Tauragė students lead youth drone racing podium at Airtech Open 2026

Tauragė put its stamp on Airtech Open 2026 by taking two of the three age-group victories and the top two places in the oldest bracket, turning Kėdainiai Arena into a clear showcase for Lithuania’s next wave of drone-racing talent. Modestas Orentas won the grades 3-4 division, while Neitas Žičkus captured grades 9-12 and Jokūbas Ačas, also from Tauragė, took second. In the middle division, Kajus Sapronaitis of Jonava finished first, with Amiras Altaki of Kėdainiai second and Hubertas Petkus of Jonava third.

The event brought students from grades 3 through 12 into an F9U-class FPV micro-drone contest built around a difficult course that rewarded precision as much as speed. More than 70 participants were expected across the day, and the format was split into three brackets, grades 3-4, 5-8 and 9-12. LINEŠA described Airtech Open as the first arena-scale drone-racing competition of its kind, with free admission and a setup designed to make the racing accessible to families while still testing real piloting skill.

The podiums reflected how quickly the school-based pipeline is spreading beyond the biggest urban centers. Tauragė, Kėdainiai and Jonava all placed multiple students in the medals, and each result came with a teacher behind it. Orentas was coached by Viktoras Krylovas; Aretas Rylskis and Domas Masevičius of Kėdainiai finished second and third in the youngest group, under Tomas Krisiūnas and Osvaldas Jasenka. Sapronaitis and Petkus trained with Simona Gaurienė, Altaki worked with Eimantas Laurinavičius, and Žičkus and Ačas were coached by Mindaugas Lukošaitis. Benas Damulis of Jonava, another Gaurienė student, finished third in grades 9-12.

Kristina Virgaylė, head of LINEŠA’s Airtech division, said the meet was meant to show how much pupils had improved during the school year in drone piloting and construction training. Gaurienė said drone racing demands quick reactions, accuracy and calm under pressure, a formula that showed up in the arena-based format. The race also sat inside a broader Airtech effort backed by Lithuania’s Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and the Ministry of National Defence, with centers already operating in Tauragė, Kėdainiai and Jonava and a target of about 7,000 trainees across nine centers by 2028. The next Airtech drone competition is planned for September 12 in Klaipėda, keeping the school-age circuit moving forward.