After the Formula Drift Qualifier was wrapped up in Houston… we blazed trails to Lousiana for the Import Face-Off invitational. It was gawt damed AWESOME. It was a road course that was very challenging (for underpowered cars :))… And by mid-day we were killing it. Hot lapping the entire circuit with non-stop drift madness at every corner.
Marty, Dan and I all made top 8. Marty and I both advanced once, to be eliminated. I was taken out by the 1st place finisher (mostly due to fuel cut with gas sloshed to one side), and Marty was taken out by the second place finisher… Also in a Miata.
Marty and I got to battle it out for 3rd/4th… Just like the drift expo!!1 it was AWESOME. From what we were told it was the best tandem of the day. We got SUPER close, and finished it off with some slow manji standing burnouts for the crowd to finish the day.
People at the event were SO stoked about drifting. It was really a cool day, and it totally validated all the stress, sleep deprivation, and personal anguish I put myself through in the two weeks prior to the event. It was an amazing track and an amazing day.
Next competition they run there we HAVE to go back!
Some video from the event:
Better late then never, I suppose… here’s a recap and some photos from the Formula D qualifier at Gulf Greyhound Park in Houston, TX.
Three events… Three days… Summed up: pure mayhem. The FD qualifier was a mess. Everyone was ripping it on the practice day prior to the qualifying event. There was a lot of speculation as to who was going to walk away with a license. It was looking really good for a lot of people.
THEN… it rained, turned all the dirt and sand in the lot to mud… and everyone turned on suck-mode… including myself. If it had rained, and continued raining, circumstances would have been different. But the rain had time to dry… slightly. So the track surface went from mud, to wet, to dry, to wet, to mud again – and if you hit that last patch of mud, you would completely wash off course.
I felt like I was actually running decent considering the situation… then qualifying started. I NEVER have issues with understeer. NEVER. NEVER EVER. I hadn’t understeered the entire weekend. Then by some stroke of magic (or lack thereof), I understeered three out of four runs… IN A ROW. I didn’t feel good about it at all. I knew I wouldn’t be getting a license. The thought of not getting a license didn’t bother me at all… but not quite understanding where my understeer issues came from did. I’ve since deduced that it was a combination of factors, such as tyres from Irwindale on the front (Dunlop left me high and dry on tyres) – and they moved the course in to help avoid the muddy-puddled area… which played a significant role in changing the track surface.
They only gave one FD license… To Quoc Luy in his satin black 13 hatch. A provisional license was given for the first three events to Wes Hamachi the green Garage 112 hachi. Two invites were given to the qualifier in San Diego. One to “Hachi Bill” Sherman from No Ants… And the other invite to me.
After the announcement was made we all went back out for an amazing session filled with tandem madness. It was sooo much fun. Once the pressure was taken out of the equation, and it dried up a little… People were ripping it. It was an AWESOME session!
http://www.driftday.com/fdtxqualifier_results.htm
