How about that 2018 Formula Drift finale?!

I know a lot of people here scoff at drifting in general, and pro drifting in particular, but, wow, the season finale at Irwindale was insane. You couldn't have scripted a crazier ending.

For those not up to speed, last year Irish drift superstar James Deane came to party in the US behind the wheel of his Worthouse/Falken Tire 2JZ S15 Silvia and annihilated the competition, making the podium or winning nearly every round. He won 29 out of 32 matchups. 

This year, he got off to the same start, dominating events and losing pretty much only to the occasional mechanical bug. Amassing a huge points lead, the only driver within striking distance was 2-time Formula D champion Fredric Aasbo in his Rockstar Energy/Papadakis Racing Toyota Corolla hatchback. Aasbo was looking to become only the 2nd 3-time Formula D champion, while James Deane was hoping to become only the 2nd driver to win back-to-back championships.

Heading into Irwindale, for Aasbo to even mathematically be able to take the championship, he had to outright win the event (Not out of the question) while Deane had to drop out no later than Top 16 (That part being a rarity). James Deane then laid down a near-perfect 99 point qualifying run, and due to less than 32 cars qualifying, got a bye-run in Top 32, making Aasbo's life even harder. Aasbo also qualified high enough to get a bye run in Top 32.

Then in Top 16, the unbelievable happened when Deane makes a mistake in the chase against Forrest Wang and loses, being forced to now sit on the sidelines and hope that Aasbo doesn't win the event. Meanwhile, in Top 16, Aasbo has to face his own Papadakis Racing teammate Jhonatton Castro. Castro said in an interview that he did not have orders to let Aasbo win, and he certainly made him work for it. In the Top 8 Aasbo then had to take on Irish drifter Dean Kearney, who finally got his 1500hp drift Viper running properly after mechanical troubles and was eager for a chance to show it off. Aasbo then had to face down new best friend Forrest Wang to get into the finals and just barely makes it.

Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket, Vaughn Gittin Jr. (Formula D competitor from Day 1 and 2010 champion) was putting on a charge of his own. After having what he says is his worst season ever, falling as low as 23rd in standings, he turned it around at Irwindale and began going rounds. He faced down fellow RTR teammate and Mustang driver Chelsea Denofa in Top 4 in a battle that left both of their cars torn to piece, and won. Aasbo and Gittin went head to head, going 6 rounds (The 2 regular and then two OMTs) before Gittin finally eeked out a win. 

This meant that Aasbo missed the championship by just 4 points (If he had beat Gittin, he would have only lead by 16 points), and Deane is now only the 2nd champion to go back-to-back in titles (Tanner Foust's 2007/2008 wins make him the other) and only the fourth multi-time champion (Sam Hubinette, Tanner Foust, Christ Forsberg being the others)

Also, worth noting that none of the top 3 drivers for the season were American. Deane is Irish, Aasbo is Norweigian and Piotr Wiecek is Polish. The best-finishing American driver was Chris Forsberg in 4th, but he was almost 200 points out of the lead.

I don't watch, where is this televised/broadcasted? Judged competitions can sometimes be "interesting".   Are there every any issues of creative / controversial judging going on?

I think it would be interesting to watch in person, but I suspect the crowd that goes to it would be a bit much.

They do seem to have gone a bit of NASCAR with the cars though (e.g. RWD Corolla)

In reply to aircooled :

It is live-streamed on both the Network A and Formula Drift channels on YouTube. You can actually go and watch them all for the past few seasons. They also tend to release a pared-down video that is just the action a few weeks after the event. I've gone and watched it in person for 4 years now, and the price isn't bad, and honestly the crowd is pretty great. No one has ever really been a jerk to me or irritated me or had any trouble.

It is judged, and there have been issues with favoritism or inexplicable calls (Chris Forsberg seems to get a lot of calls in his favor and his main sponsor is also a main sponsor of the series) but it's gotten better recently, especially now that they get the judges on the mic after any of the calls that might be viewed as controversial to explain their reasoning.

The cars have gotten a little out of hand in recent years with all composite body work, 75-80 degrees of steering angle, and rear-mount radiators. But honestly, Aasbo's Corolla uses a lot of OEM parts. All stock suspension geometry and pickup points, a 2AR engine just built to the moon, OEM MkIV Supra rear axles and wheel bearings and spindles. The Corolla is allowed because if a car is available as AWD, it's allowed to be RWD converted, but I think that's the only weird drivetrain configurations. Plenty of traditional Front-engine/Rear wheel drive.

Also, interesting to note that Chris Forsberg said in an interview that they are investigating a new engine packing. For the better part of a decade, his 350/370Z ran a Nissan VK56 5.6L V8 (Nissan Titan engine) with ITBs and a ton of nitrous to make 1000hp, and that basic combo powered him to 3 championships. Last year, he debuted a new engine package of a VQ37 with twin turbos, anti-lag and nitrous. That combo was supposed to appear from the first round, but it wasn't until the 4th round in NJ that the VQ engine showed up, due to tons of teething issues. He bowed out early in NJ and then had engine issues all season. This year, he ran the VQ all season, but still had tons of engine issues, including it mysteriously shutting off at the starting line in NJ when he went up against a car with a broken transmission stuck in third gear. At the finale in Irwindale, it lost a cylinder, and in frustration, they pulled the coil and injector, cranked up the nitrous and tried to send it out with a bang. In an interview he said that they were ditching the VQ because they just don't hold up at the 800-1000hp level, they didn't feel like they were making any progress, and it just wasn't working.

I can't see them going back to the VK56, because I remember reading that they were using a ton of special off road truck racing engine parts they had to purchase from Nissan, and that Nissan was charging a lot for the parts and it was getting to be too expensive. Chris being a big Nissan guy, I can't see an LS engine or a 2JZ, so my guess is maybe that they run the R35 GT-R's VR38DETT engine

I was watching it. Pretty epic. I need to make my way to an event. 

Motor Trend on Demand has 2017 and 2018 Formula Drift rounds on it

I love drifting but formula d sure is a far cry from what D1GP was back in the early to mid 2000s. When you could have a sub 200 hp ae86 corolla hanging with silvias and rx7s with more than twice the horsepower. Aasbo with the corolla currently and previously a scion tc if i remember correctly? 

Maybe im just nostalgic and cranky but Formula D has been a horsepower war for years. If your car isnt pushing a reliable 700-800+ hp....good luck

Get off my lawn.

Honestly though the events pro or grassroots are great.  Go check em out.  

IT has gotten to be a sport where money has pushed the low level guys out of the way. Back in 03, 04, 05 there where lots of guys that run cheap cars and the 86 could hang with them all day with 150 hp with no problem and bubba drift had about less then 10,000 in their car with their el calamanco. I have been to a couple of big events in 05 and 08 in Chicago and it was a blast to watch.