Formula DRIFT BLOG

Heading into the second half of the season, drivers with championship aspirations need to step up and be counted. They would also need to commit to the World Wide Technology Raceway, which has a reputation as a tough track where mistakes are swiftly punished by unyielding barriers. And for 2024, the track officials increased the number of barriers around the course, demanding even greater precision from the drivers in both the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 5: Type S Crossroads and the Link ECU PROSPEC Championship Round 3. Fortunately, the weather was kinder than usual, with temperatures in the 80s and tolerable humidity levels. And with the majority of competition taking place at night, engine temps were less critical than at the previous round in New Jersey.

As the series celebrates its 21st season, we’re witnessing a new era. At present there are three women drivers in PROSPEC and we finally celebrated their first ever podium in New Jersey when Amanda Sorensen (USA) climbed onto the second step.

We’ve also seen younger drivers entering the series. Both Amanda and her younger brother Branden were teenagers when they started. Jayden Martorana (Canada) was 14 when he joined PROSPEC in 2023. And in St Louis we witnessed 14 year-old Hiroya Minowa claim second after defeating triple FD PRO Champion Fredric Aasbo (Norway) in the Final 4 heat before narrowly losing to triple FD PRO Champion James Deane (Ireland) in the Final.

Sandwiched between two of the greatest drivers in Formula DRIFT PRO history, the teenager took second place, became the youngest podium finisher ever, and now sits fourth in the title race. And while sim racing has undoubtedly contributed to the steep learning curve of some younger drivers, Deane paid tribute to Hiroya’s ability to wrestle the 1300hp Enjuku Racing / Cusco / Jerry Yang Racing Toyota GT86 with such finesse. After all, you can’t fully simulate the pressure of swapping paintwork with FD Champions.

PRO SEEDING BRACKET

Continuing with the new-for-2024 Formula DRIFT Seeding Bracket regulations, the first 24 competition places for each PRO event are set by the results of the previous round: Round 4 in New Jersey, in this instance. Positions 25-32 were then determined by competitive tandem runs in the K&N PRO 16 Seeding Bracket on Thursday. The new format replaced solo qualifying runs to provide lower ranked drivers with more competitive seat time and guarantee a thrilling spectacle for spectators.

Run as a Top 16 competition, the top eight finishers from the Seeding Bracket advanced to Saturday’s competition heats, while the remaining drivers made awkward excuses.

The top three finishers in St Louis were Dmitriy Brutskiy in the Never Settle E46 BMW, Daniel Stuke (USA) driving the MspeK Performance Nissan Silvia S15 Spec-R, and Mike Power (USA) in the Power Racing Nissan S15.

Double PROSPEC Champion Brutskiy is a PRO Rookie and one of two drivers tackling both Championships this year, along with Rudy Hansen (USA). Brutskiy doubled down by building two cars tailored to each Championship, and was able to qualify for both in St Louis. Meanwhile, Hansen made it into the PROSPEC event driving the Team Hansen Supercharged Nissan S13 that performs double duties.

With 12 drivers competing for eight PRO places, we bid a tearful farewell to Hansen, Alec Robbins (USA), Andy Hateley (USA) and Federico Sceriffo (Italy). However, one naming missing from the list was 2023 PROSPEC Champion Ben Hobson (USA) who finally reached the FD PRO Top 32 competition heats for the first time this season. Driving the Pennzoil / BC Racing Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD, Hobson defeated Robbins in the Seeding Bracket and would finally compete for points on Saturday to the enormous relief of everybody.

PRO COMPETITION

We seem to say it every year but 2024 could be the most intense in 21 years of Formula DRIFT competition thanks to an even higher level of driver skill and engine power. And rising through the tire smoke was James Deane (Ireland) who rediscovered the form that took him to three PRO Championships in 2017-19 and is now comfortable in the AutoZone Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD.

While his closest rivals are blinking, Deane’s eyes remained on the prize as he claimed his third win and fifth podium from five Rounds. As a result, Deane extended his PRO Championship lead to a commanding 118-point lead over second place Bakchis.

“This wasn’t easy!” Deane confirmed after receiving his trophy. “We had a bye run through the Top 32 but then had contact in the Top 16, a tough battle with Conor Shanahan in the Top 8, which went One More Time, and a physical contest with Matt Field with more contact before we reached the Final. Fourteen year-old Minowa is definitely the future. We had a great battle but got the win and it feels unbelievable! The team worked hard to give me the best car even after all the contact. But they got me out there every time.

“I’m looking forward to the Seattle Round where we’ll try our best – one lap at a time – and try to remember to enjoy it. Fortunately, I’m really enjoying this year and the serious challenge we’re facing, but really appreciate the support from everybody.”

After a strong showing at the start of the season, Team Feal’s Aurimas Bakchis (Lithuania) and Simen Olsen (Norway) each have three podiums but no wins. And to compound matters, the pair met in the Top 16. So, while Bakchis took the win in his Feal Suspension / GT Radial Nissan S15, Olsen was again eliminated early and dropped to fifth in the table after holding second for the first three Rounds.

Bakchis was defeated by Aasbo in the Top 8. His fifth place in STL allowed Bakchis to hold onto second overall but can he prevent Deane from disappearing over the horizon?

Although Fredric Aasbo won Round 2 in ATL driving the Rockstar Energy Toyota Racing GR Supra, St Louis was only his second podium from an inconsistent year. Advancing into the Final 4, it looked as if another Round win could be on the cards until the unthinkable happened; he lost to a 14 year-old child, who simply had a better chase run in their heat. Finishing third, Aasbo was able to reduce the gap to Bakchis, but with 144 points less than Deane and three Rounds remaining, he can’t afford to be the nice guy any longer.

As the filling in the triple-Champion sandwich, Minowa has pressed the reset button. Everything we thought we knew was no longer true. The world changed when he climbed onto the podium.

Learning to drive at age 7, he was drifting at 8, started competing at 11 and won his first local events. For context, both Hiroya’s parents competed in Formula DRIFT Japan as part of Team Heyman, and Hiro’s early success came behind the wheel of his mom’s car.

In 2022, he competed in FD Japan where his feats included qualifying first and finishing as high as fifth during the season, ranking 16th in the Championship. In 2023, Hiroya placed second overall in FD Japan, leading to his partnership with Jerry Yang Racing for the 2024 FD PRO Championship in the USA.

At the opening Round in Long Beach, Hiroya placed eighth, followed by 18th in ATL, fourth in Orlando, 11th in NJ and now second in St Louis. And let’s not forget, Minowa leads the 2024 FD PRO Rookie title chase from Conor Shanahan (Ireland) who lost an epic One More Time contest to Deane in the St Louis Top 8 and also missed Round 2. Shanahan will need to do something remarkable in the remaining Rounds to wrestle the Rookie title away from Minowa.

Matt Field (USA) finished fourth in St Louis driving the Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave / Leen / Drift Cave Corvette. He won a dramatic One More Time (OMT) duel with Dylan Hughes (USA) in the Top 8 before losing to Deane in the Final 4. The result moved Field from eighth to sixth in the Championship standings.

Few drivers had a more dramatic weekend that Adam LZ (USA). It started in Top 32 competition against Ben Hobson (USA). After a torrid season where he’d failed to qualify for FD PRO competition, Hobson finally made it through the Seeding Bracket and his chances of advancing into the Top 16 initially looked promising after LZ clouted the wall in Outside Zone 2. With the driver of the LZMFG E36 BMW ruled incomplete, Hobson simply had to complete his lead run to advance. However, he failed to initiate a drift. And with nothing to judge, the drivers went OMT. Tragically, Hobson was again unable to drift, even after using his Competition Time Out to effect repairs and was eliminated from competition. Finishing 30th and sitting 36th overall, it means Hobson will return to the Seeding Bracket for Round 6.

After beating Rome Charpentier (USA) in the Top 16, LZ fell victim to Minowa in the Top 8. Their first runs were too close to call, so the drivers went One More Time. With little to choose between them, LZ went for it on the final run but powered into the back of Minowa’s Toyota GT86 at initiation. Climbing Minowa’s rear tire, LZ slid along the barrier and was brutally dumped back onto the track. After surveying the damage, LZ announced he’d be unable to rebuild the car and wouldn’t compete in the remaining FD PRO Rounds despite sitting seventh overall – his best result to date by a considerable margin.

After Round 5, Toyota and Nitto continue to lead the 2024 Auto and Tire Cups, respectively.

“It was good to see James Deane extend his lead in the Championship, and interesting to see the changes in the table below him,” said Ryan Sage, President of Formula DRIFT. “But the story of the weekend has to be Hiroya Minowa who captured the hearts of the fans here today and battled hard against two of our greatest Champions. He became the youngest driver to get a podium and we can’t wait to see where he goes from here in the series.”

PROSPEC SEEDING BRACKET

With an entry list of 46 drivers at the St Louis Round, the Link ECU PROSPEC Championship runs a 32 Seeding Bracket once the first 16 positions have been determined by Round 2 results. The remaining 30 drivers then compete in a sudden death Seeding Bracket to claim one of the remaining 16 competition places, populating positions 17-32. It meant 14 drivers were eliminated but each had their moment of glory during the Seeding Bracket, with the ability to return for the Final Round to try again.

PROSPEC COMPETITION

Following his maiden win in New Jersey, Connor O’Sullivan (USA) repeated the feat in St Louis driving the O’Sully Racing / RTS E46 BMW. A flawless performance saw him top the podium and lead the Link ECU PROSPEC Championship by a very narrow two-point lead over Tommy Lemaire (Canada), who placed third on the night.

O’Sullivan swept aside Dustin Miles (USA), Geoff Donati (USA), Cody Buchanan (USA) and Justin Chesnutt (USA) en route to the Final against Austin Matta (USA). Unfortunately, we were robbed of what promised to be an epic contest by a faulty O2 sensor on the Austin Matta Motorsports Nissan S14.

Despite using his five-minute Competition Time Out moments before the Final to diagnose the problem, the team was unable to effect a repair. Matta then retired after the first run to save his engine.

While the action was somewhat anti-climactic, both participants gave their 2024 Link ECU PROSPEC Championship title aspirations a major boost. Matta jumped from ninth to third overall, repeating his last podium visit in 2021 when he finished second in New Jersey. And while he’s 74 points from the lead, there’s still a mathematical title chance with 100 points on offer at the Final Round.

After his second win, O’Sullivan clearly stacked the odds in his favor but Lemaire is only two points behind. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes meant the XPN Carbon-Kevlar Nissan S14.9 wasn’t seen in the Final but Lemaire remains a major threat.

“I came to St Louis with high expectations after the New Jersey win,” O’Sullivan told us after the podium ceremony. “The team was awesome and the car was solid all weekend. I had some awesome lead laps and my spotter gave me useful notes on the other drivers, which helped a lot. And since we won the previous round, we led every battle, which gave me an advantage. My spotter then told me how hard I needed to drive on the chase run and it worked out great. Looking ahead, I’m nervous going into Utah becasue I want keep the number one slot, but I love fast tracks, so I’m hopefully we can secure a third podium and take the Championship.”

Fourth place was claimed by Justin Chesnutt (USA) driving the After Hours Autosports E82 BMW. The result represented his best finish to date and first time past the Top 32 competition heats. The 2023 Rookie finished his first year in 37th and was languishing in 30th prior to tonight. The result moved Chesnutt to eighth overall.

The leading PROSPEC Rookie was Nik Jimenez (USA) driving the Jimenez Racing Nissan Z. He placed finished 14th and moved from 18th to 16th overall, replacing Luis Lanz (Venezuela) as the top Rookie driver.

The Final Round of the Formula DRIFT Link ECU PROSPEC Championship will take place at Utah Motorsports Campus in Grantsville, UT on August 29-31 where a Champion will be crowned.

ROUND 5 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS

POSITION	DRIVER	POINTS
1	James Deane	100
2	Hiroya Minowa	84
3	Fredric Aasbo	70
4	Matt Field	70
5	Aurimas Bakchis	56
6	Adam LZ	56
7	Dylan Hughes	56
8	Conor Shanahan	56
9	Chris Forsberg	42
10	Taylor Hull	42
11	Ken Gushi	42
12	Branden Sorensen	42
13	Ryan Tuerck	42
14	Rome Charpentier	42
15	Jonathan Hurst	42
16	Simen Olsen	42

2024 FD PRO TOP 16 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

POSITION	DRIVER	POINTS
1	James Deane	454
2	Aurimas Bakchis	336
3	Fredric Aasbo	310
4	Hiroya Minowa	280
5	Simen Olsen	280
6	Matt Field	266
7	Adam LZ	238
8	Dylan Hughes	238
9	Ken Gushi	238
10	Branden Sorensen	238
11	Conor Shanahan	226
12	Chris Forsberg	224
13	Rome Charpentier	224
14	Taylor Hull	196
15	Ryan Tuerck	196
16	Nick Noback	196

2024 AUTO CUP TOP 5 STANDINGS

Toyota	590
Ford	552
GM	462
BMW	350
Nissan	350

2024 TIRE CUP STANDINGS

Nitto	806
GT Radial	742
Vitour	506
Kenda	504
Nexen	280
Kumho	280

ROUND 3 FD PROSPEC TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS

POSITION	DRIVER	POINTS
1	Connor O´Sullivan	100
2	Austin Matta	84
3	Tommy Lemaire	70
4	Justin Chesnutt	70
5	Cody Buchanan	56
6	Margaritis Katsanidis	56
7	Rudy Hansen	56
8	Trevor Root	56
9	Amanda Sorensen	42
10	Nate Chen	42
11	Shawn Illingworth	42
12	Cory Talaska	42
13	Jayden Martorana	42
14	Nik Jimenez	42
15	Geoff Donati	42
16	Cole Richards	42

FD PROSPEC TOP 16 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

POSITION	DRIVER	POINTS
1	Connor O´Sullivan	242
2	Tommy Lemaire	240
3	Austin Matta	168
4	Cody Buchanan	168
5	Nate Chen	168
6	Joshua Love	154
7	Amanda Sorensen	140
8	Justin Chesnutt	126
9	Jayden Martorana	126
10	Cole Richards	126
11	Kelsey Rowlings	126
12	Alex Jagger	126
13	Rudy Hansen	112
14	Shawn Illingworth	112
15	Cory Talaska	112
16	Nik Jimenez	112