Falcons Racing: Korea’s DCL Team and the Pilots It Produced

Falcons Racing won the first Drone Champions League race it ever entered. At the 2019 season opener in Laax, Switzerland, the Korean team took the win. It scored points in every race that year and narrowly missed the World Championship podium, according to the DCL’s team page.

The team is no longer on the DCL grid. But the bigger story is what its pilots did next. In 2026, a Falcons alumnus won two of FPV racing’s three biggest titles.

Falcons Racing at a glance

• Country: South Korea
• League: Drone Champions League (DCL)
• Debut: 2019, winning the Laax opener
• Notable pilots: Youngrok Son, Minjae Kim, SeongMin Ko
• Status: not on the 2026 DCL grid

Korea’s breakout DCL team

The team’s DCL page lists eight pilots: SeongMin Ko (Fredy fpv), Minjae Kim, Youngrok Son, Ethan Kling, Axel Mario Lengkong (AXL.FPV), JunYong Heo, Yonas Holzapfel and ShinYeong Hong. Son, a two-time title winner, was the team’s “big brother.” The headline act was much younger.

The 10-year-old in the line-up

Minjae Kim became the DCL’s youngest-ever pilot at age 10 while flying for Falcons. Most teams fielded adults with years of national racing behind them. A primary school pupil scoring points was the clearest sign that Korea’s junior FPV pipeline was something new.

Where Falcons Racing’s pilots are now

When the DCL announced its 2022 teams, Korea’s entry was Super Sonic X, not Falcons. The 2026 grid has no Korean team at all. The six Cup teams are Vexcel Spain Drone Team, DCL Wildcard Team, Cyclone Drone Racing, Raiden Racing, Aspan and Squadron78.

Minjae Kim moved on. He was part of the XBlades Racing roster for the 2023 Super Final in AlUla, the event XBlades won to reclaim the DCL title.

Minjae Kim’s 2026

This year he won the MultiGP International Open World Cup and the MultiGP European Championship. Victory at the MultiGP Championship in Carrollton, Texas, in October would have completed a sweep of the three majors. He finished third, after a collision with Japan’s Yuki Hashimoto right after the start of a final heat, per MultiGP’s championship report.

The winner was another Korean: Minchan “MCK” Kim, who also flew for XBlades and, in January, beat an autonomous drone 5–4 in Abu Dhabi. Our report on that human-vs-AI race explains why it mattered, and the MultiGP finals page has the full Texas results.

Korea’s pipeline, from Falcons to the A Main

Falcons Racing was one piece of a wider Korean story. Minchan Kim joined XBlades at 16 in 2020 and won DCL Pilot of the Year for scoring the most points. Korea’s 2022 DCL entry, Super Sonic X, kept the country on the grid after Falcons.

The 2026 MultiGP Championship showed how far that pipeline has come. Two Korean pilots finished in the top three of a 64-pilot field. Minchan Kim set the fastest qualifying time over three laps, 33.18 seconds, and the event’s fastest lap, 16.247 seconds. He then won without losing a round in the A Main. Minjae Kim’s final was cut short by a mid-air collision with Yuki Hashimoto right after the start.

What made Falcons different

Falcons paired a two-time title winner, Youngrok Son, with pilots as young as 10. Putting a child in a professional team line-up looked eccentric in 2019. Seven years on, that child is a MultiGP World Cup winner.

Korea’s run at the top also shows up in the DCL’s history books. Minchan Kim’s 2020 Pilot of the Year award came in the season XBlades won their fifth straight title. Minjae Kim was in the XBlades line-up that won again in 2023. XBlades’ two most recent titles, in 2020 and 2023, both had a Korean pilot in the line-up.

How to follow Korea’s best pilots

With no Korean team on the DCL grid, the best place to watch Falcons’ alumni is MultiGP. Its championship is streamed with rewatches on the MultiGP site. Its next International Open, the event Minjae Kim won this year, is scheduled for June 16–20, 2027. Minchan Kim’s next head-to-head with an AI drone would come at A2RL in Abu Dhabi, if he returns to defend his 5–4 win.

Can you bet on Falcons Racing?

No. DraftKings’ drone racing deal, signed in 2021, covered the Drone Racing League, not the DCL, so it never included Falcons Racing.

Today we found no regulated sportsbook or prediction market listing DCL or MultiGP races. If you want a stake in machine sports or AI outcomes, event contracts are the closest thing. Our prediction markets hub covers what is legal in your state.

Trading event contracts involves risk of loss. Availability varies by state, and several states are challenging prediction markets in court. 21+ for sportsbooks. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

The Falcons legacy

Falcons Racing lasted only a few DCL seasons. Its model of signing very young Korean pilots and putting them on the world stage has paid off for the whole sport. If you want to read form in FPV racing today, start with the Korean names. For every active team, see our drone racing teams hub.