Three Cork Drivers Are Running the Formula Drift Championship
Formula Drift is one of the biggest stages in the sport. Right now the driver leading it, the driver in third, and the driver in fifth all learned to go sideways within a few miles of each other in north Cork. James Deane is from Castletownroche. Jack and Conor Shanahan are from Mallow, about ten minutes up the road. This weekend the championship restarts in Seattle, and all three are in the fight.
Where it stands
Four rounds in, Deane sits on top. He is the reigning champion with five Formula Drift titles to his name, and in 2026 he has been the most consistent driver in the field. Behind him, in a BMW his own team built, is Jack Shanahan, the reigning Rookie of the Year, now third and inside the title fight. Conor Shanahan, a double Drift Masters champion who beat Deane as a teenager on his European debut, is fifth after winning the opening round of the year.
2026 Formula Drift PRO standings, after Round 4.
How we got here
Conor set the tone in April, winning Round 1 on the streets of Long Beach in the Red Bull Toyota. Then came Connecticut, and the run that made this season. For the first time in Formula Drift's history, one country took the entire podium. Deane won it, Jack finished second, Conor third. Three drivers from the same corner of Ireland, first, second and third, in front of an American crowd.
The storm that paused it
They should have been back on track in Indianapolis at the start of August. Then the weather arrived. Rain, lightning and flooding forced Formula Drift to cancel a round for the first time in its twenty-three-year history. The title race has been sitting still ever since. It starts moving again this weekend.
What is on the line this weekend
Deane goes into Seattle with a lead of 21 points over Aurimas Bakchis, the only driver standing between him and a second Shanahan. Jack is 40 points off the top with three rounds left, close enough to matter. Conor will be chasing the pace that won him Long Beach. Only three rounds remain after the summer break, so every run from here carries weight.
Where: Evergreen Speedway, Seattle
When: Friday 21 & Saturday 22 August
Left after: Las Vegas, then the Long Beach finale
How to watch from home
Formula Drift streams every round for free on its own site. Seattle is eight hours behind us, so Saturday's battles land late on Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday at home. Worth setting an alarm.
Qualifying: Friday, late evening our time
Top 32 battles: Saturday night into Sunday morning our time
We run a drift academy in the north, so this is the sport we live in, and these are the drivers a lot of our customers grew up watching. We will be following the rest of the season here as the title race comes down to the wire.
Every driver on that podium started with a first corner. You start the same way at Bishopscourt: from age 13, no driving licence needed, car and gear provided. You leave your first lesson with an NDA drift licence, and it grades up from there, as far as you want to push it, up to lining up and competing yourself.
Book a drift lessonPhotography: Formula DRIFT / Larry Chen. Standings and results per Formula DRIFT, correct as of 21 August 2026.