Formula Drift Utah Day 1 Results Are In, Prospec Champion To Be Crowned Soon

Over a month has passed since the last time we had the chance to witness a Formula Drift event live. Only the Pro drivers got to race in Monroe, Washington, and Chelsea Denofa scored his first victory of the season.

Seeing his yellow Mustang RTR getting close to the podium is a common sight these days, and there's even a Hot Wheels scale replica of the car coming out soon. The previous round of the Prospec championship was held in Saint Louis, and it was Evan Bogovich that climbed to the highest spot on the podium.

Going into the final round of Prospec, there are still quite a few drivers that can clinch the 2022 title. The gap between the series leader, Robert Thorne, and Blake Olsen, who is in P14 overall, is less than 100 points.

So, with slightly more than 100 points still up for grabs, it's hard to predict who the 2022 champion is going to be. But it's not long now until we're going to find out. The new venue in Grantsville, Utah, looks quite impressive, even from day one.

It's not just the sheer speed of the cars going through the corners but also the spectacular background provided by the mountains around Salt Lake City. If you didn't manage to drive over to the track yesterday, you can still have a look at the action via Formula Drift's YouTube channel.

Naturally, the live stream option will be available for the battles as well. Seeing that the series leader is a rookie, it comes as no surprise that the top qualifier in Utah is also in the same position.

Kasey Kohl has been drifting for more than a decade now, and this result brings him three points closer to his first FD Prospec title. Andy Hateley seems to be back in shape as he hasn't been on the podium since Round 1 in Orlando. He took P2 in qualifying, with Alex Jagger claiming P3.

Looking at the Top32 bracket, you'll also notice Amanda Sorensen in P7 with a better score than series veteran Dmitriy Brutskiy. Speaking of the brackets, the first battle is on at 11.45 MDT! But the most spectacular part of the day starts at 4 PM, which means we'll know the outcome of the race in less than 12 hours from now.

But before diving into that, let's see how qualifying went for the Pro drivers. We are talking about some of the most skilled drifters in North America and the world, and that's instantly obvious by looking at the results.

A total of 15 drivers scored 90 points or more yesterday, and the top three ones were tied at 94. The reigning Formula Drift Champion, Fredric Aasbo, has his eyes on the prize once again this season. We've seen Dylan Hughes on the podium before this year, so it's no wonder that he was second overall yesterday.

But it did feel slightly surprising seeing Jhonnattan Castro in third, as he has had a bit of a rough season so far. Hailing from the Dominican Republic, you could say that he is a Formula Drift veteran, even though he hasn't won any titles so far.

Matt Field only qualified P23 in his Drift Cave Corvette, but he's still leading the championship nonetheless. A total of four drivers were knocked out of the race early on after yesterday's session, including Adam LZ, Yves Meyer, Joao Barion, and Dan Burkett.

Now, if you'll allow us to make some predictions for tomorrow's Pro battles: we'll probably see Fredric Aasbo going head-to-head with Kazuya Taguchi in the Top 16. Chris Forsberg is likely to encounter Aurimas Backchis at the same stage of the competition.

If Chelsea Denofa can win against Michael Essa, he'll probably compete against Forsberg in the Top 8. On the right side of the bracket, we wouldn't be surprised if Matt Field will be fighting either Dylan Hughes or Travis Reeder in the Top 8. But at this stage, it's quite difficult to foresee what's going to happen beyond that point. Stick around for the live action!