The pademic certainly threw a spanner into the works of the 2020 Formula Drift Championship as a veil of uncertainty covered the sport. With little information to go on, the Formula Drift company had a difficult choice to make, as founder Ryan Sage explains:
“On the one hand, it was, cancel the season, bankrupt the teams. And on the other hand was, do a season, go down the wrong path, take the wrong turn, bankrupt the company.
“So what do we do? We send it!”
Formula Drift launched an eight-round season by doubling up the events at St. Louis, Monroe, Dallas, and Irwindale. Now, with the season finished and tensions relieved, we can look back at the season and wipe the sweat off our brow at the 2020 Annual Awards banquet. While this is usually behind closed doors, this year it was livestreamed by Formula Drift to all the usual social sites.
Watch the full video below:
2020 Formula Drift Pro Awards
Championship Results
1. Vaughn Gittin Jr β RTR Motorsports
2. Chelsea DeNofa β RTR Motorsports
3. Ryan Tuerck – Toyota Racing
Car Manufacturer’s Cup
Ford takes the cup thanks to the success of Vaughn Gittin Jr (1st) and Chelsea DeFona (2nd)
Tire Manufacturer’s Cup
Nitto Tires wins the cup with its tires being found on each of the top three cars.
Fan Favourite Driver
Adam LZ unsurprisingly gets the fan favourite.
Fan Favourite Car
Again, Adam LZ gets the fan favourite car with his Nissan Silvia S15 sporting a yellow to red wrap with blue and yellow accenting.
Rookie of the year
Adam LZ receives this award thanks to his performance, which resulted in 288 points throughout the season. He finished the season in 12th.
Most Improved Driver
Taylor Hull takes this award after a comparison was made between the 2019 and 2020 season results. Ranking 24th in 2019, he made a huge jump to 10th this year.
Best Drifting Style
Chris Forsberg wins this award after a vote by all Formula Drift teams.
Hardest Charger
Chelsea DeNoda wins hardest charger after a vote by all Formula Drift teams.
Spririt Of Drifting
Jef Jones and Rome Charpentier both take this award for best representing Formula Drift during the 2020 year.
Spotter Of The Year
Stephan Papadakis from Papadakis Racing takes the award after a vote by all Formula Drift teams.
Crew Member Of The year
Jason Dixon from RTR Motorsports takes this award after a vote by all Formula Drift teams.
Crew Chief Of The Year
James Caldwell of Chris Forsberg Racing takes this award after a vote by all Formula Drift teams.
Team Manager Of The Year
Stephan Papadakis from Papadakis RacingΒ takes this award after a vote by all Formula Drift teams.
2020 Formula Drift Pro 2 Awards
Top 8 Drivers Now Eligable For FD Pro Licences in 2021
1. Dmitriy Brutskiy – !st Place
2. Jonathan Hurst
3. Joshua Love (Rookie)
4. Blake Olsen
5. Austin Matta (Rookie)
6. Mike Power (Rookie)
7. Nick Noback (Rookie)
8. Chase Schmidt (Rookie)
Fan Favourite Driver
Micah Diaz takes the award after a public vote.
Fan Favourite Car
Micah Diaz takes this award again for his Hold Fast / Proper Fabwords BMW E46 in white.
Rookie Of The Year
Joshua Love takes this award after finishing third.
Most Improved Of The Year
Dmitriy Brutskiy takes this award after a comparison was made between his 2019 and 2020 seasons. He came 27th last Season and won the championship in 2020.
Dmitriy Brutskiy improved from 27th in 2019 to being PRO2 Champion in 2020
Information taken from: Formula Drift Official Website
