James Deane claimed his third win of an incredible season, extending his commanding PRO Championship lead to 118 points ahead of second-place Bakchis.
- Fredric Aasbo claimed third after losing his Final 4 battle to Minowa. And while he’ll be relieved to have closed in on Bakchis, Aasbo is now 144 points behind Deane with three Rounds remaining.
- Sandwiched between two three-time Formula DRIFT PRO Champions was 14-year-old sensation Hiroya Minowa, who jumped from seventh to fourth in the title race
- After FD saw its first female driver – Amanda Sorensen (USA) – take second place in the New Jersey PROSPEC Round, we can now celebrate the youngest ever driver to stand on the podium, with Japanese teenager Minowa missing the win by a whisker
- While sim racing has undoubtedly contributed to Minowa’s steep learning curve, Deane paid tribute to Hiro’s ability to wrestle the 1000hp Jerry Yang Racing Toyota GT86 with incredible finesse.
- And to crown his achievement, Minowa continues to lead the 2024 FD PRO Rookie title chase over Conor Shanahan (Ireland) who lost an epic One More Time contest against Deane in the Top 8.
- Matt Field (USA) finished fourth in the Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave / Leen / Drift Cave Corvette. He beat Chris Forsberg (USA) in the Top 16 and won a OMT duel with Dylan Hughes (USA) on the Top 8 before losing to Deane. The result moved Field from eighth to sixth in the Championship standings.
- After such a strong showing at the start of the season, Team Feal’s Aurimas Bakchis (Lithuania) and Simen Olsen (Norway) met in the Top 16 heats. While Bakchis took the win in his Feal Suspension / GT Radial Nissan S15, he was then defeated by Aasbo in the Top 8. The relative “lack of success” for the team resulted in Bakchis placing fifth with Olsen in 16th. The pair sit second and fifth in the Championship, respectively.
- Adam LZ fell victim to Minowa in the Top 8. Their first runs were too close to call, so the drivers went One More Time (OMT). During the final run, the LZMFG E36 BMW ran into the back of the Jerry Yang Racing Toyota GT86. Climbing Minowa’s rear tire, LZ slid along the barrier and was unceremoniously dumped back onto the track. Regretfully, 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.
- There was tragedy for Ben Hobson (USA) who finally qualified for Top 32 competition for the first time this season. But Hobson had a torrid Top 32 heat against LZ. It initially looked promising for the driver of the Pennzoil / BC Racing Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD when LZ clouted the wall in Outside Zone 2. However, Hobson failed to initiate a drift on the next run. And with nothing to judge, the drivers went OMT. Sadly, Hobson was again unable to drift, even after using his Competition Time Out to effect repairs. Hobson was eliminated and sits 36th overall.
- After Round 5, Toyota and Nitto continue to lead the 2024 Auto and Tire Cups, respectively.
- Formula DRIFT PRO Round 6 will occur at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA on August 9-10.
