TAKU Tops SHIBATA’s 2026 GRK Championship Podium

The structure confirmed in the post is simple but important for anyone following the GRK contest: SHIBATA says it is sharing results first in three groups — Day 1 solo results, Day 2 solo results and chase results.

That tells us the event separated single-car judged runs from tandem battles, but the post does not publish the scoring method in text. There is no confirmed information in this update about qualifying brackets, tie-breaks, judge calls, protests or how the Day 1 and Day 2 solo lists fed into the chase side.

For RC drift readers, the useful takeaway is that the podium now public is the chase result podium, not a setup claim and not a general ranking of GRK chassis performance. The source names the drivers and event staff; it does not name chassis models, electronics, tires, body shells or individual car setups for the podium drivers.

SHIBATA’s update also names the people presented as the event’s front-of-house and judging team.

According to the post, president Shibata was part of the event presentation, Suzuki Manabu served as MC, GRK Ambassador Nobuhide Taniguchi provided commentary, and Kanamoto and Koudai were the judges.

That staffing matters because a flagship RC drift competition is not only a bracket and a podium. The MC and commentator shape how the room follows each run, while the judges define what counts on line, angle, style and proximity. In tandem RC drift, the chase car’s proximity and ability to match the lead’s line are central to the show and the scoring conversation, but this particular post does not spell out the judging criteria used at the event.

GRK is SHIBATA’s Drift RC chassis line, with a history that includes AWD and RWD kits across the GRK family. The championship sits inside that brand world, so its podium is followed by drivers who care about SHIBATA’s cars, its circuit culture and the way the company presents high-level RC drift.

This first post does not yet let us describe the track itself. The layout, surface and tire compound are not confirmed in the supplied event update, and those details matter in RC drift. A run on fine asphalt, carpet, P-tile or polished concrete asks different things of a car, even before setup choices like gyro gain, springs, ride height and battery position enter the conversation.

For now, the confirmed news is narrower and cleaner: TAKU won, Yokota placed second, Ayato placed third, and SHIBATA says more considered commentary is still to come.