Irishman seals his first win of 2025 season against Norwegian Kvia in final after thrilling two days
The second day of Drift Masters Round 3 saw 32 drivers clash at PowerPark Huvivaltio in ever-changing conditions that pushed talent, timing and nerves to the absolute limit as Irishman Conor Shanahan earned his first win of the 2025 season. Here is all you need to know:
– With low-hanging clouds, rain, and changing grip levels run by run, early drama struck when Diogo Correia clipped the wall during his lead run, handing Juha Rintanen a pass to the Top 16.
– Just a few runs later Duane McKeever spun in his battle against George Christoforou in another unexpected exit, the dramatic weather conditions seeing mutiple championship front-runners knocked out early.
– As rain rolled in for the Top 16, James Deane knocked out Juha Rintanen while Mika Keski-Korpi capitalised on a rare mistake from Oliver Randalu to eliminate the championship leader.
– Polish drift champion Pawel Korpulinski defeated Marco Zakouril, while Tor Arne Kvia delivered a standout chase against Naoki Nakamura that stole the show and secured his spot in the Great 8.
– The Top-16 battle between brothers Conor and Jack Shanahan echoed the 2023 Finland final with Conor edging the victory, then advancing past third-place qualifier Piotr Więcek in the Great 8.
– In the Final 4, Norwegian Kvia continued his winning streak with a clean pass over Korpulinski, while Shanahan battled through a gritty semi-final against home favourite Lauri Heinonen.
– In Saturday’s final, Norway’s Kvia contested his maiden Drift Masters final against Irishman Shanahan – a previous winner in Finland – and, after two razor-sharp runs, Shanahan’s edge in control and consistency was enough to seal his first win of the 2025 season and his second PowerPark win.
– In the third-place playoff, Heinonen took the final step on the podium with a commanding run against Korpulinski to bring the Finnish crowd to their feet ahead of Round 4 at Mondello Park in Ireland from June 28-29 at one of the most iconic tracks in Europe.
