Michael Essa is an American drifter and racing driver who competed in the

Formula D Formula DRIFT (also known as Formula D or FD) is an American drifting series, and was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that introduced D1 Grand Prix to the ...

series, winning the championship in 2013 in a

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mod ...

Career

Essa started his career in autocross racing at the age of 16. He has also worked as a precision driver and advisor for the entertainment industry. In 2009, Essa joined the Formula D drifting series roster. He has driven a variety of different cars in his drift career, including a

Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front mid engine, Rear-wheel drive, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car, manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 through 2002 across three generations, all of which incorporated the use of a compact, light ...

BMW E92 M3 The fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive cars is designated under the model codes E90 (saloon), E91 (estate, marketed as 'Touring'), E92 (coupé) and E93 (convertible). The model was introduced in December 2004, and p ...

BMW Z4 The BMW Z models are a line of roadsters manufactured by German automaker BMW. The Z stands for ''Zukunft'' (German for ''future''), and has been produced in four different series with six generations consisting of roadster, coupé, sports car, a ...

and a BMW E46 M3. He has won a championship and became the first privateer to become a Formula Drift Champion. In the 2015 season, Essa switched to a

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...

. Essa then switched back to a BMW E46 M3 for 2016 onwards. In January 2023, Essa officially announced his departure from Formula D after 14 years. Since then he has become a part of Daily Driven Exotics YouTube channel, where he applies his skills and expertise on various projects such as rebuilding a modified

McLaren 720S The McLaren 720S is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. It is the second all-new car in the McLaren ''Super Series'', replacing the 650S beginning in May 2017. The 720S was launched at t ...

and applying custom modifications to Ferrari F12.

References

Drifting drivers Living people Formula D drivers Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-autoracing-bio-stub Racing drivers from Los Angeles