press release – EverythingDrift.com | For All Your Drifting Needs

QUALIFYING SEEDING BRACKET RESULTS FROM OPENING ROUND OF 2025 FORMULA DRIFT PRO CHAMPIONSHIP IN LONG BEACH

Posted on April 6, 2025 by George

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Friday, April 4, 2025

Location: Streets of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Round 1 Seeding Bracket Qualification

RESULTS FROM FD PRO SEEDING BRACKET

1. Daniel Stuke (USA) – MspeK Performance Nissan Silvia

2. Ben Hobson (USA) – Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD

3. Andy Hateley (USA) – The Drift Wizard E46 BMW

NOTES

Formula DRIFT uses a competitive Seeding Bracket format for driver qualification into the competition heats. The first 20 competition places were locked in by the ranking achieved by drivers at the previous Round, which in this case was Round 8 in 2024. The remaining drivers must qualify for one of 12 places in competition via the Seeding Bracket
The Seeding Bracket format has been reconfigured to ensure all drivers in the Top 32 competition heats have a driver to battle rather than a bye run. To achieve this, the lowest ranked drivers who lose their Top 16 Seeding Bracket heat, and fall outside the leading 12 drivers, will be eliminated
Thirteen drivers competed in the Top 16 Seeding Bracket in Long Beach to fill the 12 places in Top 32 competition. This meant only one would be eliminated; and the lowest ranked Top 16 heat loser was Federico Sceriffo (Italy) in the Pennzoil / FuelTech / VP Racing Fuels Ferrari 599 GTB
Also new for 2025, drivers will receive three Championship points for each Seeding Bracket heat win. The overall winner of qualification will receive prize money
The previously unavailable option of One More Time (OMT) has been added to Seeding qualification, just as it is in the Main Event. It 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. The option was exercised twice today
In an update to the three-man Formula DRIFT judging panel, Brian Eggert (USA) and Reese Marin (USA) will attend every round, while Robbie Nishida (Japan) and Vernon Zwaneveld will rotate through the season. Nishida adjudicated in Long Beach
The Type S PRO Seeding Bracket was won by Daniel Stuke (USA) in a hard-fought battle with Ben Hobson (USA), whose second place was a return to form for Hobson who only qualified twice last season
2025 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Rookies must qualify through the seeding bracket to reach the competition heats. They included Jack Shanahan (Ireland), older brother of Conor and holder of multiple Irish and British drift championship titles. He was joined by 2024 FD PROSPEC Champion Tommy Lemaire (Canada) plus Connor O’Sullivan (USA) and Austin Matta (USA) – all three earned a 2025 FD PRO competition license by finishing top three in PROSPEC
Although not a Rookie, Daigo Saito (Japan) 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 undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with
Both Shanahan and Saito entered the 2025 Series after they were granted a license on the basis of an International Petition. Because they were unranked, Formula DRIFT first stacked the PRO drivers by 2024 rank and then the promoted PROSPEC drivers. The international drivers were stacked alphabetically and a number draw was performed on all drivers in the Seeding Bracket. That number is randomly selected and always between 4 and 7. The aim is to ensure that over the course of the season, drivers will pair in the Seeding Bracket with those of similar parity and finishes, without facing the same driver at every Round
As a result of the ranking, Shanahan faced Saito in their Top 16 heat. And while Saito lost the Top 16 heat and Shanahan would be knocked out of the Top 8, both drivers advanced into the competition heats
Rookies O’Sullivan and Lemaire were also paired for the Top 16 qualification and again, with Sceriffo the lowest ranked heat loser, both Rookies advanced

Continue reading →

FORMULA DRIFT TO BROADCAST LIVE IN SPANISH WITH NEW PARTNER PX SPORTS IN LATIN AMERICA (LATAM)

Posted on April 3, 2025 by George

Formula DRIFT has entered into an agreement with PX Sports to broadcast the Main Event Top 16 competitions from each of the eight FD PRO Rounds. The broadcast will be live across the PX Sports network with details available here: pxsports.com/outlets

President of Formula DRIFT Ryan Sage said, “We have been looking for a solution for a number of years to give the Spanish-speaking world access to FD events and PX Sports has agreed to bring in their own commentators and broadcast our Main Event and Top 16s.” He continued, “We’re very aware of the popularity of drifting in LATAM and there’s also been a huge push by our Spanish-speaking drivers to figure this out, so it’s a huge win for us to work with a powerful partner such as PX Sports.”

Alejando Mercado of PX Sports said, “We are thrilled to bring the electrifying competition of Formula DRIFT to the Spanish-speaking audience in LATAM. Drifting has a massive and growing fanbase across the region, and this partnership ensures they will now have front-row access to the action, expert commentary, and the passion that makes this sport so unique. At PX Sports, our mission has always been to elevate motorsports and action sports, and this is a perfect step in that direction.”

Continue reading →

FORMULA DRIFT WELCOMES NEW SERIES SPONSORS MEGUIAR’S® AND ENEOS OIL

Posted on April 3, 2025 by George

As we hurtle ever closer to the Opening Round of the 2025 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship on April 4-5 on the Streets of Long Beach, we just have time to sneak in a couple of announcements. The series is delighted to welcome the return of both Meguiar’s and ENEOS Oil as Associate Sponsors.

As one of the world’s leading car care brands, Meguiar’s needs no introduction. They’re also FD OGs, having sponsored the series in the early days and now returning to enjoy the tremendous growth that’s taken place over the past 22 years.

As part of its sponsorship program, Meguiar’s videos will be aired on the free-to-view event livestream during competition weekends. Spectators will also see the instantly recognizable logo around the track, while visitors to both Southern California Formula DRIFT rounds can visit the Meguiar’s booth to learn more about their products and speak to representatives about specific cleaning solutions.

Anybody wishing to know more about the industry-leading Meguiar’s car care products or to view their informative car care video series should visit the website at meguiars.com.

The ENEOS Motor Oil logo will be very familiar to anybody who has visited Japan. Seemingly with a gas station on every street corner, ENEOS is Japan’s largest oil company and supplier to the vast majority of Japanese and Asian car companies. In fact, ENEOS engineers can be found in the R&D departments at many of the major manufacturers, blending oils specifically for many of your favorite performance cars. Known as the Original JDM Motor Oil, ENEOS is probably what your car was designed for if it was engineeered in Japan. And the company’s unrivalled experience means your car will benefit from its engine and transmission oils, whereever it was built.

As a special bonus to Formula DRIFT fans, ENEOS is offering a 20% discount on its oil products every time an ENEOS-sponsored driver stands on the podium this year. And considering they support both Fredric Aasbo and Odi Bakchis – who finished second and third respectively in 2024 – there should be no shortage of opportunities. Scoring seven podiums last year, Team ENEOS is hoping to increase that number in 2025.

To learn more about ENEOS Oil and its products, please visit eneos.us

“We’re excited to welcome these leading brands back to the Formula DRIFT family,” said Ryan Sage, President of Formula DRIFT. “We’re happy that companies are seeing the tremendous growth in our series and want to be part of it, engaging with the best fans in the world!”

Formula DRIFT Eliminates Solo Qualifying runs in Major Competition Shake-up

Posted on March 25, 2024 by George

All-Tandem Format sets the tone for future of Formula DRIFT

“In the biggest competition change in Formula DRIFT history, the series has eliminated all single-run qualifying in PRO and PROSPEC competition,” announced Ryan Sage, President of Formula DRIFT.

Entering its 21st season, FD has become a tandem-only competition from the first runs on Friday to the winner’s podium on Saturday. “Single-run qualifying is in the history books and Formula DRIFT is now a tandem-only series,” Sage confirmed.

The primary reason for the change is to provide fans and drivers with an even more compelling and entertaining experience. In the past, some lower ranked drivers might only complete two qualifying runs before elimination. Under the new rules, every driver will compete in at least one tandem competition run to secure their place in the Top 32 competition heats.

Transitioning to the new format required a great deal of discussion to ensure everybody benefitted. And with all drivers getting to compete plus more tandem runs for fans to enjoy, the target has been met.

One of the biggest factors in creating the new rules was to accommodate the large number of registered entrants. Since its founding 21 years ago, Formula DRIFT hasn’t limited the number of competitors registered for each season. This meant qualification became the means to not only determine starting position but also reduce the field to 32 drivers for the competition heats. And with the new format, the challenge was to ensure the on-track tandem action occupied approximately the same amount of time as the previous single-car qualifying sessions. As a result, there are three seeding formats depending on the number of registered drivers. These can accommodate 32 drivers or less, 33-40 drivers, or 41-48. And for the 2024 season, the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship will operate under the 33-40 format, while PROSPEC will accommodate 41-48 based on the number of registered drivers. Continue reading →

BAKCHIS WINS DRAMATIC FORMULA DRIFT PRO ROUND 7 ON STREETS OF LONG BEACH

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Toxic

Round 7: AutoZone Streets of Long Beach Presented By TYPE S

It’s been 897 days since the 1000+hp cars of the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship turned a wheel in anger on the Streets of Long Beach. On its return, fans in the packed grandstands enjoyed perfect weather and watched the experienced drivers revive their muscle memory of the Long Beach street course that sits alongside the Pacific Ocean.

Continue reading →