Gittin Jr. wins Round 2 of Formula DRIFT PRO Championship in Atlanta, Talaska wins PROSPEC

After a riotous start to the 2026 Formula DRIFT season at the opening round of the PRO Championship on the Streets of Long Beach, the teams relocated to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for Round 2. They were joined by the PROSPEC Championship as well as the GridLife event series for a jam-packed weekend that not only saw a raft of rookies join Formula DRIFT but some familiar faces rise to the top.

With both Championships in action, it was a chance to verify if the UDSM (Universal Drift Scoring Method) technology from Race Data Labs would truly speed up proceedings. The telemetry and data system has automated the objective aspects of scoring individual PRO Championship qualifying runs for Line and Angle, helping to reduce the judges’ decision-making process and keep the competition coming.

Interestingly, the PROSPEC drivers voted to retain the Seeding Bracket Qualification format because they appreciated the extra competitive track time afforded to the lower ranked drivers. The test would be whether the organizers could keep everything on schedule with PRO qualifying and the PROSPEC Seeding Bracket happening on the same day. As it turns out, the system operated flawlessly, with the UDSM telemetry able to assist the judges during the Seeding Bracket and Competition to help ensure the correct assessments were made despite the thick smoke that often obscured the cameras.

PRO QUALIFYING

With UDSM scoring the drivers’ Line and Angle and the judges assessing the Style score, it was Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis (Lithuania) in the Feal Suspension / GT Radial / Subimods Subaru BRZ who topped the points table after being awarded 83.43 points on his first run. Switching from his faithful Nissan S15 chassis this season, most people are shocked at how quickly Odi has come to terms with the new car.

Claiming second place was the five-time and reigning FD PRO Champion James Deane (Ireland) in the O'Reilly / Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD. He scored 82.13 points, which put him fractionally ahead of third place Branden Sorensen (USA) on 82.1 points in the Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW.

The winner of Round 1, Conor Shanahan (Ireland) could only qualify in a lowly 24th position with 70.63 points driving the Red Bull / GT Radial / JYR Toyota GT86. However, he fared better than Ben Hobson (USA) in the Pennzoil Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD who failed to score on his first qualifying run and could only muster 58.2 points at his second attempt. And with 33 drivers attempting to qualify for the Top 32 Competition places, Hobson was confined to the benches for the remainder of proceedings.

The leading Rookie was Cole Richards (USA) driving the Richards Racing Toyota GT86 to 13th position. He had similarly out-performed his fellow PRO Championship Rookies in Round 1 and was clearly making a determined bid for the Rookie of the Year award.

It’s worth remembering that the top PRO qualifier receives four Championship points, while second place receives three, third gets two points, and all other drivers receive one. And when the title can be decided by a narrow margin, every point counts.

PRO COMPETITION

Round 1 had thrown up a few surprises, with brothers Conor and Jack Shanahan in first and third respectively, and Rookie Richards in fourth. Perhaps the most predictable result was Fredric Aasbo (Norway) in second, but nobody was expecting reigning Champ Deane to be eliminated in the Top 16.

Returning to Road Atlanta – the only track to remain part of the Formula DRIFT series since its founding in 2004 – most pundits expected a return to the status quo. Nobody predicted a return to 2023!

Although he retired in 2021 (followed by a year off in 2022) the two-time Formula DRIFT PRO Champion, Vaughn Gittin Jr (USA), has competed at Road Atlanta every year since 2023. As the team leader at RTR Motorsports, he’s kept the Monster Energy Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD primed for action but his progress has frequently been halted by his nemesis – and teammate – James Deane. The pair had met three times previously and the Irishman had won every battle. Until now!

To reach the Final, Gittin won a close Top 32 contest against Rookie Nate Chen (USA) driving the NCR Toyota GT86 with JYR. He was then victorious in an intense Top 16 battle against Trenton Beechum (USA) after the driver of the Clonex Racing / Katana Wheels / Kenda Tire BMW de-beaded a tire when he ran into the dirt.

In the Great 8, Gittin faced three-time PRO Champion Chris Forsberg (USA) driving the Destined Industries Nissan Z. Both had competed together before Formula DRIFT was founded, both joined the new series in 2004, both have multiple FD PRO Championships and both are supremely experienced behind the wheel. But a small mistake by Forsberg in Zone 4 saw the two cars touch as the Nissan surged into the Ford, bringing it to a halt. With Forsberg at fault, Gittin met Bakchis in the Final 4 in another epic struggle, which came down to a better chase run from the Mustang man.

One of the common factors in each heat was that Gittin’s competitors couldn’t hold back. The speed of his Mustang RTR meant opponents had to commit to every zone simply to keep pace, which is how mistakes are often made. And so it happened again in the Final against Deane. And while both Champions had identical machinery, it was Deane who made an uncharacteristic mistake, leaving the course at Zone 3 as he pushed too hard to maintain proximity. It was a single mistake but sufficient to award the win to Gittin, who claimed his first victory since Round 2 at Road Atlanta in 2023.

“This result was absolutely unbelievable. After my first lap I realized I didn’t know how to drive our new and improved Mustang RTR! But I stayed committed and focused on improving myself,” said a delighted Gittin after the podium celebrations. “I showed up with a ton of belief tonight and dreamed of battling James [Deane] in the Final since he’d knocked me out of the Top 32 in the last two years!

“It was an unbelievable effort by RTR and Ford Racing. What we have going on together is magical and we’re honored to be part of America’s Race Team and create magic like this. It’s the stuff of dreams and I’m so grateful for the amazing humans we’ve attracted to RTR to make it happen.”

The win marked Gittin’s first victory over Deane in their four competitive meetings. The two are now tied with 31 podiums and 14 wins apiece, although Deane achieved the feat in a shorter time and clearly has no intention of retiring from the series any time soon.

The unexpected Round 2 win catapulted Gittin into fifth in the 2026 FD PRO Championship standings. We’ll have to see whether it was enough to bring him out of retirement for the remainder of the season…

After being eliminated from the Top 16 heats in Round 1, Deane was keen to claw back some lost ground. His 43-point bonanza in Atlanta bumped him from ninth to second in the Championship standings, helping to bring his season back on course.

As the number one qualifier, Bakchis looked like the man to beat and his third place podium moved him to third overall in the title race.

Fourth place went to Branden Sorensen (USA) who lost a very close battle to Deane in the Final 4 heats. The 21 year-old driving the Sorensen Motorsports / Quad Lock BMW qualified third for Atlanta and moved from sixth to fourth overall thanks to his aggressive approach to driving.

The winner of Round 1, Conor Shanahan managed to overcome his poor qualification. He fought back, defeating his brother Jack in the Top 16 – marking the first competitive FD PRO battle between siblings in series history. However, Conor’s luck abandoned him when a clutch issue forced him to withdraw from his Great 8 heat against Bakchis. And while he was unable to proceed, Conor remains at the top of the Championship standings and by a slightly increased 15-point margin, which was largely at the expense of Aasbo: The three-time PRO Champion, who was sitting in second place after Round 1, was knocked out of the Top 32 heats following contact with the Team Hansen Supercharged Nissan S13 of Rudy Hansen (USA) during their initiation into the first turn. As a result, Aasbo and his Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra tumbled from second to ninth overall.

Among the other early exits were LZ, who was similarly eliminated from the Top 32 after he de-beaded a tire on the Drift HQ E36 BMW going off-track during his first run against Trenton Beechum. Similarly, Matt Field (USA) was hit from behind in his Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave Visual / Logitech / Liqui Moly Corvette at the end of his first Top 32 run against Ken Gushi (Japan). Field’s team made repairs within the allotted time but a steering rack mount was deemed unsafe. While Field won the heat and took ten points, he was unable to proceed in the competition and occupies 14th in the standings.

Cole Richards was again the leading Rookie (USA) driving the Richards Racing Toyota GT86. He finished 11th in Atlanta, placing him eighth overall and some 40 points ahead of his closest Rookie rivals.

“This has been an event for the ages!” exclaimed Ryan Sage, president of Formula DRIFT. “It’s always great to see Vaughn return to the championship for select events each season, and he proved once again why he’s a two-time champion. His hard-charging driving style remains intact, putting his fellow competitors under tremendous stress – something even five-time champion James Deane succumbed too! With so many teenagers entering the sport, it’s great to know the old guys can still make it happen during a weekend where we saw our youngest ever competitive tandem run between two teenagers in PROSPEC, as well our first sibling battle in PRO. I also want to acknowledge the determination shown by Cory Talaska to overcome technical issues to battle through to another PROSPEC win at Road Atlanta and put his fellow competitors on notice that he’s the man to beat for the title this year.”

In the 2026 Formula DRIFT Auto Cup, Ford took the lead from Toyota and established a 25-point lead thanks to the RTR drivers. In the FD Tire Cup, GT Radial continue to lead while Nitto jumped to second.

PROSPEC QUALIFYING

After the Formula DRIFT PROSPEC Championship drivers voted to retain the competitive tandem Seeding Bracket Qualifying format, the top 20 places were determined by the 2025 Championship standings. That meant 13 drivers would compete for the remaining 12 places in Top 32 competition. Among them were 11 Rookies who had no previous ranking, including the following:

Ayden Copham (USA)

Braden Lons (USA)

Christian Cotrone (USA)

Dustyn Farrell (USA)

Jason Webb (South Africa)

Kabott Cardoso (USA)

Krzysztof Krutul (Poland)

Levi Wait (USA)

Matt Rusiecki (USA)

Matt Shulman (USA)

Sean Booth (USA)

Tyler Mayer (USA)

As it transpired, the top qualifier was 15 year-old Rrookie Lons driving the MSPEK Performance Nissan S13. He beat the more experienced Sam Maghmoumi (Lebanon) in a hard fought Final.

Third place went to another rookie; Tyler Mayer (USA) in the Popeye Energy / Yellow Speed Racing Nissan S13.

Unfortunately, Christian Cotrone failed to qualify for the opening round in the Howards Cams C6 Corvette but will get another chance in Round 2 at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, CT on June 18-20.

PROSPEC drivers receive three Championship points for every heat win, giving Lons a 12-point advantage going into the Competition Heats.

PROSPEC COMPETITION

Despite the influx of new talent, Round 1 of the 2026 FD Link ECU PROSPEC Championship was won by Cory Talaska (USA) driving the Fuelab / Yellow Speed Racing 2JZ E36 BMW. He repeated his Round 1 win from 2025 and stood on the top step of the podium after a fierce tussle in the Final with Rookie Jason Webb (South Africa) in the NonStopTuning / Webb 45 Racing Ford Mustang.

On his way to the win, Talaska beat Rookie Levi Wait (USA) in the Top 32, Kasey Kohl (USA) in the Top 16, Maghmoumi in the Top 8 and a determined Jerry Jones (USA) in the Final 4 but only after a One More Time battle where the drivers repeated both runs after the judges were unable to separate their performance.

“I’m delighted to have captured back-to-back wins here in Atlanta,” Talaska told us. “We need to fix the car because we broke it in practice but we’re looking forward to the new track for Round 2. It’s new for everyone but we’re going to attack it and get the Championship!”

Although considered a Formula DRIFT Rookie, 32 year-old Webb has been drifting for more than a decade and won four South African national titles in that time. He imported his right-hand drive Mustang from South Africa to Canada, where he lives and drove it to a highly competitive second place finish.

Third place went to Dmitriy Brutskiy in the Never Settle BMW who has been a regular PROSPEC podium visitor for several years, claiming the Championship in 2020 and 2021. For the past two seasons, Dmitriy competed in both PRO and PROSPEC but has chosen to focus solely on the latter this year.

More series history was made in Atlanta when 14 year-old Camren Sorensen (USA) faced off against 15 year-old Rookie Braden Lons (USA) in the Top 16. Both won their Top 32 heats and Sorensen emerged as the victor of the youngest battle in FD history after Lons was somewhat handicapped by a clutch problem. Camren is also the youngest of three Sorensen sibling competing in FD. He would eventually be defeated in the Top 8 heats by Brutskiy.

Sorensen would finish fifth on the night and place ninth in the championship standings. Lons placed 16th but was catapulted to eighth overall thanks to his 12 championship points haul from winning the Seeding Bracket Qualification.

ROUND 2 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS

2026 FD PRO TOP 16 DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS*

2026 AUTO CUP TOP 5 STANDINGS*

2026 TIRE CUP STANDINGS*

ROUND 1 FD PROSPEC TOP 16 DRIVER POINTS

2026 FD PROSPEC TOP 16 DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS*

 * Preliminary standings. Final results pending official confirmation

NEXT ROUND
Round 3 of the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship will take place at Orlando Speed World on May 29-30. Round 2 of the PROSPEC Championship takes place at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, CT on June 18-20 with Round 3 of FD PRO.  the championship standings. Lons placed 16th but was catapulted to eighth overall thanks to his 12 Championship points haul from winning the Seeding Bracket Qualification.