The 2025 Formula Drift season (officially titled and stylized as the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship) was the twenty-second season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 4 at Long Beach and concluded on October 18, also at Long Beach.
This was the first Formula Drift season in its 22-year history to not feature a final event at Irwindale Speedway after the track's announced permanent closure on October 29, 2024. Entries TeamNo.CarTiresDriverRound(s)Austin Matta Motorsports710Nissan Silvia S14Kenda Austin Matta AllBeechum Racing999BMW M3 E46Kumho Trenton BeechumAllCash Racing16Cadillac XLRKenda Jonathan HurstAllDrift Cave Motorsports777Chevrolet Corvette C6GT Radial Matt FieldAllDrifting Department 17117Ferrari 599 GTB FioranoNitto Federico SceriffoAllFeal Suspension Race Team723Nissan Silvia S15GT Radial Aurimas BakchisAllForsberg Racing64Nissan ZKumho Chris ForsbergAllGaragistic Racing171BMW 1 Series E82Kumho Rome CharpentierAllJeff Jones Racing818Nissan 370ZKumho Jeff JonesAllJerry Yang Racing168Toyota GT86GT Radial Hiroya MinowaAll87Toyota GR86GT Radial Daigo Saito1-4530Toyota GR86GT Radial Wataru Masuyama6-8Jhonnatan Castro Racing17Toyota GR86Kenda Jhonnattan CastroAllKGMS Toyota Gazoo Racing Greddy Performance with Kenda 21Toyota GR86Kenda Ken GushiAllLZMFG5BMW M3 E36GT Radial Adam LZAllMspeK Performance527Nissan Silvia "S14.9"Kenda Daniel StukeAllNever Settle85BMW M3 E46GT Radial Dmitriy BrutskiyAllNoback Racing54BMW M3 E46Kenda Nick NobackAllO'Sully Racing US Army107BMW E46GT Radial Connor O'SullivanAllPapadakis Racing151Toyota GR SupraKenda Fredric AasbøAll411Toyota GR CorollaKenda Ryan TuerckAllRAD Industries34Toyota Supra MK IVGT Radial Dan BurkettAllRTR Vehicles' Drift Team130Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FDNitto James DeaneAll25Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FDNitto Vaughn Gittin, Jr. ?213Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FDNitto Ben HobsonAllRyan Litteral Racing909Nissan Silvia S15Kumho Ryan LitteralAllShanahan Seventy Nine79Toyota GT86GT Radial Conor ShanahanAllSimen Olsen Drifting707Toyota GR SupraKenda Simen OlsenAllSorensen Motorsports513BMW M3 E92Nitto Branden SorensenAllTLO Drift Team233Chevrolet Corvette C7Kumho Tommy LemaireAllTeam DHR129BMW M3 E46GT Radial Dylan HughesAllTeam Drift Wizard98BMW M3 E46Kumho Andy HateleyAllTeam Hansen Drifting119Nissan 240SX S13GT Radial Rudy HansenAllTeam Infamous27Nissan Silvia S14Kenda Derek MadisonAll59 Racing59BMW 1 Series E82Kumho Jack Shanahan AllSource:
Driver Changes
Former Drift Masters runner-up and champion of the Russian Drift Series and British Drift Championship, Jack Shanahan, joined the series driving a BMW 1 Series E82. 2011 Formula Drift champion Daigo Saito returned to the series after 11 years, joining Jerry Yang Racing.
2024 PROSPEC champion Tommy Lemaire moved up to PRO. Connor O'Sullivan, the 2024 PROSPEC runner-up, also advanced to PRO. Austin Matta, who finished third in PROSPEC in 2024, moved up to PRO as well. Luke Fink had planned to compete in the series but was forced to withdraw due to various issues with sponsors and car parts. Mike Power, Forrest Wang, Alec Robbins, Robert Thorne, and Taylor Hull all elected not to compete in 2025 for various reasons. Kyle Mohan also chose to sit out the season, stating that he is focusing on developing the car for a 2026 return Daigo Saito faced visa issues during the season and had to withdraw from the championship. He was replaced by Wataru Masuyama.
Other Changes
Vitour and Nexen left the series.
Schedule Round Title Circuit Location Date Winner Car 1Streets of Long Beach Streets of Long BeachLong Beach, CaliforniaApril 4 Fredric Aasbo Toyota GR Supra 2Road to the Championship Road AtlantaBraselton, GeorgiaMay 8 James Deane Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD 3Scorched Orlando Speed WorldOrlando, FloridaMay 30 Hiroya Minowa Toyota GT86 4The Gauntlet Englishtown Raceway ParkEnglishtown, New JerseyJune 19 Adam LZ BMW E36 5Crossroads World Wide Technology RacewaySt. Louis, MissouriJuly 17 James Deane Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD 6Throwdown Evergreen SpeedwayMonroe, WashingtonAugust 8 Matt Field Chevrolet Corvette C6 7Elevated Utah Motorsports CampusGrantsville, UtahAugust 28 James Deane Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5-FD 8Shoreline Showdown Streets of Long BeachLong Beach, CaliforniaOctober 17 Jack Shanahan BMW 1 Series E82Sources:
Championship Standings
Scoring system The 20 highest classified drivers in the previous event are guaranteed a starting position at the next event and are seeded with the same results, so that the previous event winner is awarded the number 1 seed. This may change if there are 32 or less drivers at the event. In such instance only the top 16 are locked in.
The remaining twelve seeding positions (21st through 32nd) are contested by up to 16 drivers, including those who finished 21st or lower in the previous round. Seeding within this group is determined by a Seeding Bracket, a knockout-style tandem drift competition similar in format to the main event. The winner of the Seeding Bracket is awarded the 21st starting position in the main event. If 32 or less drivers show up at the event, the drivers are contesting for places 17th through 32nd and drivers that finished 17th or lower at the previous event are included. Beginning in 2025, the series introduced a points system for the Seeding Bracket, awarding three points for each battle won. Consequently, the winner receives 12 points, finalists and Top 4 finishers receive nine points, while drivers eliminated in the Top 16 do not receive any points.
As in previous years, drivers in the main event advance through a series of competition heats. However, in 2025, points were awarded based on the number of battles won rather than the stage at which a driver was eliminated. Drivers received 10 points for each battle won, with the winner earning up to 50 points, potentially more if they also competed in the Seeding Bracket. Drivers eliminated in the Top 32 do not receive any points. The competition format didn't change, featuring progression through the Top 32, Top 16, Top 8, Top 4, and the Final. Final classification within each round is then determined by highest seeding position; for example, of the two drivers eliminated in Top 4, the driver who was seeded higher entering the event is awarded 3rd position and the final place on the podium.
In the event of a tie on points, the driver who classified higher in the most recent round will be awarded the higher position.
Seeding Bracket Battles won43210Position1st2nd3rd4th5th–8th9th–16thPoints1296630
Competition Stage Battles won543210Position1st2nd3rd4th5th–8th9th–16th17th–32nd33rd–48thPoints50403030201000
Pro Championship standings PosDriverLBHATLORLENGWWTEVSUTALBH2Pts1 James Deane219312 2202 Fredric Aasbø1252318 1803 Matt Field1084761 1504 Adam LZ3910153 1505 Hiroya Minowa9715106 1306 Jhonnattan Castro144291941207 Aurimas Bakchis5336172291098 Branden Sorensen45617221412929 Dylan Hughes1112121245 9010 Chris Forsberg8117101110 8011 Jack Shanahan 273253221223122617 7612 Ryan Tuerck661719147 7013 Rome Charpentier201681179 7014 Daniel Stuke1512181581816 6215 Conor Shanahan71011181312 6016 Connor O'Sullivan 3022933439205217 Tommy Lemaire 283292561691211 4818 Ken Gushi121313131932 4019 Derek Madison2532361631521246 3820 Simen Olsen17141414202363621 Trenton Beechum1317192115313 3322 Jeff Jones18151820819 3023 Nick Noback2132312562312152824 Rudy Hansen2632462832732562532425 Wataru Masuyama832326 Andy Hateley236283303016211927 Ben Hobson16919202230311928 Dan Burkett2233263246249281829 Dmitriy Brutskiy2463427326326329 1530 Federico Sceriffo333023933292731231 Austin Matta 29211232312730 1232 Daigo Saito312632462831233 Jonathan Hurst1920213228263334 Ryan Litteral322732929335 Vaughn Gittin, Jr.310In-line notationRookie of the YearRookieSuperscript NumberSeeding Bracket points
Auto Cup standings Auto Cup points are awarded each round to the two drivers with the highest classified finish for each manufacturer. To be eligible, both the chassis and engine must have been constructed by that manufacturer. PosManufacturerLBHATLORLENGWWTEVSUTAIRWPts1 BMW201681129 341242522237171 Toyota12223734064591418 3 Nissan8117101110 27232272929 4 Ford219312 239161920223031 5 Chevrolet1084761 195 2925161211 6 Ferrari333023332927 12 7 Cadillac192021322826 3
Tire Cup standings Tire Cup points are awarded each round to the two drivers with the highest classified finish for each tire manufacturer. PosTireLBHATLORLENGWWTEVSUTAIRWPts1 GT Radial331141 393573453 2 Kenda122234 3546458147 3 Nitto216312312459172214 4 Kumho81171029 1781315811710
References