and beat his rivals in the final heat. Second place went to Rikuto Nakazawa and third to Takahiro Kodaka. It was his first championship after five years in JDL, and he said, "I've finally reached the top."
Just before that, from September 12 to 14, Yamamoto also competed at the 2025 MultiGP European Championship in Aichtal, Germany. In this event with 86 pilots from 18 countries, he qualified seventh, advanced to the A-Main (top 16), and finished 15th. The trip was funded by crowdfunding: about 1.03 million yen from 111 people. In 2024 he represented Japan at the FAI World Championship in Hangzhou, China, and the team finished third in the world.
FPV drone racing is often called the "F1 of the sky": pilots fly by watching the onboard camera feed through goggles and race at over 200 km/h on three-dimensional courses. Participants range from teens to people in their seventies, which is part of the appeal. I hope the domestic scene keeps growing.
Source: DRONE.jp
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