2016 Formula Drift Orlando Speedworld Pro 2 Recap

Formula Drift created the Pro 2 class in the off-season prior to 2015, and as a result, the class has been a mixed bag of quality. Many viewed the first Pro 2 round of the season in Atlanta as being a bit lackluster, although the attrition due to mechanical failure was in line with what we tend to see at the first round of the Pro class as well. This year’s Pro 2 championship started earlier than any previous Pro 2 schedule, which may have played into the lack of preparedness. Orlando was a much better round overall, with much higher qualifying scores and substantially better tandem action.

Thursday’s qualifying session narrowed the field of 22 down to 16 for the tandem bracket. Canadian Marc Landreville would earn the top qualifier position for the second consecutive event, scoring a 91-point run that would have put him well into the field had he driven in top Pro class. Florida native Kevin Lawrence earned the second qualifying position, which didn’t surprise many considering the number of laps he has turned on this track over the past several years. The cutoff for the top 16 tandem field ended up being a score of 71, up from the cutoff score of 59 from Atlanta. 21 of the 22 drivers put a score on the board, also up from the count of 17 of 22 drivers earning a score in Atlanta. Orlando’s track layout is a banked oval, which means drivers with experience at Evergreen Speedway in Seattle, Irwindale Speedway in Los Angeles, or even Autodrome St. Eustache in Montreal all had experience they could count on when it comes to riding the wall and earning a high score.

The opening round of the top 16 tandem bracket had several strong runs, with a few surprise outcomes. Marc Landreville took out Chinese driver Sheng Ng Nian in the first battle, while Dirk Stratton would need a “one more time” (OMT) battle to pilot his Chevy Corvette past Trent Beechum’s Ford Mustang in an all-domestic battle. Fourth place qualifier Nate Hamilton would have to bow out due to mechanical issues, giving “Rad” Dan Burkett the win in their tandem battle, while fifth place qualifier Taylor Hull would not make the call for his tandem battle, giving Andrew Lewis a pass into the top 16 to face Burkett. On the right side of the bracket, Lawrence took out Puerto Rican Luis Lizardi in his first tandem battle, while Atlanta winner Jeff Jones took out Josh McGuire. Austin Meeks won his battle with Donovan Brockoway, and Matt Madrigali took out Atlanta third place winner Ryan Litteral to round out the top 16 battles.

Moving into the top 8, it felt like Landreville and Jones were the remaining favorites due in large part to their experience in tandem, but as is often the case with drifting, anything can happen. Landreville made two solid passes against Stratton to earn the win and guarantee himself a podium position, while Burkett took himself out of competition as he over-rotated across the transition in the middle of the track while leading to give Lewis a fast pass into the final 4. The best tandem of the top 8 round of tandem definitely was the battle between Lewis and Jones. After the first set of runs wasn’t enough to decide a winner, both drivers pushed hard in their OMT battle to show their dominance. Although Lawrence’s lead run on the initial pair of tandem battles would have given most Pro class drivers a run for their money, his OMT lead run ended early as he nudged the wall with his rear bumper on multiple occasions, the final time snapping the front of the car into the wall and some parts in the suspension. Lawrence’s team pushed hard to repair the car and make a return to finish the battle with Jones, but was unsuccessful and Jones moved into the final four for the fourth consecutive Pro 2 event dating back to the 2015 season. Madrigali would earn the final spot in the top 4 by defeating Meeks in a close battle due to a smoother pair of runs overall as Meeks had many small mistakes and corrections that lead to his defeat.

Landreville continued his run by defeating Lewis in the top 4 with another pair of nearly flawless runs, running high on the bank with plenty of tire smoke in his lead and staying aggressive on the door of Lewis in his chase. Jones had a much tougher run against Madrigali, but a pair of small steering corrections from Madrigali were enough for Jones to move into the final in a re-match of the Atlanta matchup. Since Madrigali qualified higher than Lewis, he was guaranteed the final step on the podium although both drivers would earn the same amount of championship points.

In the final, Landreville looked hungry to earn his first Pro 2 win. This final round matchup would be a repeat on paper of the matchup that was scheduled for the Atlanta Final, but Landreville was unable to repair damage from a collision with Burkett in the Top 4, so Jones earned the win by default. This time around, Landreville would make no doubt about who the better driver was as Landreville strung together two near-perfect runs to earn the decision. Landreville’s lead run was clean and on line with what the judges had requested, but his aggressive chase run clearly cemented his place at the top of the podium. The win guaranteed Landreville a perfect weekend, combining with his top qualifying effort to earn the maximum points available, as well as the overall championship lead. Jones sits in second place overall, with Lewis and Burkett tied for third place overall in the championship chase at the midway point of the season.

The Pro 2 class will have a two-month hiatus until the third round at Texas Motor Speedway over the weekend of September 8^th through the 10^th, before finishing up at a Pro 2 standalone event in Phoenix, Arizona the last weekend of September. With the current points standings, more than half of the grid still have a good chance at claiming the championship.

Results from Orlando:

1^st place – Marc Landreville

2^nd place – Jeff Jones

3^rd place – Matt Madrigali

4^th place – Kevin Lawrence

Top 10 standings after two of four events:

1^st– Marc Landreville – 192 points
2^nd– Jeff Jones – 187 points
3^rd– Andrew Lewis – 105 points (tied)
3^rd– Dan Burkett – 105 points (tied)
5^th– Ryan Litteral – 88 points
6^th– Matt Madrigali – 84 points
7^th– Kevin Lawrence – 67 points
8^th– Austin Meeks – 66 points
T9^th– Taylor Hull – 65 points
T9^th– Dirk Stratton – 65 points

(Photos: Julius Mayo Jr.)

Learn more about how Formula Drift's Pro 2 class works by clicking this link.