Round 1 Qualifying Complete: Shabanov Tops with 99 Points, TOP-32 Tandem Battles Set for Tomorrow

Today, Shanghai Tianma Circuit made history: the first official qualifying session of the Royal Drift Series 2026 season has taken place — the first competitive session counting toward the championship standings.

Before today, the Russian organizing team behind Royal Drift Series ran two Welcome Rounds — events to connect with drivers and assess the potential of the project. That exploratory chapter is now closed. We are confident: Royal Drift Series, from day one, stands among the best drift series in the world.

Round 1 brought together 42 drivers representing professional teams from China, Russia, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands, Japan, and Belarus. The level of the grid was immediately evident — Royal Drift Series enters the season at the level of the world’s leading drift championships.

Qualifying was won by Russian driver Artêm Shabanov (#77, TIMEUP, Toyota Supra A80) with runs of 97 and 99 points — a near-perfect score. Second place went to Pawel from Poland (#74, Rydanz 441B.W. Updrift, 95.5 pts), third to Finnish driver and Welcome Round winner Jarkko (#63, Zero Mileage Lubricants NUO YU GC–ZM Racing Team, 94 pts).

The top 32 drivers have advanced to tomorrow’s TOP-32 Tandem Battles. Full qualifying results and the bracket are live on our updated Results page — find historical stage data and follow the current round in real time.

查看排位赛结果与32强对阵表 · View Qualifying Results & TOP-32 Bracket: royaldriftseries.com/results/r1-shanghai

See you tomorrow, June 7th, at Shanghai Tianma Circuit! For those not in Shanghai — two live streams powered by 13 cameras start at 13:00:

YouTube（英语 · EN）: @royaldriftseries25

抖音（中文 · CN）: @royaldrift汽车飘移系列赛