Over the course of the 2017 Formula Drift season, we saw over 200 different tandem battles among the drivers, not including “one more time” battles. With the average Top 16 tandem ladder taking over two hours in real time to complete, it’s not surprising that many casual observers may feel that they don’t have the attention span or interest in watching every single battle. While the final results tell one story about the 2017 season, James Deane dominated the competition, we thought it might be fun to relive the season and pick out five tandem battles that you really should have watched. If you are a dedicated drift fan, we hope you enjoy this retrospective. If you’re a casual fan who didn’t want to or have time to watch every battle, we hope you are interested in watching more. Thankfully, Formula Drift has the entire season logged on the Network A Youtube channel, so you can go back and watch all the tandem battles while fast forwarding through any downtime.
5. James Deane vs. Jhonnattan Castro – Top 16 @ Orlando Speedworld
Coming off of his win at Long Beach, James Deane had a target squarely on his back. With many feeling that Deane would struggle at Long Beach, his dominance in tandem had fans wondering what it would take to eliminate the Irish driver. While Jhonnattan Castro is not the name you typically think of to knock out a championship threat like Deane, this tandem was proof that no driver can ever take any tandem battle lightly. Castro drove his Toyota GT86 like we’ve never seen before and squarely eliminated Deane in this Top 16 battle. This win was squarely a testament to how hard Castro drove, and there isn’t a driver on grid who wanted to face Castro in the Top 8. We wouldn’t know it at the moment, but this would be the earliest Deane would be eliminated all season, and may have motivated Deane even more. The Top 8 finish was the best of the season for Castro, and this win was easily the defining moment in Castro’s 2017 season.
4. Nate Hamilton vs. Michael Essa – Top 32 @ Autodrome St. Eustache
On paper, this tandem battle looked innocent and routine for both drivers. After the first run, a few small mistakes from each driver made it hard to determine who had the advantage. However, Michael Essa made the second run of this battle quite memorable. After rubbing his bumper against the St. Eustache wall multiple times in the first sweeper, Essa’s right rear tire debeads and removes itself from the rim as the car transitioned in front of the crowd. In most cases, this would render the car inoperable or cause the driver to spinout, but somehow, Essa kept his foot on the gas and powered through as if the tire was still there. As the crowd realizes what’s happening, they erupt in cheers. Even more impressive, is that Essa not only maintains control and finishes the final two turns in drift, he even has a decent amount of tire smoke around the second half of the course. Essa’s lead run was a bit slower than the judges would like to see, but given that his forward traction was effectively halved by losing the tire, it was completely understandable. Nate Hamilton would win the battle, but would lose out in his Top 16 tandem against eventual winner Fredric Aasbo. Essa went on to finish the season in 7th place overall, with the Top 32 exit due to tire dismounting being his earliest exit of the season.
3. James Deane vs. Fredric Aasbo – Final 4 @ Texas Motor Speedway
This battle was effectively for the 2017 championship. Deane lead by more than 50 championship points entering the event, and a top qualifying effort would extend his lead prior to tandem battles. These drivers have faced each other numerous times in Europe, and had battled twice previously in the season, with each driver winning one of the two battles. Facing off in the Top 4, the loser of this tandem would earn 64 championship points while the winner would earn either 80 or 100 points, depending on the final battle. Thus, a win in this battle would guarantee a 32-point to 52-point swing depending on if the winner won the event or finished second.
As the battle kicked off, Deane lead first and both drivers had smooth runs with no major mistakes. In the second run of the battle, Deane showed his superior chase skills which had earned him the championship points lead up to this point. Aasbo didn’t make a mistake in either run from this battle, but Deane showed clear car control and domination in chase. One judge wanted to see the battle go “one more time”, but the other two judges had seen enough to declare Deane the winner. Had this battle gone the opposite way, the drivers would have gone into Irwindale with no more than a 44 point difference between them, which would have made a much more exciting championship chase. As it stood, Deane entered Irwindale with a 96-point lead after winning the Texas event outright and simply had to qualify to earn the championship.
2. Chelsea Denofa vs. Vaughn Gittin Jr. – Top 16 @ Evergreen Speedway
Many fans were waiting all season to see this first showdown between Ford Mustang RTR teammates, which finally happened in Seattle. With both drivers on Nitto Tires in nearly identically-prepped Ford Mustangs, it was known beforehand that there would be no team orders between these drivers. Gittin Jr. out-qualified Denofa, but the tandem battles are known to separate the ‘men from the boys’, so to speak.
As both drivers initiated into the first corner, it was clear that Denofa had no fear in facing his team boss. Denofa initiated just a inches way from Gittin Jr. and stuck to his door around the entire 5/8” mile banking at Evergreen Speedway. Gittin Jr. stayed full throttle coming into the area of the course dubbed as the “Power Alley”, and Denofa’s anticipation of Gittin’s transition allowed him to close the gap down even tighter to his teammate. Gittin Jr. really didn’t make any mistakes on the run, but similar to the Aasbo vs. Deane run we recapped from Texas, the chase run from Denofa was really the story here. Gittin Jr. wouldn’t back down in his chase run and would lay down an equally as impressive chase run while following Denofa, but all three judges gave their votes to Denofa. Of all the tandems in this Top 16 round, this one was probably the battle that most deserved a “one more time” but didn’t get it. None-the-less, team boss Gittin Jr. was happy to see Denofa move on, even if it meant he had to watch from the grandstands. Denofa would eliminate himself in the Top 8 against Odi Bakchis when he made contact with Bakchis, but this round was definitely a turning point in Denofa’s season.
1. Kristaps Bluss vs. Dean Kearney – Final 4 “One More Time” @ Road Atlanta
Watch this in action, here, on Formula Drift's livestream coverage.
After a pair of runs where both drivers made some small mistakes, this battle went to a “one more time” round under the lights of Road Atlanta. While we didn’t see a full moon in the sky, what would happen next surely felt odd. The first run of the “one more time” battle would be cut short when Kearney collided with Bluss shortly after initiation. Looking at the replay, there are brief brake lights from Bluss, but in an area that is deemed to be a ‘slow down’ zone so fault is handed to Kearney. Bluss would inspect his car and continue, while Kearney would use his competition timeout to inspect his car before returning for the second battle. In the second battle, Bluss closes the gap too quickly in chase and makes contact with Kearney midway through the keyhole section. Kearney powers through and finishes the run in drift, while Bluss has to be towed off course due to a broken tie-rod. This pair of runs alone isn’t as impressive as what would happen after.
The judges deem fault in the second run to lie on the shoulders of Bluss, and the judges vote for a second “One more time” battle. Bluss must then use his competition timeout to repair his vehicle. Multiple drivers and crew members from other teams contribute to help Bluss get back on track. All repairs appear to be finished with around ten seconds left on the clock, but the Formula Drift officials indicate that Bluss’s car must be on the ground to count as completed. Bluss decides to get the car off the jackstands on his own and accelerates, launching his car back to the pavement in the hotpits. Unfortunately, the car was deemed to be unsafe due to loose lugnuts, and was not allowed to run, but this was one of the most courageous and helpless efforts to get the car back on track that we saw all season. Fans from around the world were hoping to see Bluss get back on track to compete against Kearney, but the repairs were just a few seconds short of being completed safely. This battle was one that was most exciting because of the drama that occurred off track. It’s one of the scenarios that can be lost in event recaps, and is worth a watch for a second time.
Kearney would lose in the final battle to Deane, while Bluss would still earn the final podium position by virtue of his qualifying results. Bluss finished the season in the Top 5 of the final championship table, while Kearney finished just outside the Top 10 in 11th position.