Darius Ostreika opened up a huge winning streak during Esports Drift Association’s penultimate event in the season calendar. The rolling elevation changes of Japan’s Fuji Speedway was a significant change of scenery from the flat and narrow asphalt of New Zealand’s Teretonga Park in Round 5. This didn’t phase Ostreika, however, as he is currently on a 10-battle winning streak in bracket eliminations.
However, Ostreika wasn’t the only driver with precision and style at Fuji. Representing the track’s country of origin, Japanese driver Masashi Yoshida took the top qualifying spot with a score of 96.7.
Yoshida wanted to show his results at Teretonga were not a fluke but was eliminated by Zack O’Sullivan in the Round of 16 during Next Level Racing Group One. O’Sullivan would continue through Jarrett Shortal to reach the Traxion Final Four bracket.
Moza Racing Group Two began with ESDA veteran Alexander Element once again doing well in eliminations, reaching up to the Great 8 where he was matched up with the rookie Vitaliy Isaev.
In a shocking upset, the expert was taken out of the competition by newcomer Isaev, who reached the Final Four. Fan favourite Adriel Macahdo was also eliminated from Group Two, but not before taking Urta Esports team driver Martynas Ostreika to a One More Time – an impressive feat given the Urta dominance in ESDA Team Championship points.
The championship standings had a huge shakeup in Big Duck Club Group Three bracket eliminations, with Mustafa Amine fighting his way to the Great 8. He was eliminated by the eventual winner of the event, Darius Ostreika. With that, the standings now show Ostreika in second place with just a 10-point gap ahead of Amine while trailing only 36 points behind championship leader Alexander Element.
3DRAP Group Four was a battle of epic proportions between two titans of ESDA, Brandon Gardner and Conner Christiansen. Both drivers were incredibly competitive in the league before its transition to Assetto Corsa and have continued that success.
Christiansen and Gardner had an extremely tight battle with both drivers struggling to maintain consistent proximity to each other. After a lengthy period of discussion between the judges, Gardner was given the win with fewer mistakes in his lead and chase run than Christiansen.
O’Sullivan, Isaev, Ostreika and Gardner would now battle it out for the podium in the Traxion Final Four. Isaev would lose to O’Sullivan in the first battle, sending the rookie to the battle for third place against Gardner – who also lost his battle against Ostreika.
Isaev would secure third place, with O’Sullivan finishing second and Ostreika taking the top spot to continue an impressive winning streak with ten battles across two events.
With the battle for the top spot in the championship points now tightening up, the stage has been set for the final round of the season. Qualifying will take place on October 21st at 5 pm EDT on the Traxion Twitch channel, followed by bracket eliminations on October 22nd at 12 pm EDT.
ESDA’s final round will also be in benefit of the charity Safe In Our World, which seeks to create an online destination where people can seek help, gain access to resources and information, and discover stories from real people within and surrounding the games industry.
ROUND SIX, FUJI SPEEDWAY – RESULTS
- Darius Ostreika (+100 points)
- Zack O’Sullivan (+80 points)
- Vitaliy Isaev (+60 points)
- Brandon Gardner (+50 points)
ESDA 2022 Pro Points Standing
1 Alexander Element, 380 points
2 Darius Ostreika, 344 points
3 Mustafa Amine, 334 points
4 Austin Zalewski, 290 points
5 DeSean Hack, 272 points
ESDA 2022 SCHEDULE:
Round 1: June 17-18Round 2: July 8-9Round 3: July 29-30Round 4: August 19-20Round 5: Sep 9-10Round 6: Sep 30-Oct 1- Round 7: Oct -21-22
Images courtesy of Apex Action Photography
