December 2020 • Photos Nestor Cabrera & Marc Gewertz
Presented by MicksPaint.com USAutomotive.co.uk

We’re huge fans of drifting here at Torq Talk, so when the finals were being held in our backyard it was an event we couldn’t miss. Drifting is like watching the final lap of the best race ever with both cars fighting for the lead, sliding all the way to the finish. Unlike conventional motorsports, a panel of judges who base the outcome on certain criteria decides the winner, but you already knew that, right?

We’ve been attending drift events ever since the first D1 GP at Irwindale Speedway in 2003, and one thing that has always impressed us has been the fans. I believe the fans made US drifting evolve to the level it is today. It was therefore a strange feeling driving into Irwindale and not seeing a single fan.

The lack of fans wasn’t due to the organizers, the County of LA just would not allow them, but Irwindale is sacred ground known as ‘The House of Drift’ and although the organizers wanted fans, they knew there was no other venue to crown the series Champion than The House of Drift. Despite the lack of fans, the action was intense and believe me there were some great battles, we just felt like that sixth man, I guess in drifting it’s the third man.

FD has done a great job of providing their fans with a free, live-stream broadcast that brings all the action to fans’ personal devices. Unlike many other major motorsports events that depend on an expensive TV network to broadcast their events, FD fans need only type in www.formulad.com/live to see the action, and if they miss the live broadcast, no worries because it’s all online. Other major motorsports series should take note as FD is doing it right in a time of uncertainty in providing fans with something to make the hardships of daily life a little less stressful while providing sponsors some much needed ROI. Believe me FD want fans and they are making plans for their return in 2021.

As for the results, spoiler alert if you’ve not yet seen the finals—here’s how they went down….

Vaughn Gittin Jr (USA) in the Monster Energy/Nitto Tire/Ford Performance Mustang RTR Spec 5-D (1st) spun out during his Top 4 chase against Aasbø, and then hit the wall in his third-place run-off against teammate DeNofa, finishing fourth overall but retaining the Championship points lead. Going into R8, the top five drivers were only 100 points off leader Gittin Jr. and mathematically had a shot at winning the Championship.

After winning R7, Aasbø blew his engine during a celebratory burn out and his team had to replace it not once but twice as the backup suffered from rod knock during warm up. Aasbø stood 60 points behind Gittin Jr.  His teammate Tuerck, who also suffered engine problems in R7, was 30 points behind the leader and could clinch the Championship if either Aasbø or Gittin Jr. went out early, but it was Gittin’s Championship to lose, saying,

“We hit the wall and fixed the car twice but were still able to run the car hard all the way from the Top 32 to the win. It wasn’t easy, which makes this even sweeter. I really want to thank my partners and amazing crew – I can’t do it without any of them. We’re off to celebrate and I look forward to building on this for 2021.”

Unfortunately, Aasbø would be eliminated early after tapping the wall in his first match and teammate Tuerck would not fair any better when he made a slight error in his chase run and collided with his opponent. With both Aasbø and Tuerck eliminated and Gitten Jr. in the round of 16 no one would have a chance of surpassing him for the 2020 Championship. Gittin’s teammate DeNofa would go on to take second in R8 losing to Bakchis but also securing the overall 2nd place in the Championship. Bakchis told us after the podium ceremony:

“The entire season has been a rollercoaster, especially these final rounds where we had some very close calls in practice with drivers spinning in front of us,” 

For the final word on this exciting season we went to Formula DRIFT President Jim Liaw who said, “Some people had suggested this would be an asterix year, but with four double-header PRO events crammed into 13 weeks, the Championship Vaughn won was perhaps harder to achieve than any other year. He thoroughly deserves the title and his efforts shouldn’t be diminished. Despite an uncertain start, we can all celebrate what we achieved and the combined accomplishments in the face of the most challenging time the world has faced. And we aren’t ready to sit back just yet because we have the 2021 season to plan.”

Pro R7 Results
Winner: Fredric Aasbø (Norway) – Rockstar Energy Drink Nitto Tire GR Supra
Second: Michael Essa (USA) – FCP Euro/LiquiMoly /Achilles Tires BMW M3 
Third: Chelsea DeNofa (USA) – BC Racing/Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR

Pro R8 Results
Winner: Aurimas ‘Odi’ Bakchis (Lithuania) – Falken Tire/Feal Suspension Nissan S15  
Second: Chelsea DeNofa (USA) – BC Racing/Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR
Third: Justin Pawlak (USA) – Roush Performance/Falken Tire Ford Mustang

2020 FD Pro Championship Results
Winner: Vaughn Gittin Jr (USA) – Monster Energy/Nitto Tire/Ford Performance Mustang RTR Spec 5-D 
Second: Chelsea DeNofa (USA) – BC Racing/Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR
Third: Ryan Tuerck (USA) – Gumout/Nitto Tire/Mobil 1 Toyota Corolla 
Top Rookie: Adam LZ (USA) – Enjuku Racing Nissan S15
Auto Cup: Ford
Tire Cup: Nitto

If you missed the FD finals, watch the action here https://www.youtube.com/user/driftstream2010.