Super Drift Championship 2023 USA Finals
October 8, 2023
This past weekend Super-G R/C Drift Arena hosted the Super Drift Championship 2023 USA Finals here in Los Angeles, California.
We knew this year would be a bigger turnout than the previous years, but up until about a week before, we were unaware of just how much bigger it was going to be. We ended up with an official count of 115 competitors! This is the largest turnout in Super-G’s history thus far.
With this many competitors, we were faced with some unique challenges that were new to us. The best way I can put it, we learned a lot! There are things that just can’t be figured out until it’s experienced, and now we have it figured out for next time. Even if we double the competitors, we know what needs to be done. Thank you all for muscling through it with us. You know how we do, we will learn and improve.
The Regions
For the 2023 Season we started out with 13 regions. Of the 13, 11 came through for the SDC 2023 USA Finals. 2 of the regions that originally committed just simply disappeared without a word. To the 11 others who did come through with running your regional season, we thank you. We hope the SDC Series helps to drive interest in your area. The series wouldn't be possible without your participation and dedication. We know it's not easy to run a comp, let alone an entire series. We have plans to make it easier for 2024. Regional Hosts, we thank you again!
The Judges
The Super Drift Championship Rules are written in such a way, they eliminate the grey area that often times causes inconsistency in competition. The judges here at Super-G are extremely well versed in the rules, which allows for extremely consistent calls. They are called Judges for the sake of tradition, but in reality they are spotters watching for errors. Not deciding what is ok and what is not. Those calls are already addressed within the rules of SDC. Their job is exhausting and honestly not appreciated enough. So a huge Thank You to the judges. There is no way this could be a reality without you. Shaine Collins, Manny Campalans, Collin Chambers, and Zach Keanaaina.
The Meet and Greet
This took place on Thursday. It was awesome to see so many come together to session and just have a good time. Just from what we witnessed that day, it was clear the competition was going to be insane! So many good drivers putting down some sick laps. Tacos was the menu for the Meet and Greet. I’m always ready for Tacos! Of course Joe was on the grill. It was a good way to meet all of you. It was a nice calm before the storm type of event.
Day 1 (Friday) - Qualifying
Friday was qualifying. We knew it was going to be tough on the judges to watch and score 230 individual runs. If you have ever scored qualifying, you know it’s mentally and physically exhausting. It was no easy task, but of course the judges were up to the challenge.
It was clear from the start, many were not used to the type of pressure one experiences performing a solo run on such a stage. Round 1 had 50+ Zero scores. By Round 2, it seemed most figured it out and were able to put together good runs. Everyone who got out there and put down any type of run had accomplished a lot by doing that! There is no substitute for experience. The competition level was high, and it was clear the seasoned veterans were right at home and ready to throw down. The Top 3 for Round 1 were: 86 pts. Alfredo Chan III (Team RAZR), 79 pts. Bret Trevino (Slidelines), and 77 pts. DAntonio Williams (Stylovrall). These guys were not playing!
Round 2 of qualifying, the Top 3 again put down some wicked runs. DAntonio came in and bettered his 77 with a Solid 81! Then Bret stepped it up and bettered his 79 with an amazing 84! Then it was Alfredo’s turn. He was already sitting in the TQ (Top Qualifier) Spot with his 86. He was heard saying he’s just going to SEND IT! THAT HE DID!!! Alfredo pulled off an almost perfect qualifying run. He pulled off a 95 out of a possible 100!!! That was the best qualifying score here at Super-G all season. That just goes to show why Alfredo was the SDC2022 USA Drift King. For anyone who thinks what these guys are capable of pulling off is easy, consider the majority scored in the 60s. (Which is a VERY respectable accomplishment in itself) Congratulations Alfredo on securing SDC2023 USA Finals Top Qualifier!
Day 2 (Saturday) - Tsuiso Battles
Saturday was the start of the Official Tsuiso Battles. This is what most people think of when they think of Drift Competitions. We ended up with 4 Brackets, Top 32 would round out the competition on Sunday (Day 3), with the winner of Day 2 claiming the 32nd spot in Top 32! The other 3 brackets would take place on Day 2.
To start off the competition, the Bracket of 94-115 qualifiers started it off. The winner of this bracket would then move up to the Bottom Bracket. After all was said and done, Brennah Dartt of Arizona (Tech 1 Drift / Gens Ace) emerged victorious and advanced to the Bottom 32 Bracket! She had to eliminate 5 competitors to accomplish this! Congratulations Brennah!
Bottom 32 Bracket - Brennah had fought her way into the Bottom 32 Bracket and was now climbing her way up. It was exciting for everyone to watch her precision driving. These were no easy battles, but she was up to the challenge. The Bottom 32 Bracket came down to Brennah Dartt (Tech 1 Drift) vs. Mitch Lew (Team Rolling Garage). Both Brennah and Mitch had eliminated 4 competitors each this round, and now faced off to see who would advance to the Lower 32 Bracket. Brennah put on a really good lead, while Mitch answered back was a really good chase! They switched it up and Mitch put down a really good lead, with Brennah giving a really tight chase! Unfortunately, Mitch had a miscalculation on the entry to the sweeper on his chase causing contact. This allowed Brennah to secure the win, and advance to the Lower 32 Bracket! Congratulations Brennah!
Lower 32 Bracket - The winner of the Lower 32 Bracket would find their way to the 32nd spot of the Top 32 for Sunday. So this was really what Saturday was all boiling down to. With Brennah coming in off a 10 battle winning streak, all eyes were on her. Her first battle in the Lower 32 was Matthew Timmer of Seattle (R/C Fight Club). Matthew is no stranger to SDC and is always an extremely strong competitor. On Matthew’s lead, he was running really strong, but in Zone 1, he had a mishap and over-rotated. Next was Brennah’s lead. She started out strong, but an error on her initiation into Zone 1 caused her to make contact with the barrier. Since the First To Crash rule was in play for the lower rounds, Matthew took that round! The Lower 32 Bracket all came down Junior Barba of Texas (Lonestar Pals / RCHQ) vs. Kris Steele of SoCal (Team Notachi). Both competitors put down some good runs, but in the end Kris Steele came out on top for the win, and the 32nd spot in the Top 32!!! Congratulations Kris!!! Moving from the Lower Bracket to Top 32 is no easy feat for sure!
Day 3 (Sunday) - Top 32 Battles
This was what the entire 2023 Season had come down to, The SDC 2023 Top 32! Regardless of the outcome, all these competitors made it to the final round. Everyone in the Top 32 should be proud to have made it this far!
It all came down to Alfredo Chan III of SoCal (Team RAZR / Team Acuvance USA) vs. Jaycen Wong of SoCal (Team Super-G) for 3rd and 4th, and Justin Wilming of Seattle (The Establishment) vs. Bret Trevino SoCal (Slidelines RC / Tech 1 Drift) for 1st and 2nd.
First up was Alfredo leading, Jaycen chasing. Alfredo put down a really strong lead with Jaycen answering back with a good chase. They switched it up, and Jaycen put down a good lead and Alfredo did his typical Alfredo chase! Both runs were good, but Jaycen had a miscalculation on the entry to the large sweeper causing him to make contact with the lead. That was enough for Alfredo to lock down 3rd Place for the Super Drift Championship 2023 USA Finals! Congratulations Alfredo!
Then it was the moment everyone had been waiting for, Justin Wilming vs. Bret Trevino for 1st and 2nd in the US! Before I even start, I want to say this battle was INSANE! This was some of the finest RC Drifting Battles we have seen. First up, Justin was on the Lead, Bret on the chase. Justin threw down an amazing lead! He left little to no room to better his run! Bret clapped back with an equally impressive chase! While watching it, I felt there was little to no room to better Bret’s chase. They switched it up, Bret on the Lead, Justin on the Chase. Through the sweeper, into Zone 1, and through Zone 2, Bret put down an amazingly clean and accurate lead. This was exactly what was needed on Bret’s lead. Justin was answering back with a beyond amazing chase! Justin doing what was needed as well! Then it happened, between Zone 2 and Zone 3, the one area where Bret may have left a small window to beat him on the chase, Justin was holding some crazy proximity! Unfortunately, Justin had a small miscalculation and impeded Bret’s transition causing contact. That was all she wrote, and this secured Bret the win and the title of The Super Drift Championship 2023 USA Drift King! Justin took a well deserved Second Place! Both of these guys were ON FIRE! That was some of the best driving we had seen all season! It’s no wonder both of these guys were battling for the title!
Congratulations to:
Bret Trevino of SoCal (Slidelines RC / Tech 1 Drift) - First Place
Super Drift Championship 2023 USA Drift King!
Justin Wilming of Seattle (The Establishment) - Second Place!
Alfredo Chan III (Team RAZR / Team Acuvance USA / Tech 1 Drift) - Third Place
The Super Drift Championship 2023 USA Drift King - Bret Trevino!
Here’s a quick peek at Bret’s winning Chassis
Shark 3 Gear
Motor: acuvance agile 13.5
Esc: RPX2 chevalier capac
Servo: reveD
Gyro: gyd550
Front shocks: overdose v2
Rear shocks: nerds
Rims: dlike super high traction
Diff: clsd 4 gear soft
Razr rpf lower deck
LTS high battery mount
Body: addiction gr86
Remote: futaba 7px
We would like to thank our sponsors for the event, Futaba USA, Rhino Racing, Acuvance USA, Addiction, Pandora, DS Racing, and our main sponsor Scale Reflex! Without their support, these types of events would be far and few in between. Remember, support the brands that support you back. Without their backing, the R/C Drift Scene could not grow. Make no mistake, the sponsors this year helped to make this event possible. They all donated more than a few prizes for the raffle. They are investing in you, the RC Drift Community. We would also like to thank DS Racing for allowing us to use their Clipping Point Sensors which we used during practice.
A special thank you to Christian Guerrero and Tyler Watt (Scale Magic) for all your help with the camera and video work. Your efforts really stepped up the broadcast. Our NorCal Fam, Limited Traction for showing up early in the morning and helping with setup. I can't forget Shaine Collins, for all his hard work and help throughout the entire, well always, but more specifically for stepping up and handling a lot of areas Joe and myself could not get to during the event. Everywhere I looked, you were handling some craziness.
Finally we would like to thank each and every one of you for coming out, competing in your local region, watching on the live feed, or for any other way you took part in the Super Drift Championship 2023 Season. The response has been overwhelming and is proof R/C Drift is a real thing in the US. It’s amazing that something that has always been built on passion has grown to this level.
With that being said, Super-G would like to announce the
Super Drift Competition 2024 Worlds!
OCTOBER 5-7, 2024
LET'S DO THIS!!!
On a side note: (In case anyone is wondering)
On Day 2 in the Lower 32 Bracket, there was a call that seemed to have a few watching at home confused by the call.
This in fact was a very simple call, and we weren't sure why there was confusion. The rule which applies to this scenario is, the driver is only allowed to drop ONE wheel off track. More than one wheel will be deemed a crash.
The other part of this is, the Chase can go two off, ONLY if the lead car's line forces this to happen.
ie. Going tight on an inside zone and forcing the chase to push further inside (off track) to maintain proximity. Going two off for the chase is NOT optional for the Chase driver, it must be forced by the Lead.
In this case, the Lead took a clean line all the way across the finish line. The Chase had BOTH (2) of the RIGHT SIDE WHEELS off track before completely crossing the finish line.
This is deemed a crash and the call was made as such. There was no other way to call this.
