After an incredibly dramatic opening day at Round 1 of the 2024 Drift Masters season yesterday at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain, today picked up where yesterday left off, as Estonian driver Kevin Pesur finished another unpredictable day the happiest 1, taking home his first ever Drift Masters event win, setting himself up nicely for the 2024 championship chase.
Having achieved a seventh place finish overall in the 2023 Drift Masters European Championship, Pesur’s excellence was never in doubt, but with the Estonian driver overcoming last season’s overall runner-up in Finland’s Lauri Heinonen, Pesur really has shown that he intends to do all he can to be crowned champion when the season comes to an end in Poland this September.
Another man no doubt heading back to his native Poland more than happy is Adam Zalewski, as he returned to the Drift Masters podium today for the first time since 2022 as he overcame an incredibly strong looking Lithuanian driver, Benediktas Cirba in today’s play-off battle.
As mentioned though, this weekend was nothing if not unpredictable! Starting in yesterday’s Qualifying session, the biggest shock of all was that none other than 2023’s season champion Conor Shanahan would not make it through to today’s battle action after suffering from car issues.
Fast forward to today then and the Top 32 battles would see just one of 2023’s overall top 5 finishing drivers making it into the Top 16, with Polish driver Piotr Wiecek going out to Germany’s Max Heidrich, Finland’s Juha Rintanen losing out to Norway’s Orjan Nilsen and Ireland’s Jack Shanahan being outdone by Ukraine’s Alex Holovnia, opening the door for what might just be one of the most hotly contested seasons ever witnessed in Drift Masters history.
So that’s it – Round 1 of the 2024 Drift Masters season is done. It’s Estonian driver Kevin Pesur heading home happiest on this occasion, but next up on June 15th & 16th the series heads back to the home of Irish drifting, Mondello Park, where Pesur will undoubtedly find himself with a massive target on his back. Can he hold on to the top step when the dust settles in Ireland? It’s almost time to find out.
For now, here are the current Top 5 Championship Standings after an incredibly exciting opening Round of the 2024 season in Spain:
- Kevin Pesur (EST) – 100 pts.
- Lauri Heinonen (FIN) – 96 pts.
- Adam Zalewski (POL) – 76 pts.
- Benediktas Cirba (LTU) – 74 pts.
- Kevin Piskolty (HUN) – 51 pts.
