Three-time Champion beats four-time Champion in dramatic Final. Formula DRIFT announces new venue for Round 8, and Larry Chen inducted into Hall of Fame

The start of any new competition season is a momentous occasion but the Opening Round of the 2025 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship brought more excitement than usual. In addition to a packed field of talented international teams and drivers, the series sprinkled five new prospects into the entry list, added significantly more grandstand seating to accommodate an even bigger capacity crowd, announced a new venue for Round 8 and inducted Larry Chen into its Hall of Fame.

We’ll review the new drivers below but in a special announcement, Formula DRIFT revealed the Final Round of the 2025 PRO Championship will take place in the City of Long Beach using large portions of Shoreline Drive. And for the first time, Formula DRIFT will have its own unique and independent street course venue. It will be vastly different to Round 1: Street of Long Beach, which is based on the Long Beach Grand Prix layout. The Shoreline Showdown takes place on October 17-18 and pre-sale tickets are available at formulad.com/lb2.

Photographer Larry Chen became the fourth inductee into the Formula DRIFT Hall of Fame. Having captured the action and drama of the series since 2006, Larry has become a fixture at almost every round and his contribution was honored. His name will join previous inductees Rhys Millen, Samuel Hubinette andTanner Foust on a monument at the Long Beach venue this summer. Inductees also receive a custom Hall of Fame ring created by Jostens – famous for rings at all major US sporting events such as the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA, NASCAR, IndyCar, etc – valued at $10,000.

PRO SEEDING BRACKET QUALIFICATION
Over the winter, Formula DRIFT introduced a number of rule changes, which specifically impacted its Seeding Bracket qualification format. Among these were the introduction of prize money for the Seeding Bracket winner, three Championship points for each heat win, as well as the use of One More Time (OMT). Just as in the Main Event, OMT allows the judges to request the drivers repeat both runs if they were unable to select a heat winner on their first runs. It can only be utilized once per battle and the option was exercised twice on the night.

The Seeding Bracket format had also been reconfigured to ensure all drivers in the Top 32 competition heats have a driver to battle rather than a bye run. It means that where possible, the highest finishing 12 drivers from the Seeding Bracket go through to competition rather than eliminating too many drivers and leaving bye runs in competition. And to achieve this, the lowest ranked driver/s who lose their Top 16 Seeding Bracket heat, and fall outside the leading 12 drivers, will be eliminated.

Candidates for the Seeding Bracket were selected once the first 20 competition places were locked in from the ranking achieved by drivers at the previous Round, which in this case was Round 8 in 2024. The remaining 13 drivers then had to qualify for one of 12 places in competition via the Seeding Bracket.

Unfortunately, the axe fell on Federico Sceriffo (Italy) in the Pennzoil / FuelTech / VP Racing Fuels Ferrari 599 GTB. He was the lowest ranked Top 16 heat loser, and was eliminated.

There was a palpable sense of relief for the remaining drivers, who included five new names for the 2025 season. Among the Rookies were drivers who earned a 2025 FD PRO competition license by finishing top three in FD PROSPEC. They included the 2024 PROSPEC Champion Tommy Lemaire (Canada) plus Connor O’Sullivan (USA) and Austin Matta (USA).

Two drivers were granted a license on the basis of an International Petition. The first was Rookie Jack Shanahan (Ireland), the holder of multiple Irish and British drift championship titles. Second was Daigo Saito (Japan) who has returned to FD PRO after a ten-year hiatus. As the 2008 and 2016 D1 GP Champion and the 2012 Formula DRIFT and 2012 FD Asia Champion, he’s a fan favorite.

All five new drivers had to qualify through the Seeding Bracket because they didn’t have a 2024 ranking. And when the brackets were announced, many fans were shocked to see Shanahan paired against Saito as well as Lemaire pitted against O’Sullivan. Fortunately, all four were ranked higher than Sceriffo and, although Saito and O’Sullivan lost their first heat, they were able to qualify for the competition heats.

Winner of the Type S PRO Seeding Bracket was Daniel Stuke (USA) driving the MspeK Performance Nissan Silvia who had a hard-fought battle with Ben Hobson (USA) in the Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD. Hobson’s second place was a welcome return to form after he only qualified twice last season. Their qualifying success saw Stuke finish fifth overall in the competition heats with Hobson in tenth, gaining valuable Championship points and ensuring they pre-qualify for Round 2 by being inside the top 20 drivers.

PRO COMPETITION
With the continually escalating level of car preparation and driver skill, there are no easy matchups in Formula DRIFT competition. Add the unforgiving concrete barriers of the Long Beach street course and Round 1 has always been a do-or-die event. Yet despite the challenges, car development and incredible talent on display, it was the two most successful drivers in Formula DRIFT history that again rose to the top.

The Final heat came down to a confrontation between Fredric Aasbo (Norway) – three-time FD PRO Champion and most successful driver in the sport’s 22-year history – against James Deane (Ireland) – the reigning and only four-time PRO Champion. Both are extremely skilled drivers representing top teams in the form of Papadakis Racing and RTR Motorsports, respectively.

One potential hurdle was the switch from Nitto to Kenda tires on Aasbo’s Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra. Could this throw a wrench in the Norwegian’s plans and hand the advantage to Deane’s Nitto-shod AutoZone Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD?

As it transpired, neither driver displayed any weakness. Both executed almost flawless lead and chase runs, giving the judges no choice but to request OMT. At the second attempt, Deane made a critical error in Outside Zone 3, hammering the concrete wall with the Mustang’s tail as he attempted to match the speed and precision of Aasbo’s second lead run. The impact left the Norwegian with very few options, causing him to collide with Deane and the wall before composing himself. With Deane judged at fault, Aasbo was declared the winner.

“Today was one of those perfect days where everything comes together,” explained a visibly relieved Aasbo. “We’ve started the season with a major change; not really knowing how the switch from Nitto to Kenda would pan out, even though we’d done our testing. So, winning the first Round on Kenda is huge but it takes a village – the team, the car, my mindset, all the off-season practice – all of that meant we could stick it to James in the Final where he made a mistake and here we are with the win!”

Aasbo’s path to victory saw him initially defeat Rookie O’Sullivan in the OSully Racing / US Army BMW before overcoming veteran Ken Gushi (Japan) driving the Toyota Gazoo Racing / GReddy Performance / Kenda GR86. In the Top 8, Aasbo faced teammate Ryan Tuerck (USA) in the Rain-X Toyota GR Corolla. It was an intense battle that provoked a split decision from the judges in Aasbo’s favor thanks in part to his technique at the Inside Clip. Similarly, Aasbo’s battle with a hugely improved Branden Sorenson (USA) driving the US Airforce / Sorensen Motorsports BMW was another tight call but it again fell in the Norwegian’s favor.

Other headlines saw LZ finish third after an impressive run where he beat three-time Champion Chris Forsberg (USA) in the NOS Energy Drink Nissan Z NISMO after a OMT battle. He’d eventually succumb to Deane in the Top 4.

The highly anticipated return of Saito fell flat after he was knocked out of the first round in qualifying and then retired from his first competitive heat with engine trouble. Rookies Jack Shanahan and Lemaire fared better. The Irishman left Long Beach leading the Rookie of the Year title race after finishing 21st overall, while Lemaire placed 22nd and shares the same points.

As a result of Aasbo’s success, Kenda Tire notched its first win since joining the series in 2023. The brand leads the 2025 Formula DRIFT Tire Cup while Toyota heads the Auto Cup.
“We had a really exciting kick off to the 22nd season following a slight adjustment to the format but keeping our all-tandem competition,” commented Ryan Sage, President of Formula DRIFT. “Daniel Stuke won the Seeding Bracket and walked away with some prize money and Championship points. And in competition, we saw the standard being set between the drivers who were winning last year and the new international arrivals – we’re looking forward to seeing how that dynamic will evolve. 

“James Deane looked like the guy to beat. Over the past few years he’s grown into an unstoppable force, but Aasbo was able to push him into making a mistake in the Final. We’re also delighted Adam LZ is committed to the full season and started strong with a third-place finish.

“We also announced our Round 8 venue, which will be back in Long Beach on a completely new track configuration for the first time in our history. And we announced Larry Chen as the first non-driver inductee to our Hall of Fame, adding his name to the other greats from the past few years.”

ROUND 1 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS & CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

POSITION	DRIVER	POINTS
1	Fredric Aasbo	50
2	James Deane	40
3	Adam LZ	30
4	Branden Sorensen	30
5	Daniel Stuke	22
6	Aurimas Bakchis	20
7	Ryan Tuerck	20
8	Conor Shanahan	20
9	Chris Forsberg	20
10	Ben Hobson	19
11	Hiroya Minowa	10
12	Matt Field	10
13	Dylan Hughes	10
14	Ken Gushi	10
15	Trenton Beechum	10
16	Jhonnattan Castro	10

2025 AUTO CUP TOP 5 STANDINGS

Toyota	70
Ford	59
Nissan	20
Chevrolet	10
BMW	9

22025 TIRE CUP STANDINGS

Kenda	72
Nitto	70
GT Radial	50
Kumho	30