After looking at the Prospec qualifying session on Thursday, it was time for the top guns in Formula Drift to go through the same procedure themselves. A total of 36 drivers lined up for a shot in the Top 32 battles at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, but only 32 of them managed to go through. We look at how things went down during the individual runs, just hours before the start of the tandem battles.
Things are heating up for the 2022 Formula Drift season, with Round 4 of the Pro Series going on in New Jersey this weekend. Fredric Aasbo, Matt Field, and Chris Forsberg are just a few points apart in the overall rankings, but at least four other drivers are trying to make their way up on the scoreboard.
Dylan Hughes has already proven to be a serious contender for the title this year, while veteran drivers Aurimas Backchis, Ryan Tuerck, and Chelsea Denofa also have a good chance at conquering the Gauntlet this weekend.
If you didn't manage to make the trip over for this event, you can always watch the official Live Stream. The Pro drivers went through the qualifying session under the strict supervision of the same people that judged the Prospec results: Chris Uhl, Brian Eggert, and Robbie Nishida.
Robbie is probably one of the first pro drifters to compete in a Nissan GT-R. Back in 2009, the car made its debut at the SEMA Show, and it was running a stroked VQ40 engine out of a Nissan 350Z.
Photo: Matt Field
The Norwegian Hammer was the first driver to go through qualifying, according to FD rules. At this point, the name Fredric Aasbo is almost synonymous with Toyota Supra. There is plenty of online content of him going sideways in both the old model and the new GR Supra as well.
His first run was epic, to say the least. It's no wonder he is one of the most successful drivers in Formula Drift of all time. Some of his awards include Rookie of the Year and Hardest Charging Driver in 2010, Driver of the Year in 2013, and, of course, two Championship Titles in 2015 and 2021.
Right off the bat, he scored a total of 89 points. That's not bad at all, but some of his opponents were even more successful. Matt Field was up next, but he could only get up to 85 points. At the end of the day, he was sitting in P15 overall, while Aasbo was up in P8.
Chelsea Denofa has yet to win a Formula Drift Championship Title, but he is one of the hardest charging drivers on the grid though. He hasn't won any races in 2022, but getting P1 in qualifying in New Jersey might signal a change.
Photo: Ryan Tuerck
Chelsea scored a total of 94 points during his run, which had him tied with Michael Essa and Dylan Hughes. When that happens, the outcome is settled based on points awarded for style, angle, and then line. Michael Essa is the 2013 Formula Drift Champion, and he took P2 overall thanks to an extra two points for drift angle.
The fact that Hughes secured third place just goes to show that he isn't messing around this year, and with any luck, he might become the 11th driver to ever win a Formula Drift Championship Title.
Looking at the post-qualifying results, it feels impressive to see Nick Noback sitting in P4. The 28-year-old driver from Las Vegas managed to score 93 points in his KoruWorks BMW E46, which is even more surprising, seeing that he is 25th in the overall series rankings.
Ryan Tuerck qualified in fifth place, and he's holding on strong to his dream of being crowned a Formula Drift Champion. He has been drifting for 20 years himself and has managed to win six FD events so far.
Photo: Formula Drift/Larry Chen
It's a good thing to see Justin Pawlak back in shape again, as the Falken Tire driver claimed P6 in qualifying, just ahead of Ken Gushi. With Aurimas Backchis in P9 and Daniel Stuke in P10, fans were excited to witness Adam LZ scoring enough points to have him sitting in P11.
No luck for rotary fans this weekend, though, as Kyle Mohan was once again eliminated due to technical issues. Looking at the Top 32 brackets, we're in for one hell of a race today. Of course, you'll be able to watch it live starting at 15 minutes past 4 PM.
If you can indulge us in making some predictions, here they go. Chelsea Denofa is likely to win against Alec Robbins and then advance to the Top 8, where he will probably have to compete against Fredric Aasbo. That's a tough call right there.
On the bottom side of the left bracket, Nick Noback could drift his way through to the Top 8. At that point, chances are that Ryan Tuerck is going to stop him in his tracks. Moving over to the right side of the Top 32, Michael Essa and Matt Field are probably going to duke it out in the Top 16.
We feel that whoever wins that fight will have to face Ken Gushi in the Top 8. Chris Forsberg and Dylan Hughes might come face to face once again, but it's hard to think that the student can outperform the master for the second time in a row. If Aasbo, Tuerck, Field, and Forsberg make their way to the Top 4, who do you think is going to win Round 4?
The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S. Full profile
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