EVENT DETAILS
Date: Saturday, September 25, 2021
Location: Streets of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Event: 2021 Formula DRIFT Super Drift Challenge, Day 2
DRIVERS
- Trenton Beechum (USA) – Clonex Racing / Nexen Tire Ford Mustang
- Rome Charpentier (USA) – Garagistic / Federal Tire BMW E36
- Michael Essa (USA) – FCP Euro / Liqui Moly / GT Radial BMW M3
- Jeff Jones (USA) – Jeff Jones Racing / GT Radial Nissan 370Z
- Kyle Mohan (USA) – KMR / Renewable Lubricants / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8
- Justin Pawlak (USA) – Falken Tire Ford Mustang
- Branden Sorensen (USA) – 212 Performance / Sorensen Motorsports BMW
- Forrest Wang (USA) – Achilles Tire / Yellowspeed Racing / NRG Innovations Nissan
RESULTS
1. Justin Pawlak (USA) – Falken Tire Ford Mustang
2. Trenton Beechum (USA) – Clonex Racing / Nexen Tire Ford Mustang
3. Forrest Wang (USA) – Achilles Tire / Yellowspeed Racing / NRG Innovations Nissan
4. Rome Charpentier (USA) – Garagistic / Federal Tire BMW E36
COMPETITION NOTES
- Driver match-ups for tandem competition runs were decided by a random draw in the absence of qualifying runs
- Wang has been out of Formula DRIFT competition since 2019. He claimed a double victory in the Super Drift Challenge that year and finished third today
- Winner Pawlak didn’t have to compete for the event victory because Beechum suffered technical problems and withdrew from the Final
- Mohan experienced technical problems on Day 1 but entered his RX-8 into the Top 8 competition on Day 2, only to be beaten by Wang
- Sorenson also had technical problems with his 2021 FD PRO BMW, so was using his back-up car for Super Drift. After testing hours before the event, he entered the competition heats and was knocked out by Beechum
- Essa is the 2013 Formula DRIFT PRO Champion. He was beaten in the first round by Pawlak
- Beechum and 17 year-old Sorenson are both 2021 FD PRO Championship rookies
SUPER DRIFT
- It’s been 2.5 years since Formula DRIFT held the last Super Drift Challenge at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
- Super Drift Challenge is an invitational event. Competitors are drawn from the Formula DRIFT series but do not score points towards the PRO or PROSPEC Championships
- Formula DRIFT has a long history with the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, dating back to 2005 when their series was invited to conduct an annual full course drift demo for GP fans
- In 2012, the demo event was elevated to Super Drift, which adopted a more traditional Formula DRIFT competition elimination format but without championship points
- In 2006, Formula DRIFT worked with the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to establish its own stand-alone Championship round on Turns 9-11, taking place the weekend before the Grand Prix
- The Streets of Long Beach course has since become a mainstay of the annual eight-round Formula DRIFT calendar
NEXT ROUND
Irwindale Speedway – the House of Drift – will host Round 8 TYPE S Title Fight. This is the Final Round of the Formula DRIFT PRO and Link ECU PROSPEC Championships, scheduled for October 22-23. Please visit formulad.com for ticket information, event schedule, driver profiles, special content, and the event livestream
