2019 Formula D season

The 2019 Formula D season (officially titled Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship) was the sixteenth season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 6 at Long Beach and concluded on October 19 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale after eight events.

James Deane won his third consecutive championship with the Worthouse Drifting team, and his teammate Piotr Więcek placed fourth in points. However, the team and both drivers would leave Formula Drift at the end of the season: it was announced in 2020 that Worthouse had withdrawn from the series and that both its drivers were pursuing other opportunities.[1] Deane would return to the series in 2023.

Driver Travis Reeder made Formula Drift history by becoming the first driver to compete with an electric vehicle. His team Napoleon Motorsports developed a fully electric Chevrolet Camaro dubbed the Chevrolet Camaro EL1. Reeder was unable to run it during the opening round at Long Beach since the event's fire safety teams had not been given training on electric vehicle fires.[2][3] He practiced with the car during the second round at Orlando but competed with his regular Nissan 240SX S13. The car made its first competitive appearance in the third round at Road Atlanta, and he campaigned it until the finale at Irwindale when minor issues forced him to revert to his S13.

Two drivers also made history during the season by scoring a perfect 100 on a qualifying run, something that had only been previously achieved by Tanner Foust at Sonoma Raceway in 2006. Justin Pawlak recorded a perfect score during the fourth round at Wall Speedway, and James Deane recorded a perfect score during the seventh round at Texas Motor Speedway.[4][5]

Two drivers made a one-off appearance at Long Beach: Mitch Larner, renting a Toyota 2JZ powered Nissan 240SX S14 from fellow competitor Forrest Wang, and Manuel Vacca, driving a BMW E46.[6]

  1. ^ "WORTHOUSE DRIFT TEAM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2020 FORMULA DRIFT AND DRIVERS TO PART WAYS". worthouse.team. 24 August 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. ^ Martin, Zach (29 April 2019). "The First Electric Drift Car: Napoleon Motorsports' Electric 2019 Camaro EL1". motortrend.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  3. ^ Leveton, Jacob (13 May 2019). "HOW TRAVIS REEDER SLID HIS WAY INTO THE DRIVERS SEAT OF THE FIRST ELECTRIC DRIFT CAR". drivingline.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  4. ^ Gearhart, Mike (13 June 2019). "Justin Pawlak Makes Formula Drift History With Second Recorded 100-point Run!". motortrend.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Texas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Hernandez, Bob. "Formula DRIFT Long Beach 2019". motortrend.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.