EVENT DETAILS
Date: Friday, September 24, 2021
Location: Streets of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Event: 2021 Formula DRIFT Super Drift Challenge, Day 1
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. Jeff Jones (USA) – Jeff Jones Racing / GT Radial Nissan 370Z
2. Michael Essa (USA) – FCP Euro / Liqui Moly / GT Radial BMW M3
3. Rome Charpentier (USA) – Garagistic / Federal Tire BMW E36
4. Justin Pawlak (USA) – Falken Tire Ford Mustang
EVENT 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 but claimed a double victory at the last Super Drift Challenge that year
- Mohan suffered technical problems and withdrew from the Top 8 eliminations
- Essa is the 2013 Formula DRIFT PRO Champion
- Beechum and 17 year-old Sorenson are both FD PRO Championship rookies
- A mistake by Essa in the chase position on the first run of the Final was one of the deciding factors that allowed Jones to take the top step of the podium
- Of the Top 4 drivers, Jones claimed the least power with 800hp, while the other three finalists all claimed 1000hp
SUPER DRIFT
- It’s been 2.5 years since Formula DRIFT held the last Super Drift Challenge on the Streets of Long Beach course
- 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, Super Drift was introduced on a more familiar Formula DRIFT competition elimination format with no championship points scored
- In 2006, Formula DRIFT worked with Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to establish a stand-alone Championship round in Turns 9-11, taking place the weekend before the Grand Prix
- Streets of Long Beach 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
