The 2018 Formula Drift season is three rounds down, and now, we begin to see some of the top drivers separate themselves from the rest of the field in the championship standings.
At Road Atlanta this past weekend, Kristaps Bluss was able to best the rest of the grid by picking up his first FD win in the famed E92 Eurofighter.
When The Drive put out the Road Atlanta FD preview, we talked about Bluss and his highly-tweaked Bimmer being one of the duos that fans have yet to see the best from in the 2018 Formula Drift season; however, his victory at the Braselton, Georgia track changed that. He was able to hold off current championship standings leader Fredric Aasbo in the final battle, moving into the top-five with 174 points.
Bluss’ road to battle Aasbo was not the easiest. He had to do two one-more-times with Forrest Wang, effectively battling him three consecutive times before getting through 2017 Formula Drift champion James Deane and then his teammate Piotr Wiecek. Even the final with Aasbo required an additional run to make the final decision.
Aasbo may have only come in P2 at Road Atlanta, but grabbing the second step on the podium gave him a solid bump, padding his lead with 260 points. Sitting behind Aasbo both at Road Atlanta and in the championship standings was three-time Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg currently with 223 points. Following the trio of Bluss, Aasbo, and Forsberg, Wiecek grabbed the final spot from the top-four battles.
Taking another look at the title chase after this weekend, Wiecek’s placing at Road Atlanta has put him in fourth position for the championship with 191 points—just 17 points ahead of Bluss. Wang, Ryan Tuerck, Justin Pawlak, Daijiro “Dai” Yoshihara, and Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis currently round out the top-10 in the overall standings.
Round four of the 2018 Formula Drift season brings the competition to Wall Speedway in Wall Township, New Jersey on June 1-2.