SDC 2025 Worlds Wrap - A Japan Podium Sweep

by Steve Fujita on Oct 16, 2025 Categories: EVENTS

October 11, 2025

This past weekend, October 3-5, 2025, Super-G in Baldwin Park, California hosted the Super Drift Competition (SDC) 2025 Worlds Event. Competitors from all over the world converged at Super-G R/C Drift Arena to share in this hobby we have all come to love, R/C Drift.

SDC 2025 Worlds is the season wrap-up for the Super Drift Competition Series which was hosted by 27 different regions across the United States this year. There were over 900 competitors registered for the SDC 2025 Series. In order to attend SDC 2025 Worlds, each competitor was required to first be registered in the SDC 2025 Series. Then would qualify to compete by: A podium finish (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in their home region, or participate in 50% or more of their home regionals, or judge 75% of their home regional competitions. All international competitors were welcomed to attend as well.

We had 170 registered competitors, 163 participating competitors, representing over 70 different teams. International competitors had 12 total - Japan 4, Canada 4, Thailand 1, Dubai 1, Inonesia 1, and UK 1. This was the largest turnout thus far for SDC.

Before I go any further, I need to thank all that attended. This was the smoothest of all the SDC Worlds / Finals we have hosted. This is all thanks to all of you who made sure everything went off like clockwork. Everyone was ready for their Practice Groups, staging for their battles, and getting Tech done. It was nothing short of amazing for a group of this size to be this organized. That was all you guys and we thank you for it!

We kicked off SDC 2025 Worlds with a. Meet and Greet on Thursday. It was an open sesh, and the last day on the new track layout without the zones specified. We provided dinner from Pie Trap Pizza (Our favorite pizza spot around here), and burritos and chips from Pepe’s Mexican Food (Another favorite of ours). The vibe was light and everyone was getting their practice on while trying to figure out what the upcoming weekend had in store for everyone.

The Track Layout
This year the zones were more of a basic type of layout. The hope was to have some higher scoring qualifying and more decisions based on the car to car battles, but as it turned out, Zones 2 and 3 ended up being problematic for many. That ended up being the make or break for many qualifying runs and battles.

The Judges
The true stars of the show, were the 3 judges, Shaine Collins, Manny Camapalans, and Judson King. I cannot explain the amount of pressure, as well the the mental and physical fatigue these guys were under for the entire weekend. Nearly 500 qualifying runs to score, and 186 battle runs to evaluate, is nothing to to take lightly. I hear people complaining when they need to do a tenth of what these guys pulled off. So let’s make sure to give them a huge thank you for a job well done! You guys are the backbone behind SDC 2025 Worlds!!!

Drivers Meeting

Practice Groups
With 163 competitors, it was necessary to have Practice Groups. We had 8 groups of 21. This allowed each driver to get practice on a track that was not just full of drivers non-stop. I believe this was one of the best methods we have used for practice. Before was just a mad house of drivers trying to squeeze in where they could get in.

Qualifying
Qualifying was done over the course of 2 days. Each competitor was given 2 back to back attempts on Day 1, and 1 additional attempt on Day 2. This seemed to work out well, and a few people really benefited from the second day. This worked out well incase a competitor was having an off day, they could figure it out, and come back the following day for one last shot. There were a few who double-zeroed on day one, and then scored high enough on the third try to make it to the Battles.

Put Suttiyapiwat with a blistering 95 point qualifying run

After all was said and done, Put Suttiyapiwat of Reve D Thailand landed Top Qualifier for SDC 2025 Worlds with an insane score of 95 points!!!

The 5 Top Qualifying Scores are as follows:
1. 95 points - Put Suttiuapiwat - Reve D Thailand TOP QUALIFIER
2. 91 points - Hayato Yoshiba - Shibata GRK Racing International
3. 89 points - Jason Fordyce - Team Super-G
3. 89 points - Junta Shiroi - Team Weld/Overdose
4. 88 points - Ryo Ishii - Tean Weld/Overdose
5. 84 points - Makoto Nakajima - Team Yokomo / DS Racing

These are the competitors who made it to Battles

Congratulations to Put for an amazing performance and TQ of the event!

The Regional Champions from SDC 2025 Series

The Battles (Tsuiso)
In the afternoon of Day 2, we moved onto the Battles (Tsuiso). Unlike the previous years, Only the Top 94 Qualifiers made it to Battles. This preserved the level of competition to the highest of levels, as well as allowing the judges to perform at their best.

Top 64 Bracket (Lower)

Top 94 Bracket (Bottom)

As with all SDC Competitions, the winner of the lower bracket would bump up to the next bracket and take the 31st position. Last year, Ryo Ishii of Team Weld/Overdose worked his way from the bottom bracket all the way to SDC 2024 Drift King. This year, Jake Dotter of Team PDX started in the Bottom Bracket, and was able to bump up to the Lower Bracket, and eventually bump up to the Top 32! This put Jake into the Battles on Sunday, and a shot at the the title of SDC 2025 Drift King!

The Top 32! The Creme de la Creme

Top 32 Bracket - The best of the best!

Top 32
Sunday was solely for the Top 32 Battles. The best of the best battling for the title of SDC 2025 Drift King! The man to watch, Jake Dotter, found himself facing Hayato Yoshiba of Shibata GRK Racing International. As it would turn out, this is where Jake’s winning streak would end, as Hayato came out victorious. This was still a win in my book, and I think Jake got the most battle experience of anyone of The weekend. Congratulations Jake on a tremendous performance!

The Final Battle - King Hayato vs. King Ryo

The Top 32 came down to Put Suttiyapiwat of Reve D Thailand, Ryo Ishii of Team Weld/Overdose (and the reigning SDC Drift King), Hayato Yoshiba of Shibata GRK Racing International, and Makato Nakajima of Team Yokomo / DS Racing. All 4 of these drivers had been putting down some sick runs all weekend, and every single one of them were in the Top 5 Qualifying scores.

The New SDC Drift King!

First up was Put vs. Makoto for 3rd and 4th Place. Put was on the Lead and Makoto on the Chase. Put produced a really good Lead while Makoto gave a really tight Chase. Then it was Makoto’s turn to Lead and Put was on the Chase. Knowing what he needed to do, Mako put down an amazing Lead run, filling every zone just a little more than Put, securing the win, and 3rd Place overall!!! Great job guys! Congratulations to Makoto on a well deserved 3rd Place!!!

Then the battle the entire weekend was all about. The battle for 1st and 2nd. These guys are no strangers to being in this position. It was Ryo (the current SDC Drift King) vs. Hayato. I cannot express what type of match up this is, but if you know anything about RC Drift Compeititon, you know the magnitude of this matchup!

First up was Ryo’s Lead and Hayato was on the Chase. Ryo put down a great Lead filling all the zones and Hayato put together an awesome chase. Then they switched and it was Hayato’s Lead and Ryo on the Chase. Hayato put together a great Lead, filling all the zones as he should, while Ryo put on one of his chases we all looking forward to seeing.

At this level of driving, the judges took their time to review each run and each zone carefully to make sure nothing was missed. With all things considered, the decision came down to a OMT (One More Time) There were small things that could have possibly swayed it at this point, but ultimately the OMT was definitely the only choice.

On the OMT Battle, Ryo put down another amazing Lead while Hayato answered back with an equally impressive Chase. Then they switched and Hayato was able to produce another incredible Lead, and Ryo threw down another insane Chase! Both drivers knowing they needed to turn it up a notch, the OMT Battles were more agressive. It all came down to Zone 2, the Nose Clip. On Hayato’s Lead, Ryo got a little too aggressive on his chase, and made a slight miscalculation, placing him too deep to allow Hayato’s transition for Zone 3. This caused contact, and impeded Hayato’s transition at a crucial point in the run. This secured 2nd Place for Ryo, and locked Hayato in for 1st Place, and The New SDC 2025 Drift King!!!

JAPAN SWEEPS SDC 2025
Congratulations to the winners! 1st Place and SDC 2025 Drift King - Hayato Yoshiba, 2nd Place - Ryo Ishii, and 3rd Place Makoto Nakajima!

Finsh Place > Qualifying Score > Secondary Qualifying Score > Registraion Position

The Hiccup (There's always at least one)
SDC 2025 Worlds has to be the best event Super-G has hosted thus far. Of course there will be some hiccups, and this year was no exception. This year, we had a small scare during Top 64, when we were 8 battles in. It was brought to our attention the Top 64 Bracket was not correct. Huge thank you to Adam Hokoki for bringing it to our attention.

Just a quick FYI, the judges do not have access to the brackets, they only concern themselves with the task at hand, judging. Therefore, they were unaware anything was off until Adam made the announcement.

The issue was 2 drivers somehow were swapped in Battles 8 and 9, matching the wrong drivers against each other. Being as each battle is decided based on qualifying position / performance, the only correct way to handle this situation was to run the correct battles. Luckily only one battle was run incorrectly, so that battle was scrubbed, and the correct battle was run.

Someone had asked why we did not just allow the incorrect battle to stand, but there was no possible way that would even be a consideration. Since the brackets are formed based on qualifying, each slot in the brackets is earned. There is only one set way it can be. If we were 10 incorrect battles in, we would have had to scrub 10 battles and start over. There is just no way around it.

Final Thoughts
Above all else, Joe and I (Steve) want to thank everyone who attended for making this the smoothest and least stressful of all the SDC Worlds / Finals yet. With everyone knowing what needed to happen, and making things happen quickly, really made our jobs a lot less stressful. It was clear we weren’t in this alone, but it was a community coming together to ensure it was a good time.

Thank you to all the volunteers and our staff who knew what needed to handled as well. Joe Durkee and AJ Caroza made sure they were here early to give us extra help to get things going, and Alexis, what can I say, she is one that shows up every year and really makes things happen for us! She was working it even before the event even started!

A big shout out to the 26 other Regional Hosts for making the season happen, and providing everyone with a place to meet and slide together. Everyone remember to support your local tracks and shops. Without them, you wouldn’t have a place meet up, slide together, and use all your cool stuff! Hosting comps it not an easy task, so show these guys your appreciation!

And finally, a huge thank you to our sponsors for SDC 2025 Worlds! You have made this a very memorable event for the R/C Drift Community! Remember, these are the companies making it happen for R/C Drift here in the U.S. Support those who support you!

We are looking forward to the SDC 2026 Worlds - October 2, 3, and 4.
SEE YOU ALL THEN!!!

Live Stream Links:
Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3

PHOTOS(WE TRIED TO GET AS MANY PHOTOS AS WE COULD)

Pandora's fully Factory Mui painted bodies!

Licious Kitchens came through again with all day cooking on their hibachi! They made life so much easier as so many people were ride sharing, uber'ing and traveling. It made it so people can just focus on the event with good eats all weekend! If you ever need a caterer, she kills it on the hibachi for private events, weddings, birthdays, etc.

https://www.instagram.com/licious_kitchens/