Formula DRIFT
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| Category | Drifting |
|---|---|
| Country |
 USA
|
| Inaugural season | 2004 |
| Drivers' champion |
Chris Forsberg (2016) |
| Official website | formulad.com |
 Current season
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Formula DRIFT or Formula D is the premier United States drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to the now defunct Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the United States. The new entity would solely own, operate and launch the first official drifting series in North America. 2014 will be Formula Drift's eleventh year of competition.
With more than 60+ currently licensed drivers competing [1], Formula Drift is recognized as the premier North American professional drifting championship series. The series consists of a seven-round championship played out at race tracks across the United States. Judged on execution and style, rather than who finishes the course in the fastest time, Formula Drift brings together traditional racing and extreme sports.
Formula Drift works closely with a huge variety of endemic and non-endemic business partners from energy drinks to the military. Most notably Formula Drift works with the largest amount of tire suppliers to a single series. Achilles, Falken, Hankook, Maxxis, Kenda, Nitto, GT Radial, and Yokohama all work together to supply teams and develop test their products.
Formula Drift is home to 60+ professional drift drivers. The competition for Formula Drift licenses is intense. Drivers in the U.S. can compete in a number of regionally sanctioned Pro-Am series for licensing.
Winners and high finishers of these feeders series are then able to enter the Formula DRIFT Pro 2 series, a secondary national tour where they compete to move up to the main series.
Drivers from around the world have set their sights on Formula Drift as the series of choice worldwide in which to compete. This also includes the legions of talented drivers from Japan, who have competed previously in the D1 Grand Prix. Other drivers who crossed over to Formula Drift from foreign series are the Irish drivers Darren McNamara, James Deane, Eric O'Sullivan, and Dean Kearney. These drivers rose to acclaim in their European home series before making the move stateside.
Formula Drift has increased its international presence every year since 2008 with the addition of demonstration and sister series in other countries. "Taking the Formula Drift brand internationally is a huge milestone. Our priority is to continue to build the Series here while growing the sport of drifting as a whole," said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula Drift. "We are very careful in choosing our event partners and take careful consideration of the boundaries of our international affiliates such as Drift Australia, MSC, and Pro Drift."
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Wikipedia