EVENT DETAILS
Date: Friday, October 18, 2024
Location: Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, CA
Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Final Round 8: Type S Title Fight
RESULTS FROM FD PRO SEEDING BRACKET
1. Robert Thorne (USA) – ASM E46 BMW M3
2. Forrest Wang (USA) – GetNutsLab / Yellowspeed / Vitour Nissan S15
3. Kyle Mohan (USA) – KMR / Renewable Lubricants / Mazdatrix RX-8
NOTES
- The K&N PRO Seeding Bracket was won by Thorne after Wang failed to take the start in the Final
- The Top 16 Seeding Bracket had 12 entries but was further depleted with numerous mechanical issues and a heavy collision for Vaughn Gittin Jr in the Monster Energy Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD while chasing Thorne
- In fact, both RTR drivers – Gittin Jr and Ben Hobson (USA) driving the Pennzoil / BC Racing Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD – lost heats to Thorne. Hobson was Thorne’s first victim and was eliminated from Saturday’s competition in the culmination of a horrible season. Gittin Jr finished fourth and advances to the Top 32
- The drivers knocked out of the Top 16 Seeding Bracket and eliminated from Top 32 competition included Hobson, Dmitriy Brutskiy, Ryan Litteral (USA), Diego Higa (Brazil) and Derek Madison (USA)
- The remaining seven drivers will occupy positions 25-32 in competition after the top 24 drivers were ranked according to their finishing position in Round 7. This placed Aurimas Bakchis (Lithuania) in first place and earned him a bye run tomorrow
- Sitting second in the championship, 74 points behind leader James Deane (Ireland) in the third RTR Mustang, the bye run for Bakchis could help in his bid to win a first title if Deane fails to make the starting line for Top 32 competition
- In order to win the 2024 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship, claiming a record fourth title, Deane simply needs to show his car is capable of competing in the first heat against Daniel Stuke (USA). Deane will then receive enough points to secure the Championship and put it out of Bakchis’ reach
- However, the House of DRIFT has an ancient curse that throws up weird anomalies. During Friday practice, Deane appeared to suffer mechanical issues with two axles on his AutoZone Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD. The title is Deane’s to lose, but surely he couldn’t fail to make the start. Or could he?
ROUND 8 PRO SEEDING BRACKET
| POSITION | NAME |
| 1 | Robert Thorne |
| 2 | Forrest Wang |
| 3 | Kyle Mohan |
| 4 | Vaughn Gittin Jr |
| 5 | Dan Stuke |
| 6 | Federico Sceriffo |
| 7 | Rudy Hansen |
| 8 | Dmitriy Brutskiy |
| 9 | Ryan Litteral |
| 10 | Ben Hobson |
| 11 | Diego Higa |
| 12 | Derek Madison |
