MultiGP Region 5A Finals send top pilots toward Nationals in Reno

Twenty-seven pilots pack Columbia Park Soccer Fields in Kennewick, Washington, for a Region 5A final that leaves almost no margin for error. With only two automatic berths into the Fast 56 bracket at the National Championship in Reno, and places third through sixth pushed into an elimination race at Nationals, every heat carries real championship consequences.

Region 5A stretches across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, giving the field a five-state reach that makes the event feel closer to a mini-national than a local club stop. The region’s best pilots have earned their slots through qualifying events and points races, and the setup turns the weekend into a direct test of who can stay clean under pressure when the path to Reno narrows to the top of the leaderboard.

The structure is ruthless by design. One clean run can secure a direct trip into the Fast 56, while a small mistake can turn a likely title shot into one more survival round on the biggest stage in the sport. MultiGP’s regional format also rewards consistency, not just speed, because pilots must climb through qualifiers before they ever reach the final. That ladder gives the Kennewick race its edge: it is the last checkpoint before regional bragging rights give way to the national picture.

Spectators can watch the whole thing for free, and the event is built to pull them into the experience. MultiGP encourages fans to try on goggles and see the course the way the pilots do, a reminder that FPV racing depends as much on immersion as on raw lap time. In a sport that has grown by turning flying into a shared live spectacle, the open access in Kennewick helps frame the finals as both a championship decider and a public showcase.

The scale behind the format is hard to miss. MultiGP said its 2017 regional season drew more than 5,400 pilots from more than 450 chapters, with more than 70 Regional Qualifiers and 14 Regional Finals feeding the championship pipeline. The organization later said it had grown to more than 30,000 registered pilots and 500 active chapters worldwide. Its 2026 regional-series materials keep the same structure in place, from regional qualifiers to regional finals and then to MultiGP Champs.

That bigger system gives Region 5A its weight. Chris Thomas, MultiGP’s founder, has said the Regional Series is meant to be accessible while still identifying the country’s most skilled pilots, and Kennewick serves that idea in its sharpest form. The pilots who leave Columbia Park Soccer Fields in the right two positions move straight toward Reno; everyone else has to fight for one more chance.