Formula Drift Introduces New Regulations For Scoring And Judging

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Formula Drift is right around the corner and the excitement for it is absolutely overwhelming. With the return of James Deane, and Forrest Wang and plenty of new faces, there are also some new changes coming to Formula Drift as well. 

The first major change that's happening is the new points system. the new points are listed as follows;

Competition points: 1st – 100, 2nd – 88 (was 90), 3rd – 76 (was 80), 4th – 64 (was 80), 5th-8th – 48 (was 67), 9th-16th – 32 (was 52), 17th-32nd – 16 (was 35).

Hoping this makes the drifting more competitive and incentivises drivers to do better, as finishing in the lower tier significantly reduces the number of points you can get.

Another change is that coming to Formula Drift is that the judges will on a rotational basis, where as before all the judges were the same at every event. The driver's steward is still a fixed position.

Drivers will now complete up to two non-consecutive runs in order of the current Championship standing (the last ranked driver goes first) in the Knockout Qualifying Format. 

Qualifying criteria and scoring: line – 40%, angle – 30%, style – 20%, X-Factor – 10%. Every judge can award a run with a maximum of 100 points and the average will be calculated.

The X-Factor is something brand new to Formula Drift. X-Factors are points of a difference a driver can make, creating a clear and notable difference in performance and execution relative to other drivers. These are the “Wow” factors. Some descriptors are:
• Heavy, controlled throttle usage
• Driving with a big angle but maintaining a consistent pace
• Showing vehicle stability and balance while performing at a very high level of driving

More criteria were added to incomplete qualifying runs. F.e., hood, hatch, roof, trunk and/or doors opening during a run, a mix of multiple mistakes that could be classified as an Unchaseable Lead, not maintaining control across the finish line.

INCOMPLETE, in tandem, is an inactive chase and unchaseable lead, not maintaining control across the finish line.

When rainy conditions happen, the Competition Director and Race Control will evaluate the situation and determine the best possible options for continuing. In most cases, whether in Qualifying or Tandem, the drivers can do “sight” laps to physically evaluate the track conditions at least once before their battle.

In the event of Run 1 contact without an incomplete, defined as when a vehicle touches another vehicle and/or part of the course and generally stays uninterrupted in line and angle, judges will no longer determine fault for the incident. Both drivers may request up to 5 minutes to repair their vehicle without using their designated Competition Timeout. Abuse of this can lead to penalties.

If contact with an incomplete occurs, the Judges will ascertain fault using all resources (replays, track staff, memory, etc.).

In the event of Run 2 contact without an incomplete, defined as when a vehicle touches another vehicle and/or part of the course and generally stays uninterrupted in line and angle, judges will no longer determine fault for the incident. In this case, no additional repair time will be allocated as the battle has been completed.

The Decel light is a tool used to help judges make more accurate decisions on whether or not a driver is decelerating in an area he/she should not and then what the consequence of that decel is. The Decel Light, like every other tool (cameras, replays, drones, etc.), is subject to each judge’s interpretation and should not be considered a black-and-white issue. Blue = Neutral, Green = Acceleration, Yellow = Deceleration not meeting the “Decel” threshold, and Red = Deceleration that meets the “Decel” threshold.

A protest against an entry, the validity of an entrant or driver, or a vehicle’s eligibility may be made at any time. All vehicle eligibility protests will be reviewed and arbitrated by the Competition Director. Protests will be allowed in all rounds of tandem competition except the Finals.

Check out the full set of judging regulations below:

Judging regulations.

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