EVENT DETAILS
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Location: Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA
Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 2: Type S Road To The Championship presented by AutoZone & Round 1 Link ECU PROSPEC Championship
RESULTS FROM FD PRO SEEDING BRACKET
1. Jeff Jones (USA) – Evol Auto Works / Prisma Labs / BIG Drift Energy Nissan 370Z
2. Dan Burkett (USA) – RAD Industries Mk4 Toyota Supra
3. Diego Higa (Brazil) – Higa Toyota GT86
NOTES
- Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta hosted the first round of Formula DRIFT competition in 2004 and has been part of the Championship throughout its 21 seasons
- Heavy rain before the PROSPEC seeding bracket produced challenging conditions for the early runners until the conditions improved. The track was dry for the K&N PRO Seeding Bracket, which took place under floodlights in the evening. All PRO cars are required to use Type S undercar lighting for evening events
- New for 2024, solo qualifying runs hae been replaced by competitive tandem runs once the top positions have been determined by the previous round. For PRO, that meant Round 1 in Long Beach, while PROSPEC was based on 2023 Final Standings
- In the PRO Championship, the first 24 positions were determined by the Long Beach results, with the remaining 13 drivers competing in a seeding bracket to claim the remaining eight places in Top 32 competition
- In PROSPEC, the first 16 positions were preset, with the remaining 29 drivers competing in a seeding bracket to claim one of 16 places in Top 32 competition. With so many entrants, the PROSPEC seeding bracket is sudden death, with the loser of each tandem run eliminated
- The benefits of the new Seeding Bracket format is that drift fans get to see competitive tandem runs from Thursday through Saturday, while new and emerging drivers are able to compete at each round, rather than previously be eliminated after solo qualifying runs
- Formula DRIFT judges in Atlanta were Vernon Reese Marin (USA), Brian Eggert (USA) and Robie Nishida (Japan). They are no longer able to call for One More Time (OMT), where drivers repeat the runs. Instead, they must make a decision based on the first two runs during the Seeding Brackets. OMT is still allowed in competition. Drivers are also no longer able to appeal a decision during a race weekend
- Rookie drivers in the 2024 Link ECU PROSPEC Championship include Adam Heishman (USA), Allen Boss (USA), Brian Wills (USA), Clarke Hatton (Ireland), Coty Demster (USA), Jayce Habich (USA), Josh Stuart (USA), Lee Yearwood (Trinidad & Tobago), Luis Lanz (Venezuela) and Nik Jimenez (USA). All earned Formula DRIFT licenses thanks to success in Pro-Am competitions
- Of the 29 PROSPEC drivers competing for 16 competition places in the Seeding Bracket, 13 drivers were eliminated. Three competitors advanced with bye runs after their opponent failed to start the heat. The names of drivers who advanced or were eliminated are listed in the PROSPEC table below. The successful drivers will compete in the competition heats tomorrow (Friday)
- The Top 16 Seeding Bracket for the PRO Championship was a thrilling event. And with 13 drivers competing, only five would be eliminated
- The finishing position of the top 8 drivers determines their match-up in Saturday’s tandem competition heats. Progessing in the Seeding Bracket also provides them with more track time to finesse their lines and technique
- The top three drivers in the K&N PRO Seeding Bracket were Jones, Burkett and Higa. They triumphed despite the presence of top drivers like 2023 PROSPEC Champ Ben Hobson (USA) and RTR Motorsports teammate, double FD PRO Champion Vaugh Gittin Jr (USA). Gittin placed eighth in the Monster Energy Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD and will compete on Saturday. However, Hobson narrowly missed out. Placing ninth, he has yet to qualify for a 2024 PRO Championship event driving the Pennzoil / BC Racing Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD
- The eliminated PRO Championship drivers were Andy Hateley (USA), Ben Hobson (USA), Derek Madison (USA), Federico Sceriffo (Italy) and Rudy Hansen (USA)
ROUND 2 PRO SEEDING BRACKET
| POSITION | NAME |
| 1 | Jeff Jones |
| 2 | Dan Burkett |
| 3 | Diego Higa |
| 4 | Joao Barion |
| 5 | Kyle Mohan |
| 6 | Dmitriy Brutskiy |
| 7 | Ryan Litteral |
| 8 | Vaughn Gittin Jr |
| 9 | Andy Hateley |
| 10 | Ben Hobson |
| 11 | Derek Madison |
| 12 | Federico Sceriffo |
| 13 | Rudy Hansen |
BRACKET FOR ROUND 2 PRO COMPETITION HEATS
ROUND 1 PROSPEC SEEDING BRACKET
| ADVANCING | ELIMINATED |
| Tyler Foley | Sam Maghmoumi |
| Matthew Bystrak | Shawn Illingworth |
| Justin Chesnutt | Margaritis Katsanidis |
| Chris Leonard | Amanda Sorensen |
| Alex Lichliter | Adam Knapik |
| Brandon McDowell | Cory Talaska |
| Brian Wills | Daniel Malvasio |
| Jayce Habich | Zandara Kennedy |
| Josh Stuart | Adam Heishman |
| Lee Yearwood | Allen Boss |
| Luis Lanz | Clarke Hatton |
| Nik Jimenez | Coty Demster |
| Richard Advani | Ricky Hofmann |
| Tommy Lemaire | |
| Kasey Kohl | |
| Hooman Rahimi |
BRACKET FOR ROUND 1 PROSPEC COMPETITION HEATS
