Images: Vaughn Gittin Jr. on Facebook

The Formula DRIFT season may be coming to an end, but top competitor, Ford Racing’s Vaughn Gittin Jr., isn’t letting that get him down. In fact, if anything, it’s motivating him more and more to get better at his sport.

While the Formula D guys were off for the weekend, Gittin headed to Europe to compete in the King of Europe Drift competition for the first time. But Gittin didn’t just compete; he took the final round to be named champion of King of Europe Drift 2014.

Taking place on the famous Moto GP track Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, the King of Europe Drift event pins some of the world’s best drifters against one another in a head-to-head competition.

This was Gittin’s first year competing at the event and he faced down such greats as 2013 Polish Drift Champion Bartosz Stolarski, and 2009 British Drift Champion, (and fellow Monster Energy teammate) Steve Biagioni, after qualifying first out of a pool of 33 drivers.

In the final round, Gittin battled 2013 King of Europe Drift Champion Francesco Conti, making the last round of competition a true battle of European vs. American. This was only accentuated with each driver’s choice of car- Gittin’s Monster Energy Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR and Conti’s supercharged BMW M3 E92 GT4.

“I’m super pumped about this win,” Gittin stated in an RTR Drift Team press release. “It definitely didn’t come easy for us! We had some really hard-fought battles and many challenges were overcome to get here. It was really cool sharing the track and battling drivers from all over the world, qualifying first, and taking our Monster Energy Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR to victory at our first outing here at King of Europe.”

“Really pumped to have had the opportunity to give Europe a sneak peak of the amazing capabilities of the Ford Mustang RTR before it’s arrival and availability in 2015 to their part of the world,” Gittin continued. “There couldn’t have been a better testament to this than our final battle against one of Europe’s best drivers and most popular vehicles.”

In addition to Gittin’s win, he also contributed to the Monster Energy Team winning an award for the highest finishing team with Biagioni.

Congratulations goes out to Gittin and the Monster Energy Team on their wins at King of Europe Drift 2014.