After what felt like an eternity due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its effects on sporting events worldwide, today it was finally time for DMEC to return to Riga for our one and only event in 2020, the DMEC King of Riga.

Despite the disappointment of only being able to run one event in 2020, today showed us all why we’ve missed DMEC so much, as our 40-strong driver grid took to the track for one hell of a qualifying session. Not only that, this was the first time anyone would have a chance to see DMEC’s brand-new qualifying format, which is split into 2 parts, namely Q1 & Q2.

During Q1, the 16 highest scoring drivers would automatically cement themselves a place in the Top 32 battle bracket without needing to do a second run. Drivers who scored from 17th and above would then need to head back to the grid and give it one more go to try and cement their place in the Top 32.

One driver that fans have been crying out to see back in DMEC is Polishman, Piotr Wiecek, and it would be the “Candyman” that would take top spot in Q1 with an amazing 94-point run.

Second place would then go to his Formula Drift Worthouse Drift Teammate and reigning DMEC 2019 champion, James Deane, who scored a 92 one his one and only run to cement his place in tomorrow’s Top 32 action.

Rounding out the last of the top 3 places in Qualifying’s Q1 portion was fellow Irishman and last year’s Riga top qualifier, Jack Shanahan in his absolutely incredible looking Link ECU Toyota GT86.

So with day 1 of the 2020 DMEC King of Riga now said and done, it’s time to turn our attention to tomorrow’s Top 32 battles. With just one event to take place from the DMEC camp in 2020, drivers will be giving it 150% tomorrow to see who will be crowned the 2020 DMEC King of Riga.

We hope all of our amazing DMEC fans enjoyed today’s qualifying session and more importantly, don’t forget to set your alarms for 3.15pm Riga time (1.15p GMT) tomorrow for the start of Top 32 battle action on Red Bull TV.