EVENT DETAILS
Date: Friday, October 23, 2026
Location: Long Beach, CA
Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Final Round 8 Qualifying
RESULTS FROM FD PRO QUALIFYING
- Jack Shanahan (Ireland) – Pulsar Turbos E82 BMW
- James Deane (Ireland) – O’Reilly / Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD
- Conor Shanahan (Ireland) – Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86
PRO NOTES
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- Arriving at the Final Round with a 47-point advantage over second place James Deane, Conor Shanahan could have potentially sealed the 2026 FD PRO Championship by receiving four points for Qualifying first if Deane and third-place Branden Sorensen failed to Qualify. It was an unlikely scenario, and Conor placed third on the night, gaining two points
- Ahead of him was brother Jack Shanahan in first position, with fellow Irishman Deane in third. Both drivers need Conor to be beaten in his Top 32 Competition heat tomorrow. And then one of them must win Round 8 to claim the title. If none of this happens, Conor will win his first FD PRO Championship
- The only American driver in the title hunt was Branden Sorensen (USA) in the Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW who arrived in third place, 48-points behind Conor. By qualifying fifth and scoring one point, he took himself out of title contention but remains firmly in the chase for a Top 3 position
- With 31 drivers Qualifying for the Top 32 Competition places, it meant top qualifier Jack Shanahan earned himself a Bye Run through the first heats, giving him an advantage over his closest rivals. Deane will face Andy Hateley (USA) in the Top 32, but the Drift Wizard was experiencing mechanical gremlins in his Drift Wizard E46 BMW. Hopefully he’s able to come out strong in the Top 32
- Conor’s opponent in his Top 32 heat will be Jhonnattan Castro (Dominican Republic) who qualified 30th and appeared to be struggling with his Metaldom Toyota GR86. There will be a number of teams hoping Castro is also able to rectify the problems and challenge Conor for the heat win…
- The leading Rookie driver was Cody Buchanan (USA) who placed 20th in the Life Wide Open / Reboot Energy 350Z. He needs a good result in Competition to claim the 2026 Rookie of the Year title from points leader Cole Richards (USA). With a 41-point advantage over Buchanan, Richards would appear to have a hand on the trophy but engine problems for the Richards Racing Toyota GT86 in Qualifying has left the door ajar for Buchanan
- Formula DRIFT PRO Qualifying utilizes UDSM (Universal Drift Scoring Method) technology from Race Data Labs. The telemetry and data system has automated the objective aspects of scoring individual qualifying runs with up to 80% of each PRO driver’s Qualifying score for drift Line and car Angle quantified and scored entirely by UDSM Driving Style. The remaining 20% for Style continues to be assessed and awarded by the existing panel of three Formula DRIFT judges
- The top qualifier receives four Championship points, second place receives three, third gets two, and all other drivers receive one point
FD PRO ROUND 8 TOP 16 QUALIFYING RESULTS*
| POSITION | NAME | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Shanahan | 4 |
| 2 | James Deane | 3 |
| 3 | Conor Shanahan | 2 |
| 4 | LZ | 1 |
| 5 | Branden Sorensen | 1 |
| 6 | Tommy Lemaire | 1 |
| 7 | Fredric Aasbo | 1 |
| 8 | Rome Charpentier | 1 |
| 9 | Dylan Hughes | 1 |
| 10 | Aurimas Bakchis | 1 |
| 11 | Matt Field | 1 |
| 12 | Ken Gushi | 1 |
| 13 | Dan Stuke | 1 |
| 14 | Nate Chen | 1 |
| 15 | Wataru Masuyama | 1 |
| 16 | Ben Hobson | 1 |
FD PRO ROUND 8 TOP 32 COMPETITION BRACKET
Preliminary standings. Final results pending official confirmation