Today, much like any other Vegas day in the summer, had a temperature up in the triple digits again. Normally I would stay indoors on a day like this, but I was on a mission, and that mission was known as Formula D. It has been well over three years since I attended my last Formula Drift event, which happened to be Round 1 in Long Beach in 2007. So naturally, I was very excited to be back in the states attending this venue. I figured I would dust off my old camera, brave the heat, and just get out there and have some fun. One of my good friends from Japan, who is also back in the states now, was able to drive up from Arizona to catch the event with me.
As usual we arrived entirely too early for the event. Somehow, though, we were let in by security and got to hang out with some of the drivers and pit crews before the practice session kicked off. At around 6:30pm, when the main competition began, the place was bustling with tons of race queens, a ridiculous amount of vendors, and a huge crowd. The competition itself was fantastic and it felt good to be back in a professional drifting environment. The driver’s were really on-point this round and they put on a great show for all of the fans. Late into the night the battle raged on but in the end only three were able to claim a spot on the FD podium:
1st Place – Tyler McQuarrie
2nd Place – Daijiro Yoshihara
3rd Place – Vaughn Gittin Jr.
This round was also a special event for the Formula Drift series. It was being held in conjunction with the final round of Vegas ProAm. The ProAm driver’s competed on the professional course to see who would come out victorious in this 4th and final round. Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis, who finished 1st in both Rounds 1 and 3 of the ProAm, ended up at the top of the podium after all of the series points were tallied. Being the series champ, Odi was awarded a professional Formula Drift license and he already plans to be competing in the 2011 season. Second and Third place were invited to the Formula Drift ProAm nationals to continue in their efforts to get that coveted FD license.
- Erik Elder
Footage from Round 2 of the Dynamite Drift Competition held at Motorland SP in Nanbu, Japan on the 21st of June.
Our friend Donnie ended up taking second in the beginner class, congrats to him! The winner of the expert class turned out to be the japanese guy driving the red S15 Silvia.
I had a great time going out there to film this event. It was actually the first Dynamite Drift event that i had ever been too. The weather forecast said we were expecting rain, but in the end i came home with a nasty sunburn and a whole lot of decent footage. I can’t wait until Round 3!
-Erik Elder
Here is some footy i got from the pits during the D1 demo at TAS back in January.
- Erik Elder
