DeNofa wins his Third Round in 2023 to lead Championship and help Ford secure 2023 Auto Cup
EVENT DETAILS
Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023
Location: Utah Motorsports Campus, Grantsville, UT
Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 7: Type S Elevated presented by AutoZone
RESULTS FROM FD PRO ROUND 7
- Chelsea DeNofa (USA) – Pennzoil / BC Racing Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD
- Matt Field (USA) – Borla Performance / GT Radial Corvette
- Simen Olsen (Norway) – Feal Suspension Nissan S14.9
NOTES
- In a season that didn’t see a repeat winner until Round 6, DeNofa has now claimed his third victory and extended his lead in the 2023 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship to 53 points
- DeNofa triumphed in the Final against Field following a high-speed collision into Outside Zone 1 when the Corvette appeared to find grip and speared the rear of the Mustang. After repairs were made, DeNofa did enough on the second run to claim victory
- RTR Motorsports drivers have won five of the seven rounds. Field and Bakchis are the only other winners. Aasbo and Olsen have yet to claim victory
- Field’s second place finish jumps him from fourth to second in the Championship chase. However, the substantial points difference to DeNofa will be difficult to overcome during the Final Round at Irwindale Speedway on October 13-14. Difficult, but not impossible, as history has proved…
- Olsen eliminated team leader Aurimas Bakchis (Lithuania) on his way to third, elevating himself to third in the Championship, 77 points behind DeNofa. In his first year driving the Team Feal Nissan, Olsen retains a mathematical chance of winning the title
- Reigning Champion Fredric Aasbo (Norway) driving the Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra was knocked out of the Great 8 by teammate Ryan Tuerck (USA) driving the Rain-X / Nitto Tire / Rockstar Energy GR Corolla. Aasbo dropped from second to fourth in the title race, and with an 81 point deficit he seems unlikely to take his fourth title. Tuerck succumbed to Field in the Final 4, finishing fourth overall, moving one place to seventh in the FD PRO standings
- After seven rounds, Ford has won the 2023 Formula DRIFT PRO Auto Cup and Nitto continues to lead the Tire Cup
ROUND 7 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Chelsea DeNofa | 101 |
| 2 | Matt Field | 88 |
| 3 | Simen Olsen | 78 |
| 4 | Ryan Tuerck | 64 |
| 5 | Kazuya Taguchi | 48 |
| 6 | Trenton Beechum | 48 |
| 7 | Fredric Aasbo | 48 |
| 8 | Chris Forsberg | 48 |
| 9 | James Deane | 35 |
| 10 | Travis Reeder | 32 |
| 11 | Dean Kearney | 32 |
| 12 | Branden Sorensen | 32 |
| 13 | Aurimas Bakchis | 32 |
| 14 | Robert Thorne | 32 |
| 15 | Jhonnattan Castro | 32 |
| 16 | Diego Higa | 32 |
2023 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Chelsea DeNofa | 464 |
| 2 | Matt Field | 411 |
| 3 | Simen Olsen | 387 |
| 4 | Fredric Aasbo | 383 |
| 5 | Aurimas Bakchis | 355 |
| 6 | James Deane | 337 |
| 7 | Ryan Tuerck | 328 |
| 8 | Chris Forsberg | 312 |
| 9 | Dylan Hughes | 297 |
| 10 | Kazuya Taguchi | 272 |
| 11 | Rome Charpentier | 248 |
| 12 | Jonathan Hurst | 224 |
| 13 | Jhonnattan Castro | 208 |
| 14 | Dean Kearney | 177 |
| 15 | Travis Reeder | 176 |
| 16 | Trenton Beechum | 160 |
2023 AUTO CUP TOP 5 STANDINGS
| Ford | 940 |
| Toyota | 740 |
| Chevrolet | 587 |
| Nissan | 424 |
| Dodge | 177 |
2023 TIRE CUP STANDINGS
| Nitto Tire | 1109 |
| GT Radial | 1082 |
| Vitour Tire | 504 |
| Nexen Tire | 369 |
| Kenda Tire | 322 |
NEXT ROUND
Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, CA will host the Round 8: Type S Title Fight, the Final Round of the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship on October 13-14. Please visit formulad.com for the competition schedule, ticket information, driver profiles, special content, and the event livestream.
