Formula D

Deane wins in Englishtown

  • The weather continued hot and humid for the entire weekend, pushing man and machine to the limit
  • After several seasons where drivers would only win one round per season, Deane is dominating in 2024, securing his third victory in four rounds and extending his advantage from 44 to 74 points over second place
  • Having finished third in rounds 1 and 2, Bakchis must be relieved to reach the second step of the podium. With teammate Simen Olsen (Norway) unable to compete, Bakchis also climbed to second in the Championship chase
  • After getting knocked out of the Top 16 in Round 3, Olsen failed even to start his Top 32 heat in New Jersey after the team diagnosed an engine fault. As a precaution, Team Feal withdrew the car to avoid serious damage. The subsequent points deficit dropped Olsen from second to fourth in the standings
  • Third-place LZ wasn’t scheduled to compete in New Jersey but must be relishing the decision. He was knocked out of the Top 4 in a close OMT battle with Bakchis. The result bumped LZ from 13th to ninth overall
  • In a return to form, Dylan Hughes (USA) finished fourth in the Royal Purple E46 BMW 2JZ. Eliminated from the Top 4 by James Deane, the points haul catapulted Hughes from 14th to tenth overall
  • Round 3 winner Conor Shanahan (Ireland) was knocked out of the Top 16 by Fredric Aasbo (USA). In a titanic battle of Champions, the decision finally went against the driver of the Red Bull / Garagistic E36 BMW after the judges requested One More Time (OMT) twice. Following six intense runs, Aasbo got the nod by the narrowest margin
  • Aasbo reached the Top 8 but was eliminated by Adam LZ after the Norwegian’s third OMT contest of the night. With a Round 2 win, Aasbo arrived in NJ in fourth place but has leapfrogged Olsen into third
  • 14-year-old Hiroya Minowa (Japan) continued to impress in the Enjuku Racing / Cusco / Jerry Yang Racing Toyota GT86. He defeated Joao Barion (Brazil) in the Top 32 but was beaten by Ken Gushi (Japan) in the Top 16. 
  • Gushi noted that he’s known Minowa since he was born and has competed in Formula DRIFT four years longer than Minowa has been alive! Gushi was knocked out of the Top 8 by Bakchis
  • Finishing Round 4 in ninth place, Shanahan was the top Rookie on the night, but Minowa continues to be the leading FD PRO Championship Rookie, sitting seventh in the points table. Shanahan is 13th
  • After Round 4, Toyota continues to lead the 2024 Auto Cup, and Nitto still heads the Tire Cup


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