Fiery start leads to rain-sodden finish in season opener.
Three-time Formula Drift Champion James Deane took top honors at Formula Drift Long Beach 2024 over the weekend, overcoming calamity and crisis in a rollercoaster of a season opener.
Deane's week began with a terrifying fire during a Tuesday demo run that left the AutoZone Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD in a smoldering wreck, sending the RTR Motorsports team scrambling to repair the damaged pony car in time for competition. Luckily, no one was injured in the blaze.
Incredibly, Deane was back on track in time for the Top 32, but still faced several challenges on the path to victory, including six runs against Jonathan Hurst in the new MRCOOL Cadillac XLR, as well as a One More Time (OMT) against three-time Champion Fredric Aasbo in the Rockstar Energy / Toyota Racing GR Supra.
The forecast threatened stormy conditions throughout the weekend, with a light drizzle and greasy surface during the Top 16 leading to a torrent of rain and standing water for a sodden Final between Deane and Norwegian Simen Olsen. Olsen, taking the wheel of the Feal Suspension Nissan S14.9, brought years of winter ice drifting experience to the battle, but Deane managed to fight back to claim first place by unanimous decision. Aurimas Bakchis clinched third place in the Feal Suspension / GT Radial Nissan S15.
Emotions were running high under the cloudy Southern California skies following Deane's victory.
"I have no words," Deane said. "Only probably my very close friends, my family, and Becky, know how much this means to me. I can't believe it. Thank you to the team, my fans, my family, my partner, everyone, Vaughn [Gitten Jr.], the whole team that supported me, brought me back to FD."
The 2024 Formula Drift season brings with it several big rule changes, including a new Seeding Bracket and deletion of the solo qualifying runs. Drivers new to the Formula Drift Pro Championship and drivers who finished outside the Top 24 in the final round of the preceding season are required to compete in the 16-vehicle Seeding Bracket to secure a spot in the Top 32 competition. Meanwhile, the first 24 positions are determined by the results of the preceding round.
In Long Beach, 14-year-old Japanese driver Hiroya Minowa took the top seed position from behind the wheel of the Enjuku Racing / Cusco / Jerry Yang Racing Toyota GT86. Despite his young age, Minowa's talent is undeniable, with a rapidly expanding list of victories that includes top finishes at local Japanese events and an MSC Challenge series win. Minowa managed to take down Dylan Hughes and teammate Kazuya Taguchi on Saturday before falling to Fredric Aasbo in the Top 8.
Taking the second-place seed was Adam LZ in the LZMFG E36 BMW, while the third-place seed went to Conor Shanahan in the Red Bull / Garagistic E36 BMW.
Formula Drift now heads to Road Atlanta for Round 2 in Georgia, scheduled to run May 9 through May 11.