Photos by Jeremy Glover
On Sunday, June 8, 2014, history was made in Canadian drifting. The first ever official Formula Drift Canada took place at Autodrome St-Eustache, QC, just north of Montreal. Formula Drift Canada is broken down into two rounds – Qualification (June 8, 2014) and Challenge (August 31 – September 1, 2014). At this (Qualification) round, drivers participated and qualified to compete in this year’s Formula Drift Canada – Challenge Round. The Top 8 drivers automatically qualify for the big Labour Day event where some of the big teams from Formula Drift (USA) will travel North to compete with and against Canadian drivers.
It was a perfect sunny day for this qualification event. In the morning, the paddock area started to fill with drivers, over 30 came out to try to secure one of the Top 8 spots. At the first drivers meeting of the day, the 3 judges – DMCC judge Haig Kanadjian, Slide judge Kevin Grenier and Formula Drift USA judge Ryan Lanteigne – went over what they were going to be looking for during the day’s event.
Throughout practice, the drivers were putting down some crazy runs, smoking-out the increasingly packed crowd. The drivers looks solid. Taking the top qualifying spot was Marc Landreville, who is currently competing in this season’s Formula Drift USA. Qualifying second was Francis Tasse in his crazy 1000hp wide-body Mazda FD RX-7, and coming in a solid third was Brad Carlton
Top 16 Qualifying was intense! Marc Landreville took himself out by spinning on his chase run against Martin Langlois. Hands down, the best battle of the event was when Simon Schaffner faced Alex Michaud. The battle consisted of tight tandems, “One More Times”, losing tires and even contact between both cars! Simon got the win but due to a failed engine after the battle, he was out of the competition. On the positive side, he earned his spot for the Formula Drift Canada – Challenge Round on Labour Day.
Final 4 came down to Kevin Morin, Tommy Bellemare, Brad Carlton and Jonathan Guitard. Kevin faced Tommy but during their battle, Kevin's car developed some problems resulting him in giving the win to Tommy. Jonathan now faced Brad. It was a good battle between both drivers but on Brad’s lead run he rode into the wall a bit too hard and the wall won. Jonathan advanced to the finals. The final tandem of the event was between Jonathan and Tommy. Both drivers put down some solid runs and it could’ve went either way. At the podium, the winner of the first ever Formula Drift Canada event was announced - Tommy Bellemare!
Final results - First: Tommy Bellemare, Second: Jonathan Guitard, Third: Brad Carlton
For its debut event, the Formula Drift Canada crew put on a great event! One thing is for sure, Formula Drift Canada – Challenge Round on Labour Day weekend (August 31 – September 1, 2014) will be something not to miss!
For more Formula Drift Canada event/series info, go to www.formuladriftcanada.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/formuladriftcanada.
