EVENT DETAILS

Date: Friday, April 20, 2024
Location: Streets of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Event: 2024 Formula DRIFT Super Drift Challenge, Day 2

COMPETITORS

• Rome Charpentier (USA) – Garagistic / Pedal Commander / Vitour Tires E82 BMW
• Jonathan Hurst (USA) – MRCOOL Cadillac XLR
• Kasey Kohl (USA) – MSPEK Performance Nissan S14.9
• Kyle Mohan (USA) – KMR / Renewable Lubricants / Mazdatrix RX-8
• Connor O’Sullivan (USA) – RTS / GT Radial E46 BMW
• Daniel Stuke (USA) – MSPEK Performance Nissan Silvia Spec-R
• Robert Thorne (USA) – ASM E46 M3
• Forrest Wang (USA) – Get Nuts Laboratory / Yellowspeed / Vitour Nissan S15

 

RESULTS

1. Robert Thorne (USA) – ASM E46 M3
2. Connor O’Sullivan (USA) – RTS / GT Radial E46 BMW
3. Forrest Wang (USA) – Get Nuts Laboratory / Yellowspeed / Vitour Nissan S15

 

COMPETITION NOTES

• Formula DRIFT President Ryan Sage was joined by guest announcer, FD PRO driver Ken Gushi, a 21-year veteran of the series
• The Super Drift judging panel included Gushi (Japan), 2011 PRO Champion Dai Yoshihara (Japan), and new FD series judge Vernon Zwaneveld (Netherlands)
• Driver match-ups for tandem competition runs were decided by a random draw in the absence of qualifying runs
• Competitors from both the Formula DRIFT PRO and PROSPEC Championships entered their competition vehicles into the Super Drift Challenge
• Kyle Mohan (USA) competed on Day 1 of the Super Drift Challenge but was unable to compete on Day 2, giving Forrest Wang (USA) a bye-run to the Final 4
• 2022 PROSPEC Champion Robert Thorne (USA) used his racing expertise to skillfully advance past Daniel Stuke (USA) and Connor O’Sullivan (USA) for his first Super Drift Challenge win
• Second-placed O’Sullivan did a tremendous job as a PROSPEC competitor, knocking out two fierce PRO drivers Rome Charpentier (USA) and Jonathan Hurst (USA), finding redemption from Day 1
• Third-placed Wang, a six-time Super Drift Challenge winner, was hoping to carry his momentum from Day 1 forward for another victory but was stopped by Thorne in the Final 4

ABOUT SUPER DRIFT

• Super Drift Challenge is an invitational event. Competitors are drawn from the Formula DRIFT series but do not score points towards the FD PRO or PROSPEC Championships
• Formula DRIFT has a long history with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, dating back to 2005 when the series was invited to conduct an annual full-course drift demo for GP fans
• In 2012, Super Drift was introduced, offering a more traditional Formula DRIFT
• Elimination competition format for spectators to enjoy
• In 2006, Formula DRIFT worked with Grand Prix of Long Beach to establish its own standalone Championship round using Turns 9 to 11
• Round 1 of the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship season takes place the weekend before the Grand Prix. Streets of Long Beach. It has since become a mainstay of the annual eight-round Formula DRIFT calendar
• Drifting is judged on a driver’s line through the course, angle in the turns, and style throughout the run. The chase car’s proximity to the lead car is also a crucial factor