BIRD 2026 - Finals Day Inside the UK’s Biggest Indoor FPV Whoop Drone Racing Event
- MiniRollsRule
- Feb 21
- 22 min read
LED’s flickered to life as the whoops were plugged in, motors armed, and suddenly the room came alive with colour, speed, and tension as the drones zipped across the hall!
BIRD 2026 is now well established as the largest whoop race in the UK and an international proving ground for whoop pilots to show what they are made of on the world stage.
48 pilots from 9 countries arrived in Birmingham with the same goal—to be flawless for just a few seconds at a time—yet only one mistake could end weeks worth of preparation. From young guns to seasoned international contenders, this year’s micro drone race delivered everything; heartbreak, heroics, chaos, and champions decided by hundredths of a second - all with the added electricity of lipo’s, live stream shenanigans and boundary pushing tech, raising the bar for UK drone racing.
Setting the Stage
When most people think of drones, they think of beautiful photos taken from impossible heights, or light displays shifting shapes in the sky or worry about neighbours spying on them.
The drones we call whoops are none of those things.
These high speed micro racing machines are the pinnacle of what’s possible with tech. Weighing just 35 grams, (about as much as a pack of tictacs) and sitting smaller than the palm of your hand, they still pack in everything needed to receive the control signals, process gyro data, manage motors, take on video, overlay information and broadcast it back to the pilot, all powered by a single 1S lipo battery in fractions of a second. All this tech packed into such a small craft means racing is furious and incredibly fast, lasting just 2 minutes.
This kind of racing attracts the top pilots for its sheer speed and accessibility. Unlike the open 5” class racing drones which weigh a lot and can do serious damage if / when crashed, these whoops mostly just bounce because they are so light. This gives pilots easy access at home or in more public settings to really practice hard, repeat moves and perfect their racing skills.
Whilst it’s a benefit, being so fast and so small, they are almost impossible to see. At BIRD we try to bring drone racing to the masses with a live stream. So to be able to follow the whoops and show who is winning, we ask all pilots to add 2 LED’s to their craft. Some complained about the additional weight, but it was great to see everyone make their own solution with some beautiful colours, tiny LED’s and innovative mounting to keep them visible but robust.
Now we just needed a track worthy of these micro masterpieces. Luckily, once the word was out, willing volunteers appeared and did a spectacular job of helping set up the event. From putting up banners, to setting out tables, manning activities, cameras and spotting stations, all the volunteers did an amazing job really making this whole event possible and allowing the organisers to focus on a class leading track.
This year’s track was extra special because the venue manager went above and beyond to help provide the best environment possible. With a scissor lift and some tarp, he painstakingly blacked out the majority of the skylights to create the perfect dim environment for our race. This made every hoop and pylon glow that much brighter from their LED lights. After an initial layout of the planned track, some elements needed a few tweaks. Carb and FPV Gilbert, 2 elite podium pilots of previous BIRD races, stepped up to add the finishing touches and sign off on this international track.
A Global Grid, One Tight Track
This race would be truly international with 48 pilots attending from 9 countries, the competition would be hot to take home a trophy. But on qualifying day, Bewoo was upgraded to a race pilot! He had travelled all the way from Estonia, as a good friend of SmallYuki to support him, knowing that he may not get to race as a standby pilot. A last minute drop out allowed Bewoo to pop his whoop on the starting pad, bringing the total participating countries to 10!
Latvia
United Kingdom
Poland
Czech Republic
Italy
Switzerland
Estonia
Japan
France
United States of America
Starting with qualifying, the 48 pilots were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 16 and flew in heats of 4 pilots. We also give them 2 batteries back to back to give them the shortest time between flights to allow them the best chance to get “into the flow” and produce their best times. They are shooting for their best time over 2 consecutive laps to be ranked on to the qualifying leader board.
As group A finished their qualifying flights, they only made up 16 of the 48 places and so when Group B and C came to fly, their times slowly got shifted about by those pilots slipping in between them. This added huge pressure to perform right from the start. Without the knowledge of what a “good time” looked like, the first 16 pilots went out and gave it all they could.
Of course, for subsequent groups, the pressure wasn’t off, they could see what was possible around the track and every time they flew, they knew if it was good enough to make the grade. But one hot lap wasn’t enough, they needed 2 fast laps in a row, demonstrating consistency, to qualify highly. This is something that really tests the skill of the pilot and how they handle the pressure.
Chasing Perfection: Qualifying Day
Early on in Group A, Minus_One showed just what a fast time looked like on this track. With a qualifying time 2 full seconds ahead of the next pilot, the challenge had been laid down. He was so close to a 30s qualifying time that this psychological barrier captured the attention of all the top pilots and everyone watching. Surely no one would be able to beat this time?
And this looked to be the case as Group B started their qualifying laps. Only SmallYuki managed to get close for a couple of rounds until suddenly he burst through the 30 second qualifying time barrier and proved it could be done! Everyone was shocked and convinced that no one could beat him. There was just one hopeful - King Joshy.
Everyone held their breath as Group C started qualifying, all eyes on King Joshy. He’s the fastest UK Junior drone racer so if anyone could do it, he could. But with a history of inconsistent flights and results, he would either dominate or let the pressure get the better of him and crash too many times to qualify well. As it came to the end of Qualifying group C, he was close but it didn’t look like today was his day. Until right on the very last battery of the day, the very last group of pilots and the last chance he had, King Joshy took the TQ spot from SmallYuki by 0.04 seconds. It was an incredible run showing the amazing skill Joshy has when everything goes his way and reveals that at the sharp end of racing, 100ths of a second make all the difference!
When it happened, no one could believe it, least of all SmallYuki. After arriving at 5am after a long and crazy international journey, he was napping beneath a table in the pits when a huge roar of excitement woke him to the news his TW spot had been beaten!
Back at the Whoophaus that night, everyone was buzzing about the result. Having taken over almost the whole hotel and invaded their function room it was an amazing atmosphere. The track set up was being ripped by all the pilots, freestyle was going down, plenty of drinks, laughs and gags as the music pumped out from Bacon Features decks - it was such a great vibe that lasted long into the night - probably too long! The morning dawned earlier than anyone would have liked for a Sunday, but it was finals day!
Classes, Not Divisions: Everyone Has a Championship to Win
Qualifying was just half the battle. Top Qualifying spot is a great achievement and worthy of bragging rights. No doubt King Joshy’s time is the fastest around the track but all of the fastest racers were in the Elite finals bracket and now fighting each other for the trophy.
With 48 pilots competing in total, and following a Double Eliminations Final, this neatly split the field into 3 classes of 16 pilots.
Elite Class
Qualifying position 1-16
Qualifying Position | Time (2 laps) | Pilot Callsign | Team |
1 | 29.57 | King Joshy | Team KLM |
2 | 29.61 | SmallYuki | BTW Bandits |
3 | 31.10 | Minus_One | Team KLM |
4 | 33.00 | Split | Quantum Quads |
5 | 33.25 | BewooFPV | Quantum Quads |
6 | 33.91 | Pan dron | WoP South |
7 | 36.74 | ReeFPV | Robopilots |
8 | 38.21 | TheRedMati | WoP South |
9 | 38.97 | Dan Carpy | Northern Monkeys |
10 | 40.34 | Joe FPV | Team Runaway |
11 | 41.38 | lightsail | Team KLM |
12 | 43.39 | Rich | DRC |
13 | 44.03 | DirtyMcStinky | HTWC - A |
14 | 44.57 | Barux | I Lanzichenecchi |
15 | 44.73 | ferus | WoP North |
16 | 44.85 | Reikon | Apex Air Raiders |
Advanced Class
Qualifying position 17-32
Qualifying Position | Time (2 laps) | Pilot Callsign | Team |
17 | 45.36 | ZooME | Robopilots |
18 | 45.50 | Kirek | WoP North |
19 | 45.50 | Bgarage | Team Runaway |
20 | 46.34 | Dronojad | WoP North |
21 | 47.12 | MikeFPV | HTWC - A |
22 | 47.42 | Pigod | DejaWhoop |
23 | 48.40 | XO XO | Apex Air Raiders |
24 | 48.57 | Debbio_FPV | DejaWhoop |
25 | 49.93 | antihype | Northern Monkeys |
26 | 50.36 | Meska | Team Runaway |
27 | 50.66 | Lex_FPV | HTWC - B |
28 | 51.16 | 222FPV | DRC |
29 | 52.43 | eldronado | WoP South |
30 | 53.24 | Archie FPV | HTWC - B |
31 | 54.54 | Jaggers | HTWC - B |
32 | 55.35 | JamesTX | BTW Bandits |
Hobbyist Class
Qualifying position 33-48
Qualifying Position | Time (2 laps) | Pilot Callsign | Team |
33 | 55.51 | SystemFavelas | DejaWhoop |
34 | 55.65 | Blix | Gorilla Whoopers |
35 | 56.88 | THE HANN FPV | Northern Monkeys |
36 | 57.57 | CA_FPV | I Lanzichenecchi |
37 | 57.60 | Fiorix | I Lanzichenecchi |
38 | 59.79 | Brdsrtrl | Gorilla Whoopers |
39 | 61.24 | Norfolk-N-Good | Mollusc Racing |
40 | 61.59 | Ed | Robopilots |
41 | 61.95 | Kiz | HTWC - A |
42 | 63.30 | Jippyhesus | Mollusc Racing |
43 | 71.90 | VikingFPV | DRC |
44 | 72.49 | GenericFPV | BTW Bandits |
45 | 75.49 | SymbiozeFPV | Gorilla Whoopers |
46 | 82.27 | Woody | Apex Air Raiders |
47 | 128.92 | Les Cargo | Mollusc Racing |
48 | 137.90 | IKV | Quantum Quads |
The racing would be fierce now everyone has been split into ability groups. It’s no fun for anyone to feel like they don’t stand a chance up against significantly faster pilots. This method meant everyone could engage in close racing and push for their best result. But, no longer is the fastest time around the track the only important thing to progress, pilots needed to finish in place 1 or 2 to move forwards, ever closer to the class finals. If they crashed into the net in place 3 or 4, they would lose a life. If they lost 2 lives, they would be out, final position locked in, and their racing over for BIRD 2026.
Hobbyist Class Finals: Flying Through Chaos
Early next morning, the pilots warmed up after their jubilant night at the ‘Haus, we kicked off Hobbyist class racing. It must have felt earlier for some than others with the top qualifying hobbyist, System Favelas, having a terrible time immediately losing a life and dropping into the redemption bracket. From here he nearly managed to battle his way back to the winners side coming 1st in 3 consecutive races before one too many crashes forced a power reset. This meant he spent too many tense seconds watching the boot logo, waiting to fly. Even after all this, he came back strong, swiftly overtaking Jippy and The Hann, clearly very fast, until he bounced off the drop gate! Skilfully he was able to pull off the most amazing recovery of the weekend, saving the crash he flew away with a super clean repeat of the drop. He was certainly the fastest pilot but too many crashes cost him the progression position and he went home with 6th overall. That decisive race was all about Blix who, despite not being the quickest pilot, made the fewest errors and took the win putting him in the finals just as the klaxon went!
It was a fire alarm, not a celebration of the result!
Perfectly timed, though it was, there were no fire drills planned and so everyone was ushered out of the hall to the assembly point. It all happened so fast that we couldn’t report on the result, so we just picked ourselves up and left.
This caused a bit of stress among the pilots and the organisers as we waited in the chilly winter air. Luckily it wasn’t raining and the food truck was pumping out hot drinks to keep everyone’s spirits up. It was a proud moment that the whole community of racers responded very well and complied with the venue staff request to wait patiently outside.
We never did find out why there was an alarm, but after 20 mins and a hot drink (which gave my voice some time for a rest) we headed back in to continue the racing. If any of the pilots felt stressed by the interruption, they didn’t show it. With the timing system back up and running we resumed the racing and confirmed that the first pilots to reach the finals race would be Ed and Fiorix.
Now we just had to find out who would meet them there as we started the brutal races on the redemption side of double eliminations. Every race now meant 2 people were going home as we worked our way up to the final race of Hobbyist class. But as the racing got faster and more scrappy with the pressure of sudden death, only Blix and The Hann made it through to meet Ed and Fiorix in the final.
With the timer set and the whoops glowing on the starting block, they lined up for a Chase the Ace Final. It was an absolute battle for 2,3,4th position because Ed flew fast and true all the way to his first victory.
More Than a Race: Telling the Story Live
We were lucky enough to catch up with Ed for a chat after his excited celebration. Speaking in Latvian and translated by his teammate Ree we got an insight into this young racer's excitement saying, “he really enjoyed the finals” and “it was stressful but he got what he wanted” winning the BIRD Hobbyist class race.
It was so great to be able to bring together the international aspect of the event on the live stream and showcase the incredible talent from across the globe. Helping us do this were students from Birmingham City University. They roamed the pits, spectator area and activities interviewing people and pilots about their racing and experience at BIRD.
These were quickly edited together into short interview sections and delivered to our live stream desk where we were able to put them up on stream. This gave the live stream and the spectators even more insight to the racing, the battles and the ambitions of the pilots competing. It was especially good to get to hear from SmallYuki who, during his qualification run, took the top qualifying position from Minus_One, only to lose it to King Joshy shortly after. Hearing about his desire to push to be the best was inspirational. It was also really interesting to hear how the racing in Japan is much more formal compared to the BIRD event saying, “I can have a laugh and a conversation with international competitors, it’s feeling really fun”
This addition of one to one interviews and additional cameras around the event really made all the difference delivering a high quality live stream. We are proud to be pushing the boundaries of what Drone Racing events look like and creating a widely enjoyable watching experience for this fascinating and exciting sport. We are very keen to keep pushing this to the max and with the BCU students, and Fellow Productions things are only going to get better!
Much like the pilots!
Advanced Class Finals: Youth on the Throttle
They seem to get faster and faster each year with younger and younger competitors coming out to compete on this international stage. With the support of the RoboPilots team providing structured learning at home in Latvia, some of the best pilots are being created. Not only did little Ed win the Hobbyist Class, but shortly afterwards his teammate, ZooMe, took the number 1 spot in Advanced Finals!
ZooMe was clearly a very fast pilot from the very beginning of qualifying, just narrowly missing out on the Elite group by 0.51 seconds. Qualifying top of the Advanced group this meant he was favourite to win, but it wouldn’t be easy. Kirek of Poland and Bgarage of Italy both qualified just 0.14 seconds behind him keeping the pressure on.
Bgarage a very quick pilot but lacking consistency was not able to keep it together on race day and went out early with two 3rd place finishes. Kirek managed to get further, proving why consistency is key, making it to race 7 before a last place followed by another in race 13 sent him home in 6th overall. But it was MikeFPV from the UK that offered the biggest challenge to ZooMe. They met in race 6 where the MikeFPV put the pressure on streaking away with a clean and easy win, followed by Dronojad taking 2nd position. ZooMe made too many mistakes, experiencing panic watching the rainbow of doom as his VTX had to reboot following a crash. The wasted time on the ground put him in 3rd place and his first life lost.
But after a review by our judges, it turned out that Dronojad had missed a gate and so with a lap disqualified, he was dropped to 4th, bumping ZooMe back up into a winners progression. This meant he sneaked though to race 7 where he came back strong and put MikeFPV into 2nd place. Both progressed to the champions race, waiting to see who would meet them there. Pigod, narrowly missing that 2nd spot came back in race 13 with Dronojad who was determined not to be counted out for the finals showdown.
Three of the final racers had met before in race 6, where MikeFPV dominated, now joined by Pigod. Unfortunately where Mike had dominated before, ZooMe chilled out and flew a very clean and consistent race taking the first Ace. Eager to stay in the game, Dronojad came back in the next race to score an Ace adding to the pressure with a multi-ace finals. But in the next race it was all about ZooMe, as he kept it cool for the whole race. He only had one bobble on the dive gate, which let Dronojad catch up but not quite enough to pass him because ZooMe recovered quickly, and flew it home for his second Ace and the Advance Finals win.
This meant that RoboPilots had taken 2 of the top results so far at BIRD 2026, with Ed winning Hobbyist and ZooMe winning Advanced class. Both of these pilots not even teenagers yet and only set to improve as they fly more in years to come.
This certainly paints a picture for the future of drone racing. Young pilots, those with access to education programs and training facilities can rise to the very top of international events and make their mark. It’s going to be very interesting to watch these two pilots progress and see what incredible achievements they make in future.
But the racing was not over yet, it was about to get even faster with the Elite class pilots next up on the track.
Elite Class Finals: Pressure Makes Legends
With Minus_One laying down an early top qualifying time, just to be taken by SmallYuki and then topped by King Joshy, it was anyone’s guess who would lift that trophy. But of course, it’s not just about having one quick lap and so the rest of the Elite class pilots stood a great chance of knocking any one of them out.
As we started off on the double eliminations road to the finals, it looked like it would be a clean sweep. All three of the top qualifiers won two straight races meeting in race 7 where the first tragedy struck for King Joshy.
Off the line King Joshy led the pack for most of the first lap but went down hard on the back menace banner letting yuki catch up, but not able to overtake yet. Meanwhile Minus_One and Split were battling for 3rd and 4th, neck and neck through the Mexican ladder. Out front King Joshy was onto his next lap. With a clean and quick dive he carried too much speed into the rising 270, going wide and crashing which let SmallYuki through. While this was unfolding Minus_one was stretching a lead on Split, but still half a lap back from the top two positions, he would really have to chase to stay in the winners bracket. After a few mistakes, King Joshy had kept it together and somehow managed to catch back up to SmallYuki. Then, with him directly in his crosshairs it looked like a photo finish but right at the end, full throttle, he just missed the crash gate and spun off into the pits. Bad luck caught him in the shape of the protection netting right at the worst moment preventing him reaching the crash gate to bag the progressing position. This allowed Minus_One to steal 2nd place moving onwards and upwards as Split took 3rd and King Joshy was left trapped in the netting.
This bit of bad luck hadn’t finished the day for the UK hopeful. After a short wait while Pan Drone worked his way through the redemption bracket races, King Joshy had one more life to use in race 13.
And this one went off like lightning. Right out of the gate it was neck and neck into the drop gate where unluckily he went down and spent a couple critical seconds on his lid before taking off like a man possessed. Split had some trouble under the pressure on the MenaceRC corkscrew, flooring him, while Bewoo tried to chase down Pan Dron until a crash on the Mexican ladder halted that battle. But it honestly looked like King Joshy would bring it back, even amongst the fastest field of pilots. He flew so incredibly well after that first crash, passing first Bewoo and then Split before a couple attempts at the high cross over gate right at the end meant they slipped back past and cost Joshy the progression to the finals.
He was disappointed not to progress further, but at this level walking away with 6th overall is nothing to be ashamed of. While this ended King Joshy’s progression, it was a deserving win for Pan Dron and Split who flew beautifully, moving them up to the Elite Champions Finals. Where they went up against 2 of the top qualifying pilots of the event, Minus_One and SmallYuki.
The Elite Champions Finals was here and the whole weekends racing had led to this, where the fastest international pilots lined up. SmallYuki from Japan, Minus_One from the UK, Split from Czech Republic and Pan Dron from Poland!
Following feedback from the pilots, this year we had adopted the Chase The Ace finals structure to make the fight for the podium even more intense. By winning the race a pilot is awarded an Ace. This final race is run over and over until one pilot has two Aces to claim
the win. It’s a format that rewards consistency, the ability to perform under pressure and reduces the chance that a random bit of bad luck costs a deserving pilot the win.
With the spectators lined up along the netting, just a couple meters from the fastest drones and pilots in the world, the Elite Finals took off on their first race! (ignore the pilot titles on the live stream - of course the tech puts the wrong names up right at the end!)
In the first race, the race was all about SmallYuki who took off and flew the cleanest of races of the whole event without a single mistake he walked away with the first Ace. Meanwhile all his competitors battled for points, feeling the pressure, making multiple mistakes. But rounding it out with Pan Dron in 2nd, Minus_One in 3rd and Split in 4th we moved onto the next race.
Here the fight for first started from the very first gate with SmallYuki and Pan Dron having a mid air crash and going down hard letting Minus_One and Split get out an early lead. Unfortunately SmallYuki ricocheted off the pits and found himself stuck in the netting while Pan Dron came off easier just tumbling, but getting up and flying again fairly quickly. SmallYuki did manage to free himself and set off again but he was now ¾ of a lap behind Minus_One who streaked away hotly pursued by Split. Pan Dron engaged his typical fast and consistent style putting the pressure on Split who tumbled letting him through. SmallYuki was chasing hard but there was no catching Manius_One who sailed away with clear air to lock in an Ace. Pan Dron came in second shortly after but after some tumbling Split found himself in fourth as Small Yuki made up so much ground to take third.
Importantly in Chase the Ace, that meant there was another race to be run.
Lining up again Minus_One was feeling confident he had the pace from that last win, giving a cheeky wink to the camera as the whoops were laid on the line. The countdown started and they were off again.
Such evenly matched pilots all took off and there was contact between Minus_One and Split, they both recovered but it took Split a little longer to get up to Dragon Mountain. Here is where Pan Dron took the dive a little scrappy and touched down letting SmallYuki and Minus_One start stretching out a lead. With Minus_One hot on SmallYuki’s tail it looked lik the had the pace, but a scrappy dive forced a safe turn around to go back and do it again - a wise move in the moment to ensure he completed the track, but it gave some clean air to Small_Yuki and put him off his rhythm sending him down into the pits barrier. This allowed Pan Dron to slip past and reach the Mexican section first and then a further bobble under pressure let Split through meaning unfortunately Minus_One dropped to fourth for that race while Small_Yuki punched home his second and winning Ace. Literal whoops and cheers from the spectators celebrated SmallYuki winning the Elite Class Finals at BIRD 2026
Unfortunately the Livestream, that had been so reliable, disconnected right at that moment, so head on over to this stream link to watch the end of the finals, the chaos of the mass line of sight deathmatch and the award ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eK3BTq6eEE&
Pandemonium With The Paper Streamer Death Match
After all the excitement the volunteers sprung into action moving around the set, cameras and prizes getting the awards ceremony ready while all the pilots were invited to grab a whoop, battery and controller - no FPV goggles needed - for the Mass Line Of Sight Paper Streamer Deathmatch.
This crazy competition is where every pilot stands a chance to win. All you have to do is tie a paper ribbon to the back of your whoop and they on the count of three, fly it line of sight with every other pilot in the room. With that many whoops in the air, there is no way anyone would get good video so we just fly them line of sight and it’s the last whoop flying that wins. It’s a really fun way to get loads of whoops in the air at once and engage everyone in a pretty random and fun competition.
After a minute or so of whoops crashing and getting tangled in paper streamers, they slowly started expiring from battery exhaustion. We counted them down all the way till we had just one left and with a big cheer from the crowd TheRedMati took away the prize: Caddx Protos RTF drone kit and a bar of chocolate!
Team Points Competition
Following the pandemonium everyone headed over to watch the awards ceremony. First up was a new one for BIRD 2026; The Teams Competition.
This was a way to encourage and reward people to enter as a team of pilots. Many of us have found that having someone help you solve problems, push you to fly faster with friendly competition, and offer words of advice, fosters a great atmosphere to have fun while flying and progress as a pilot.
To score points, each pilot in the team would pick up points based on their qualifying position, finals position and whether they were wearing team colours or a fancy dress costume!
Qualifying points were graded from 1st to 48th starting at 500pts and losing 10pts for each position less.
Finals points were graded per finals class from 1st to 16th starting at 500pts and losing 30 pts for each position less
Team colours and fancy dress points were judged on pilot registration each day and got each team member an additional 100pts each day.
This last requirement for a costume is a tradition of BIRD, to keep the fun alive and recognise that we are taking flying toys to an exceptionally high level - but they are still toys, something to have fun with. It was great fun to see so many teams adopt the fun spirit of the event with a team of Pokemon prowling the pits and the Italians going all out presenting as a full contingency of popes, vicars and monks bringing their faith in the fun to the forefront of their flying. Of course 2 teams from Poland had their Whoop Of Poland team jerseys on display, and then there were more lighthearted entries. Like the northern monkeys, all wearing a team t-shirt with some very dry British humour.
However, the winners of the Teams Competition, thanks to their incredible performance across all three classes of finals, was the RoboPilots team in their stylish team uniform!
Pos | Team | Points |
1 | Robopilots | 2810 |
2 | Team KLM | 2530 |
3 | WoP North | 2470 |
4 | WoP South | 2430 |
5 | Northern Monkeys | 2260 |
6 | HTWC - A | 2160 |
7 | Quantum Quads | 2090 |
8 | DejaWhoop | 2020 |
9 | HTWC - B | 1800 |
10 | I Lanzichenecchi | 1800 |
11 | Team Runaway | 1740 |
12 | BTW Bandits | 1600 |
13 | Gorilla Whoopers | 1510 |
14 | Apex Air Raiders | 1350 |
15 | DRC | 1350 |
16 | Mollusc Racing | 1100 |
Hobbyist Class
Ed from Latvia took an incredible win proving he was the little 9 year old pilot that could!
Blix from Switzerland took 2nd place after the most incredible debut race.
Fiorix held the torch for the Italian Whoop League in 3rd.
The Hann lifted the 4th place trophy for the UK bringing it home for Drone Circle.
Hobbyist Class Results
Pos | Pilot | Country |
1 | Ed | Latvia |
2 | Blix | Switzerland |
3 | Fiorix | Italy |
4 | THE HANN FPV | United Kingdom |
5 | Jippyhesus | United Kingdom |
6 | SystemFavelas | Italy |
7 | Norfolk-N-Good | United Kingdom |
8 | CA_FPV | Italy |
9 | VikingFPV | United Kingdom |
10 | Kiz | United Kingdom |
11 | Woody | United Kingdom |
12 | SymbiozeFPV | France |
13 | IKV | United Kingdom |
14 | Brdsrtrl | United States of America |
15 | GenericFPV | United Kingdom |
16 | Les Cargo | United Kingdom |
Advanced Class
ZooMe from Latvia, the ronseal of drone pilots, followed his team mate all the way to the 1st place podium of Advanced Class
Dronojad fought hard and with lots of love in the live stream chat lifted the 2nd place trophy for the Whoop Of Poland pilots
Pigod, the jolly clergyman of the Italian Whoop League brought it home in 3rd
Mike FPV battled hard and made them work for it, bringing up 4th position.
Advanced Class Results
Pos | Pilot | Country |
1 | ZooME | Latvia |
2 | Dronojad | Poland |
3 | Pigod | Italy |
4 | MikeFPV | United Kingdom |
5 | Debbio_FPV | Italy |
6 | Kirek | Poland |
7 | antihype | United Kingdom |
8 | Lex_FPV | United Kingdom |
9 | XO XO | United Kingdom |
10 | Archie FPV | United Kingdom |
11 | Jaggers | United Kingdom |
12 | JamesTX | United Kingdom |
13 | Meska | Italy |
14 | Bgarage | Italy |
15 | eldronado | Poland |
16 | 222FPV | United Kingdom |
Elite Class
SmallYuki of Japan, not only the furthest travelled, but least well rested pilot for this race proved if you have the skill and the speed nothing can stop you. He takes the 1st place podium in Elite Class
Pan Dron with huge support from the croud and online. It seemed like the whole of Poland was rooting for him and he was so close, coming consistently 2nd in all 3 finals races brings in 2nd place overall
Minus_One brings in 3rd for the UK having scored an ace, putting the pressure on for the win, didn’t quite have the points in the end. But we know he wants it and will be back faster than ever next year.
Split of the Czech Republic, challenging everyone to up their game, sent it hard and kept the pressure on walks away with a respectable 4th place.
Elite Class Results
Pos | Pilot | Country |
1 | SmallYuki | Japan |
2 | Pan dron | Poland |
3 | Minus_One | United Kingdom |
4 | Split | Czech Republic |
5 | BewooFPV | Estonia |
6 | King Joshy | United Kingdom |
7 | ReeFPV | Latvia |
8 | Reikon | United Kingdom |
9 | lightsail | United Kingdom |
10 | Rich | United Kingdom |
11 | Joe FPV | Italy |
12 | TheRedMati | Poland |
13 | DirtyMcStinky | United Kingdom |
14 | Barux | Italy |
15 | Dan Carpy | United Kingdom |
16 | ferus | Poland |
BIRD 2026 Round Up
As the final props spun down and the LEDs dimmed, BIRD 2026 stood tall as a defining moment for UK and international whoop racing. From sub-30-second qualifying laps and last-battery heroics, to fire alarms, photo-finish eliminations, and three unforgettable Chase the Ace finals, the weekend delivered relentless drama from the first pack armed to the final trophy lifted. Young guns proved they belong on the world stage, international rivalries were settled by hundredths of a second, and the crowd witnessed just how much pressure, precision, and nerve it takes to win at the very top.
But beyond the lap times and podiums, BIRD 2026 was about community — volunteers transforming a sports hall into a glowing arena, pilots supporting each other through crashes and comebacks, and a live stream that finally captured the chaos, tension, and joy of elite FPV racing. It was louder, faster, tighter, and more ambitious than ever before — and a clear signal that this sport, and this event, is flying away with FPV!
👉 Watch all three Chase the Ace finals back-to-back, including winner interviews and the full awards ceremony, on the YouTube link below this article.
What’s Next?
BIRD is built by the community that races, watches, and supports it — and your feedback directly shapes what comes next.If you raced, volunteered, watched the stream, or attended in person, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
📝 Share your feedback here:https://forms.gle/BzTWZCcPBJ7BRe2DA
Your input helps us push the racing harder, improve the experience, and make the next BIRD even bigger 💚
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