2023 Formula DRIFT PRO and PROSPEC

Date: Thursday, June 22, 2023 Location: Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ Event: Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 4: TYPE S The Gauntlet presented by AutoZone, and Link ECU PROSPEC Championship Round 2

FD PRO QUALIFYING RESULTS

1. Fredric Aasbo (Norway) – Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra
2. Ryan Tuerck (USA) – Rain-X / Nitto Tire / Rockstar Energy GR Corolla
3. Dylan Hughes (USA) – Whip Racing / Royal Purple BMW

FD PROSPEC QUALIFYING RESULTS

1. Ben Hobson (USA) – Pedal Commander / Feal Suspension / Koruworks / Motegi Racing Nissan S14
2. Jayden Martorana (Canada) – Empire Auto C6 Corvette
3. Dmitriy Brutskiy – DriftHQ E46 BMW

NOTES – PRO

• The K&N PRO Qualifying session took place from sunset into the evening, resulting in changing track conditions.
• All PRO competitors required Type S under-car lighting.
• Top qualifier was Fredric Aasbo, the triple FD PRO Champion and current points leader. He achieved an impressive 94-point run, his best qualifying position of the year. Fans are eager to see if he can convert it into a Round win in 2023.
• Ryan Tuerck, Aasbo’s teammate at Papadakis Racing Toyota, secured second place with 92 points, highlighting his skill. Despite qualifying first in Long Beach and Orlando, Tuerck currently sits tenth in the Championship standings. Only time will tell if he can turn his qualifying success into competition victory.
• Dylan Hughes claimed third place with 89.6 points, narrowly surpassing Matt Field who took fourth place with 89 points in the Borla Performance / GT Radial Corvette. Both drivers are among the top six in the Championship and aim to contend for the title this year.
• Chelsea DeNofa, winner of Round 3 in Orlando and currently second in the points race, faced difficulties in completing his first qualifying run in the Pennzoil / BC Racing Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD. He qualified 27th after his second attempt in the Knockout Qualifying Format (KQF), earning 83 points.
• Diego Higa remained the leading Rookie qualifier, placing 17th overall with 81.3 points in the JDMSupreme Toyota GT86.
• Since all drivers scored points during the qualifying, no drivers were eliminated from the KQF.

NOTES – PROSPEC

• The PROSPEC Qualifying took place in warm and breezy weather.
• Ben Hobson secured the top qualifying position with 91.3 points, repeating his success from Round 1 in Atlanta where he finished second in the competition heats.
• Fifteen-year-old Jayden Martorana surprised everyone by qualifying third in Round 1 and continued to impress by placing second in Round 2 with an 86-point run. As the top PROSPEC Rookie, Martorana demonstrates promising potential for a successful Formula DRIFT career.
• Dmitriy Brutskiy received 84.6 points for his qualifying run, aiming to kickstart his 2023 season as the double FD PROSPEC Champion.
• Rudy Hansen, the winner of Round 1, failed to complete his first qualifying run but was given a second chance in the KQF. He eventually scored 83.6 points, placing him 26th.
• Due to 39 PROSPEC drivers competing for 32 spots in the competition, 15 drivers had to participate in the KQF.
• Among the seven eliminated drivers were Adam Knapik, Brian Wadman, Rye O’Connor, Daniel Malvasio, Chris Leonard, Matthew Bystrak, and Justin Chesnutt.