Round 2: Road to the Championship Top 32 Round by Round Blog

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Foust vs Waldin – Waldin’s blows out his motor on the first run and Foust moves on to the next round.

Ng vs Gushi – Ng on first run takes it into the wall on the first turn and Gushi takes 2 wheels off course on the horseshoe. Gushi makes it to the Top 16.

Forsberg vs Martinez – Forsberg has a good run, while the rookie Martinez struggles to keep up and keep a clean line on the first run. Forsberg chases and Martinez has a better run, but Forsberg is right there with him. Forsberg advances.

S. Hubinette vs. D. VanDenBrink – Sam leads and Doug chases. Sam keeps a solid line and Doug does his best to keep up with the Challenger on the first run. Doug leads and Sam keeps on his door even while Doug corrects on the first sweeper. Sam Hubinette moves on.

Yoshihara vs Whiddett – Yoshihara leads and Whiddett chases and straightens up on the first run on the horseshoe. Whiddett leads and Yoshihara chases through the horseshoe as Whiddett goes off course. Yoshihara maintains his door to door chase even as Whiddett loses his bumper. Yoshihara gets the win.

Mordaunt vs McQuarrie – Mordaunt leads and McQuarrie chases and loses his angle and straightens up in the horseshoe giving the advantage to Mordaunt. Good 2nd run by both drivers. McQuarrie can’t overcome the mistake from the first run and Mordaunt moves on to the Top 16.

Millen vs Parkhouse – Millen leads and Parkhouse chases behind the past champion. Parkhouse has difficulties chasing the Genesis Coupe in the first run. Parkhouse with a good first half of the 2nd run, but then spins in the horseshoe against Millen. Millen gets the win.

McNamara vs Aono – McNamara leads with his V8 powered Saturn Sky while the AE86 Corolla piloted by Aono chases. McNamara creates a large gap between the 2 cars in the first run. Aono leads and spins on the first turn giving the win to McNamara.

Tuerck vs Mertzanis – Tuerck leads and keeps a solid run, while Mertzanis creating a large gap. Tuerck was a little off the first clipping point on that first run. Standard second run from both drivers, but Tuerck pushes through and moves on.

Mohan vs Petty – Mohan leads and Petty chases and stays door to door through the horseshoe. Great first run! Petty leads and Mohan chases. Petty creates a gap between the two cars through the 2nd run. Petty gets the win.

Gittin vs Takatori – Gittin leads and creates a gap through the course against Takatori. Both had a clean run. Takatori leads and Gittin chases closely. Gittin applies pressure and sticks to Takatori’s bumper. Gittin advances.

Maeng vs Kearney – Maeng leads and Kearney chases closely but straightens up on the clipping point on the first run. We are hearing in the judging tower that Kearney has broken an axel. Maeng automatically advances.

Grunewald vs Wang – Grunewald leads and Wang chases. Grunewald lays down a lot of smoke and Wang chases through and has a small correction. Wang leads the second run and Grunewald follows and catches up and shadows the lead car. Grunewald gets the win from the judges.

Miki vs Pawlak – Miki leads and Pawlak chases very close behind. Miki has great angle and Pawlak does a good job sticking close to the RX8. Pawlak leads on the 2nd run and Miki chases. Good run by both drivers. The judges check the replay before making a decision. Pawlak gets the win.

Essa vs Verdier – Essa leads and Verdier chases. Clean run by both. Verdier leads and Essa chases…mistake from Verdier. Essa gets the win in the BMW.

Nishida vs Powers – Nishida leads and Powers chases the GTR. Clean run. Powers leads and creates a little gap. Both transition cleanly through the horseshoe and Powers loses his rear bumper on the last turn. Each judge says something different and it goes to the first One More Time of the evening.

Nishida leads the first OMT run and Powers maintains a close chase. Powers leads and Nishida chases. Both have a clean run and Powers has a shallow line. Nishida moves on to the Top 16.

We will have a short half-time break before opening ceremonies and the Top 16 competition. We come back at 7PM (eastern standard time).

Round 2: Proving Ground Top 32 Qualifying Results

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Here are the results for Formula DRIFT Round 2: Proving Ground Top 32 Qualifying. These are the drivers that will make it to the main event day tomorrow. The event times are 10AM to 10PM at Road Atlanta.

Qualifying Order / Driver / Car # / Qualifying Score

1 T. Foust 1 88.5
2 D. Yoshihara 9 88.1
3 D. McNamara 8 87.8
4 R. Miki 26 87.5
5 S. Hubinette 77 86.7
6 R. Millen 6 86.5
7 S. Verdier 12 85.8
8 V. Gittin 25 85.3
9 R. Tuerck 44 80
10 J. Pawlak 13 79.8
11 R. Nishida 31 79.4
12 C. Forsberg 64 79.4
13 T. McQuarrie 17 78.8
14 R. Petty 808 74.55
15 J. Maeng 51 73.9
16 M. Takatori 23 73.8
17 K. Gushi 5 72.4
18 D. VanDenBrink 19 69
19 K. Yamanaka 7 67.7
20 M. Essa 101 61.75
21 C. Kregorian 14 61
22 B. Wilkerson 28 59.9
23 M. Waldin 24 59
24 C. Canul 30 58
25 T. Aono 86 57.9
26 T. Brakohiapa 18 57.3
27 T. Suell 777 56.9
28 J. Jones 29 54.2
29 J. Wagner 412 52.2
30 C. Rydquist 46 52
31 P. Mordaunt 90 48.5
32 C. Wan 3 43.5

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Congratulations to Tanner Foust the top qualifier!

RD 1: Streets of Long Beach Top 32

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After the first day of the Round 1: Streets of Long Beach event we have the Top 32 qualifiers. Top 32 is new for this season and will bring a lot of drifting action and more excitement to an already spectacular event. Congrats to Chris Forsberg, the #1 qualifier and winner of last year’s Round 1 event!

Tomorrow’s Main Event should shape up to be an interesting and exciting drifting event. Come check it out if you’re in the area, tickets are still available.

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FD Announces New 32 Car Head-to-Head Format

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Formula DRIFT Announces New 32 car Head-to-Head Competition Format for 2009 Season

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Long Beach, Calif. – March 16, 2009 – Formula DRIFT will be implementing a Top 32 tandem competition format for the 2009 season. The Top 32 tandem format will replace the Top 16 format previously used in an effort to appeal to the fans. The new competition format will be used starting at Round 1: Streets of Long Beach on April 10-11.

The Top 32 tandem competition format will pit the Top 32 drivers in a round-by-round elimination with each driver advancing to the next round. Each round’s head-to-head battles will be determined by the drivers’ qualifying score. The higher qualifying score will receive a higher position, with the highest qualifier receiving the #1 spot and lowest qualifier receiving the #32 spot. The #1 and #32 positioned drivers will then compete in a head-to-head battle and the tandem competitions will continue until the finale and a winner will be determined.

“From our experience hosting the Red Bull Drifting World Championship in 2008, the 32 car tandem format seemed the most exciting,” states Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “As ambassadors for the sport, it is our responsibility to push the sport’s limits and keep it as exciting for the fans as possible and we feel this new format will give the fans more action during a Formula DRIFT event.”

The new format provides fans with more tandem competition throughout the event day, something fans want to see more of. The larger bracket will allow for more diverse match ups of drivers that may have never competed against each other.

“Drivers will have to strategize and plan effectively to make it further into the competition,” states Tanner Foust, Formula DRIFT 2007 & 2008 champion. “As a driver we will have to expect the unexpected not knowing the skills of the other driver. For the fans there will be more action and excitement with the Top 32.”