Amanda Sorensen makes history by being the first woman to claim a Formula Drift podium finish with her second-place finish in Pro Spec class at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for Round 2 of the season. Branden Sorensen finished in the Pro Top 16 for his fourth round of FD racing.
For the fourth round of Formula Drift Pro, they were joined by the Pro Spec drivers for their second round of competition in Englishtown, NJ, and the drifters were once again greeted to great racing conditions, but the summer heat and humidity were in full effect with track temps racing 145 degrees during the day. The Old Bridge Township Raceway Park track utilizes a figure eight track design, which Amanda had dialed in for he second round of racing.
The weekend didn’t started off great as Amanda and Branden both had shortened practice times as they dealt with unexpected mechanical issues, but their pit crews got both of their cars dialed in before the competition.
Despite limited practicing, Amanda had the track dialed as she started the weekend in the 27th seed out of 32 drivers after advancing from the seeding bracket, but she dominated the competition as she unanimously advanced through each bracket round and knocking off some of the top competitors as she advanced all the to the finals with her win over Nate Chen to take on Connor O’Sullivan, which secured he a spot on the podium regardless of the final battle performance.
In the final battle, O’Sullivan would take the victory, but Amanda would make history by securing the second spot and becoming the first Women to ever podium in the ProSpec class in only her fourth year of drifting competition.
“In my first season of Formula Drift during my first interview with Laurette Nicolle, she asked me how I felt about Formula Drift and being apart of it, and I told her that I was going to be the first female to podium. It feels amazing to accomplish that goal, so now my goal is to make that jump to the Pro class,” said Amanda.
Amanda contributed her history making finish to her sponsors, team and brother, Branden. “Thanks to my great team and sponsors, my car was on point and having Branden spotting for me made the difference this weekend. I had the attitude of wanting to have fun and drive with my friends instead of driving with the pressure to win, it was the difference maker for me,” said Amanda.
The second place finish boosted Amanda from 36th to seventh in the ProSpec Championship points as she strives to secure a top finish in the points race to advance to the Pro class next season and once again make history.
Amanda’s Podium finish also kept a streak of family podium finishes going after her brother, Branden secured the third spot at Round 3 in Orlando and her younger brother, Camren, claimed the Pro-Am podium the previous weekend in his drifting debut. “My brother really set the bar in Orlando, and then my 12 year old brother set the bar in Colorado winning his is first Pro-Am event, and I'd have to say it really fueled me to step up my game,” said Amanda.
Branden Sorensen didn’t have his best weekend of racing at round 4, but he remains in the top five in the points championship, and he still left on a high note being apart of his sister, Amanda, history making performance.
“To be the first women in 21 years of Formula Drift racing to secure a podium finish is a huge accomplish and something that no one will be able to take away from us, and it is huge confidence booster for her as well. She knows that the team and her has what it takes to finish on the podium, and now we need to continue this momentum forward into the rest of the season,” said Branden.
For Round 5, the Formula Drift Series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway in St Louis, MO for another combined Pro/Pro Spec round, so both Branden and Amanda will be poised to make there return to the podium and work their way up in the points battles as they both are within striking distance of securing the 2024 Formula Drift Championship in each of their classes.
FULL WEEKEND RECAP VIDEO:
Formula Drift New Jersey Youtube Video Recap
2024 Branden & Amanda Sorensen Sponsors:
U.S. Air Force, VP Racing Fuels, Compcams, Enkei Wheels, Odyssey Battery, RockfordFosgate, 212 Gloves, Motion Control Suspension, OMP Racing, Extreme Sim Racing, Radium Engineering, and Whipple Supercharger