A rule change for 2014 denied Justin Pawlak the chance to race for the podium, and third place.

This weekend was the season opener for the 2014 Formula Drift Championship, with an international hitsquad of top tier drifters taking over the Streets of Long Beach. Among these were our two Mustang champions, Justin Pawlak and Vaughn Gittin Jr., who were revved up to return to their favorite racing series.

But despite spending his off-season winning championships in China and qualifying in second place the day before the big race, Vaughn Gittin Jr. had to settle for a disappointing 9th place finish. His Mustang piloting comrade Justin Pawlak, was meanwhile just barely edged off of the podium and into 4th place overall. Not the start either driver was hoping for to be sure.

There’s a lot of pressure on these drivers to win, you must understand, and as Pawlak reveals in the above video, the stress started to get to him last season. He admits to maybe “overdriving”, and this year Justin wants to get back to basics and try to just enjoy the sport where’s he’s made his name.

Vaughn Gittin Jr., meanwhile, bears a bit of his trademark confidence by declaring him and his team have the complete package necessary to win. And that’s certainly the case, as Gittin has proven before with his 2010 Championship run. Since then though, Gittin’s victories have been sporadic and often spread out, leaving him without the necessary points come the final races to put together another championship run.

Despite qualifying in the number two position, Vaughn Gittin Jr. was outmatched in the second round of competition, sending the Monster Energy Mustang driver home ninth in the points standings.

Both Gittin and Pawlak have won on the Formula Drift season opener before, and obviously both of them had high hopes, despite being placed in the same bracket. Gittin came out enthusiastically as usual, and qualified for the event in second place, squaring hm in good position to make a run for the event win, or at least a podium.

Unfortunately, Gittin didn’t make it out of the Round of 16, falling to the Falken sponsored ride of Darren McNamara and his Nissan S14, ending the weekend for Gittin in the second round with just 39.5 points in the bank. It was a close battle, and no doubt Gittin put on a show for the fans, but in the end Formula D is all about what the judges say. The poor finish puts Gittin pretty far back going into the next race, though it’s not an unrecoverable deficit. Sitting in ninth place in the current standings, all Gittin needs is a couple of wins to put him back in the running for the new carbon fiber Formula Drift trophy.

Meanwhile, Justin Pawlak qualified sixth, not nearly as well as Gittin but still quite strong. Pawlak did a lot better, chopping his way through some of the sports biggest names including Ryan Tuerck and Odi Bakchis making it all the way to the semi final, where he faced off against eventual winner Chris Forsberg. Pawlak obviously wanted to win, and the battle between the two seasoned drifters was intense, and quite a show for all who were in attendance. Pawlak even said his follow run against Forsberg was the best of his weekend, but it wasn’t quite enough to impress the judges and send him and the Falken Mustang to the final. 

New 2014 Formula D rules give third place to the higher qualifier which in this case was Michael Essa who had qualified number one. This rule change allowed Essa to make it onto the podium for third place this time. But with six more races to go, and 68.5 points already earned, Pawlak is in a strong position going forward for the rest of the season leaving the event in fourth.

That left the final down to Chris Forsberg and Kenny Moen, when the smoke finally cleared it was Forsberg taking the highest place on the podium, and Moen settling for runner up. With a driver only able to receive a maximum of 110 total points per event, the 2014 Formula D championship is still wide open. The past has proven that anything can happen, and we can be certain that Gittin and Pawlak are determined to be on top this season.

With a pair of Mustangs and two of the best professional drifters in the world, Ford is hoping for another championship to celebrate the Mustang’s 50th anniversary. As official sponsor of Formula Drift, Ford is also giving away a Fiesta ST to one lucky drifting fan. While we’d prefer a 2015 Mustang, that will probably come next year, when both Gittin and Pawlak are due for an upgrade.

Can Gittin and Pawlak bring home the championship for the Mustang’s anniversary?