Drift Masters fans, we are back. After what felt like an eternity since we wrapped up our 2023 season last September at the PGE Narodowy in Poland, today we kicked off our 2024 season where, for the very first time, we headed to the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in a sunny Valencia, Spain.
The famous MotoGP circuit evened out the playing field for our drivers as none of the grid had driven the layout before and it’s safe to say the action and drama did not disappoint. Right from the off, breakdowns and car issues galore would see us heading for an incredibly unpredictable qualifying result and Top 32 battle bracket, but nobody could have predicted the drama that would unfold.
While the sun and warmth makes Spain an incredible location for a holiday, it definitely posed its own issues when it came to keeping the cars running, especially with so many new untested chassis’ on the grid. Drivers struggled with engine failures, gearbox failures, suspension issues and a lot of other teething issues. This resulted in some huge upsets in today’s Round 1 Qualifying session where most notably, our 2023 champion, Conor Shanahan would narrowly miss out on a spot in the Top 32, coming home in 34th place. A huge upset to the Irish driver’s hopes of retaining his title crown and a huge shock having ended last year on such a high.
However, at the very other end of things it would be Kuwaiti driver Ali Makhseed heading home the happiest after day one here at Round 1, with a 94.5-point score on his second run meaning he would top the qualifying scoreboard for the very first time in his Drift Masters career. Makhseed now prepares to face off against Italian driver Manuel Vacca in the tomorrow’s Top 32 battles, which kick off at 12.00pm CET.
Coming in just behind Makhseed in second place was Lithuanian driver, Benediktas Cirba. Having only received his car back from overseas just days before Round 1, Benediktas would pull out a highest run score of 91.5 points to set himself up with a battle against Switzerland's Yves Meyer in tomorrow’s Top 32.
Then rounding out the last of our Top 3 Qualifying positions was none other than Finnish fan-favourite and 2023 runner up, Lauri Heinonen who threw down an 89 point run on a track that would test most of our driver grid here today. Much to the delight of the adoring Finnish fans, Lauri would pip Polish driver, Piotr Wiecek to the final Top 3 Qualifying positions, as he sets himself up with a battle against Latvian driver, Edgars Krogeris tomorrow.
Unfortunately with a track curfew looming, the proceedings of our first ever Drift Masters Qualifying Showdown would be cut slightly short today, but that wasn’t before top Qualifier Ali Makhseed showed us what he’s all about, overcoming Piotr Wiecek in the first showdown battle. Lithuanian driver Benediktas Cirba would also overcome Finland’s own Lauri Heinonen, with the Kuwaiti and Lithuanian drivers both set to do battle tomorrow to see who will take home max points from this new segment of the show.
So with the first day of the season having come now to an end, we now move our attention towards tomorrow’s Top 32 Battles. With a very testing track layout, soaring heat and an already unpredictable Top 32 battle line-up after today, it really is a case of anything could happen tomorrow.
Below you can check out today’s overall Top 32 Qualifying results and tomorrow’s Top 32 battle bracket below, to get yourself excited before the action gets underway once again tomorrow, this time exclusively on Red Bull TV from 12.00pm CET.
