XBlades Racing: The British Dynasty Whose Alumni Now Rule FPV

In January 2026, a former XBlades pilot beat an autonomous drone 5–4 in Abu Dhabi. In October, the same pilot, Minchan “MCK” Kim, won the MultiGP Championship in Texas. Second place went to Killian Rousseau, another XBlades alumnus. Third was Minjae Kim, who flew for XBlades in its last title-winning line-up.

The British team is not on the 2026 Drone Champions League grid. Its alumni, though, are running the sport.

XBlades Racing at a glance

• Country: United Kingdom
• Former name: NexxBlades, during NEX Group’s title sponsorship
• Team principal: Richard de Aragues
• DCL titles: five straight up to 2020, plus 2023
• Status: not in the 2026 DCL Cups

The XBlades dynasty

XBlades won five consecutive DCL World Championships, the fifth coming in the league’s first virtual season in 2020, decided at a simulated Lake Zurich in October. The DCL’s own profile called them the world’s number-one drone racing team.

The method was ruthless. Pilots earned one of four race seats through internal trials against 13 other team members, an “internal battle,” in de Aragues’s words. The squad ranged in age from about 40 down to 5, and the four pilots who won the 2020 title were between 12 and 16.

Luke Bannister and the 2016 World Drone Prix

The XBlades story starts with Luke Bannister, who won the World Drone Prix in Dubai in 2016 at the age of 15. He flew for Tornado X-Blades Banni UK and took a $250,000 winner’s check. He went on to win five DCL titles with the team and became a Breitling ambassador.

The 2020 roster that became a talent factory

Look at who flew for XBlades in 2020 and you are looking at the 2026 MultiGP podium:

• Minchan “MCK” Kim: joined at 16 and won 2020 DCL Pilot of the Year for scoring the most points
• Killian “DarKex” Rousseau: former junior FAI champion and 2018 FAI Drone Racing World Cup winner
• Ashton Gamble: inspired by Bannister at 10, won the decisive heat of the Proptown Grand Final against APEX at 14
• Owen “KnightHawk” Knight: rebuilt his broken PC four days before his debut and helped score 470 points that weekend
• Alex Zamora: nearly 13, already known in Spain from television

The people behind the pilots

XBlades’ engineering came from inside the squad. Harry Plested started as an assistant technician at 16 and rose to chief technician. He helped design the quad that won the 2019 championship and became team manager in 2020. Outside racing, he has worked in drone infrastructure for emergency medical supply delivery. De Aragues, meanwhile, works as a writer, director and producer in film and television. His mantra was preparation, because it builds the belief that you can win.

Losing the crown, then winning it back

The streak ended in 2021. XBlades and Japan’s Raiden Racing went into the final race tied on 1,100 points, per the DCL’s finale report, and Raiden won. In 2022 the two were level on 900 before the Stavanger finale, and Raiden won again on the last Big Heat.

XBlades answered at the 2023 Super Final, held on December 20 in AlUla’s Old Town Amphitheatre in Saudi Arabia. Its line-up that night, per the official rosters, was Thomas “Star23467” Kund, Swan “YaYou” Versmissen, Alexandr “Salie1” Kholkin and Minjae Kim. XBlades won the title.

The Raiden rivalry

Three seasons, three title deciders between the same two teams. Few rivalries in any sport have been that tight.

Where XBlades are now

XBlades were not among the four teams in the 2024 Superfinal, which Cyclone Racing won ahead of Raiden, Spain Drone Team and Quad Force One. They are not among the six teams in the 2026 Cups either. The league has made no announcement about the team, so we describe XBlades as inactive in the DCL rather than defunct.

The alumni in 2026

The MultiGP results come from the championship report. Our A2RL human-vs-AI report covers MCK’s win over the machine, and MultiGP finals has the Texas results.

If the XBlades name returns to the DCL, it would find a league reshaped around simulator qualification and three Cups. A team that once trialed 13 pilots for four seats would have the depth for a format that rewards it.

Can you bet on XBlades?

No. DraftKings’ drone racing deal covered the Drone Racing League, not the DCL, so XBlades results were never on the menu.

We found no regulated sportsbook or prediction market listing DCL or MultiGP races today. For machine-sports and AI markets that do trade, see our prediction markets hub. UK readers can check UK drone betting sites for occasional specials.

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.

For every team on the current grid, see our drone racing teams hub.