Round 1 Qualifying Complete: Shabanov Tops with 99 Points

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

Before today the organizing team ran two Welcome Rounds to connect with drivers and assess potential; that exploratory chapter is now closed. Round 1 brought together 42 drivers from China, Russia, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands, Japan and Belarus.

• 1st — Artêm Shabanov (#77, TIMEUP, Toyota Supra A80) — 97 & 99
• 2nd — Pawel Korpulinski (#74, Rydanz 441B.W Updrift) — 95.5
• 3rd — Jarkko Jylhä (#63, NUO YU GC–ZM Racing) — 94

The Top 32 advance to tomorrow's TOP-32 Tandem Battles. Full qualifying & bracket →

Two live streams (13 cameras) start at 13:00: YouTube (EN) @RoyalDriftSeries25 · 抖音 (CN) @royaldrift汽车飘移系列赛.