The Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 5: Crossroads, and Link ECU PROSPEC Championship Round 3 festivities have ended. A number of improvements were added to World Wide Technology Raceway near St Louis this year. To help the drivers achieve fluid runs through the course, track officials had significantly widened the paved surface in Outside Zone 3 (OZ3) and repositioned OZ4. They also added raised curbs in OZ4 to help the drivers find the edge of the course and avoid putting their rear tires in the dirt. The results from the event were as follows.
Results from FD PRO Round 5
1. Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis (Lithuania) – Feal Suspension / GT Radial Nissan S15
2. Fredric Aasbo (Norway) – Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra
3. Simen Olsen (Norway) – Feal Suspension Nissan S14.9
Results from FD PROSPEC Round 3
1. Ben Hobson (USA) – Ben Hobson (USA) – Pedal Commander / Feal Suspension / Koruworks / Motegi Racing Nissan S14
2. Andy Hateley (USA) – Hateley Motorsports Habanero E46 BMW
3. Geoff Donati (USA) – Freedom Builders / Tuner Tools-powered E46 BMW
The PRO competition was littered with a number of on track collisions, driver protests, and a change in the championship leader. Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis won the round. It was his first win since 2021. Bakchis moved up in the standings to third place.
Odi Bakchis stated the following after securing the win this weekend, “What a crazy event! Winning was no easy feat but it feels very special because it represents the tenth win in my Formula DRIFT PRO career. Simen and I put my team through a lot today but we both got on the podium. And to do that against a field of crazy drivers means you have to beat on the cars super-hard, and we did that.”
Bakchis continued
“We laid it all on the line and the cars got beaten up. They constantly needed attention from the crew but they kept them together for us and we kept on going. We definitely owe it to them and I’m thrilled with Feal Race Team – we took first place in PROSPEC as well as first and third in PRO, so we’re carrying a lot of momentum going into the PRO Round in Seattle. Simen and I have to keep charging hard but the cars and team are working well, so we’re confident for the next Round.”
Final points standings are available below.
Round 5 FD PRO TOP 16 Driver Points
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Aurimas Bakchis | 100 |
| 2 | Fredric Aasbo | 88 |
| 3 | Simen Olsen | 76 |
| 4 | Chris Forsberg | 64 |
| 5 | Jhonnattan Castro | 48 |
| 6 | Jonathan Hurst | 48 |
| 7 | Chelsea DeNofa | 48 |
| 8 | Kazuya Taguchi | 35 |
| 9 | Nick Noback | 34 |
| 10 | Dean Kearney | 33 |
| 11 | Ryan Tuerck | 32 |
| 12 | Dylan Hughes | 32 |
| 13 | Kenshiro Gushi | 32 |
| 14 | Matt Field | 32 |
| 15 | Ryan Litteral | 32 |
| 16 | Robert Thorne | 32 |
2023 FD PRO TOP 16 Driver Championship Standings
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Fredric Aasbo | 303 |
| 2 | Matt Field | 288 |
| 3 | Aurimas Bakchis | 273 |
| 4 | Chelsea DeNofa | 263 |
| 5 | Simen Olsen | 260 |
| 6 | Chris Forsberg | 232 |
| 7 | James Deane | 226 |
| 8 | Ryan Tuerck | 200 |
| 9 | Dylan Hughes | 193 |
| 10 | Jonathan Hurst | 192 |
| 11 | Rome Charpentier | 184 |
| 12 | Kazuya Taguchi | 176 |
| 13 | Adam LZ | 148 |
| 14 | Jhonnattan Castro | 144 |
| 15 | Kenshiro Gushi | 128 |
| 16 | Travis Reeder | 128 |
PROSPEC Results
In PROSPEC Ben Hobson claimed the win and the championship lead from Rudy Hansen. Hansen was eliminated early in the knockout stage. Hobson beat second place championship point sitter Andy Hateley in the final. He now has a commanding lead of 65 points over second place sitter Andy Hateley. Hobson stated after the race, “It’s been a long time coming but we finally achieved a perfect event and I’m super-stoked about it. My team and family are going crazy and I want to thank my sponsors as well. We’re going gung-ho into the next round where we have a chance of taking the Championship. And I’m not lifting, so we’re running into Round 4 at full tilt like we have all season!”
Full event results and standings for the PROSPEC class are available below.
Round 3 FD PROSPEC TOP 16 Driver Points
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Ben Hobson | 103 |
| 2 | Andy Hateley | 88 |
| 3 | Geoff Donati | 76 |
| 4 | Connor O´Sullivan | 64 |
| 5 | Joshua Love | 48 |
| 6 | Austin Matta | 48 |
| 7 | Blake Olsen | 45 |
| 8 | Dustin Miles | 48 |
| 9 | Amanda Sorensen | 34 |
| 10 | Derek Madison | 33 |
| 11 | Jack Davis | 32 |
| 12 | Trevor Root | 32 |
| 13 | Cody Buchanan | 32 |
| 14 | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 32 |
| 15 | Kelsey Rowlings | 32 |
| 16 | Nate Chen | 32 |
FD PROSPEC TOP 16 Championship Standings
| POSITION | DRIVER | POINTS |
| 1 | Ben Hobson | 245 |
| 2 | Andy Hateley | 180 |
| 3 | Rudy Hansen | 164 |
| 4 | Dmitriy Brutskiy | 137 |
| 5 | Nate Chen | 130 |
| 6 | Connor O´Sullivan | 128 |
| 7 | Jack Davis | 128 |
| 8 | Alex Jagger | 124 |
| 9 | Cole Richards | 116 |
| 10 | Austin Matta | 112 |
| 11 | Cody Buchanan | 112 |
| 12 | Faruk Kugay | 112 |
| 13 | Geoff Donati | 108 |
| 14 | Blake Olsen | 103 |
| 15 | Jayden Martorana | 99 |
| 16 | Derek Madison | 97 |
Next Formula DRIFT Round
Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA will host the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship Round 6 on August 11-12. Please visit formulad.com for the competition schedule, ticket information, driver profiles, special content, and the event livestream