Formula DRIFT Irwindale outcome was decided before the event even began, so let me explain…
If you read my most recent story about FD Utah, “One Mistake Away From History”, you would’ve read that if James Deane would’ve beaten Odi Bakchis in the Top 4, then he would be the first driver in Formula DRIFT history to win the championship title before the last event of the season. Unfortunately, James Deane lost that battle against Odi Bakchis, meaning it still came down to the last event in Irwindale, Calif. Well…sort of.
Going into this event, James Deane was still so far ahead in the lead, even after losing to Odi Bakchis in the last event, literally all he had to do was pull up to the starting line, and he would earn enough points to statistically surpass the possibility of Odi Bakchis stealing the championship title. In the Formula DRIFT rulebook, you earn a certain amount of points for simply just pulling up to the start line, and since James Deane simply did that, he gained a lead above Odi Bakchis that was impossible for Odi to pass, even if he would’ve gone on to win the event.
Therefore, James Deane was announced the 2024 Formula DRIFT Champion before his first battle even started. This year alone displayed how dominant James Deane is in the sport of drifting by becoming the first driver in Formula DRIFT history to earn four championship titles, the past three-time champions are Chris Forsberg, Fredric Aasbo, and previously James Deane.
Fredric Aasbo earned second place in the event and third place in the championship, and after the event he was asked about James Deane from Cerise Taylor and said “He is arguably the best… but not just arguably, he is the freaking best.” James Deane has competed in other drifting competitions outside of Formula DRIFT and he has crushed all of them, so many of them in fact that he has won 17 drifting championships outside of Formula DRIFT! Jacob Gettins also talked with James Deane about this year before it started a couple months back, and asked why he’s decided to come back this year with the same RTR Ford Mustang as last year that he struggled in. Last year in 2023, he placed fifth, which was the only season in Formula DRIFT that he competed in that he didn’t win. His answer to Jacob Gettins question was that he wanted a challenge and wanted to learn how to drive a new style of car. In James Deane’s past years, he’s almost always found driving a Nissan Silvia, but he decided to stick with his RTR Ford Mustang this year so that he could expand his skills even further, and I think it’s safe to say he’s done more than that.
James Deane is the best drifter alive right now. Period.
Other than James Deane and his historic victory, there were some pretty crazy moments. Including Ryan Tureck pinching Odi Bakchis into the wall in Outside Zone 3 and Robert Thorne leading Chris Forsberg into the wall in Outside Zone 2.
Firstly, the moment Ryan Tureck hit Odi Bakchis was a moment that everyone was jaw dropped. At 1:52:27 in the Top 16 Formula DRIFT Livestream, we can see that as they were leaving Inside Clip 2 into Outside Zone 3, Ryan Tureck hit Odi Bakchis’s front wheel, causing the car to straighten out right into the wall. Because of this crash, and Ryan Tureck being at fault, he had to use his 5 minute timeout to fix his car, and Odi Bakchis was given 10 minutes to fix his car. Neither of them could fix their car in time so sadly both of them had to hang up their helmets for the year.
Lastly, Robert Thorne had a major mistake going into Outside Zone 2. He hit the wall at the beginning of Outside Zone 2, which caused Chris Forsberg to hit the wall hard behind him. As the chaser, it’s your job to follow the lead driver, no matter where they go. Because of this, the judges decided that Robert Thorne was at fault for this.
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