SAMUEL HUBINETTE, Formula D Atlanta WINNER

[slide]

sorry i was thinking about this in the shower...this is the second time that sam got this event under a cloud of contraversy (or however you spell it) that sucks, why did i love new jersey so much? not because sam got put out, no it was because i believed in what was going down, all the drivers, teams, and spectators were on the same page, this time around it was so far from that......

WHY DIDNT ROSS PETTY QUALIFY??? MR. #1 qualifying driver from friday, MR. Crowd Pleaser, MR I'll do it again cause i've been doing it all weekend long......

what happened out there this weekend.....

this is not a biased opinion either, all the drivers, teams, judges, formula d guys etc. are my friends regardless of sponsorship, team affliation, color of skin, bodily odor, yea all that crap, im saying this cause it wasnt right and i can point you to a ton of people who feel the same way...from all across the pits...but whatever its in the past, lets just get the judging thing figured out, and go ripp at Formula D Rd. 3 its in Houston if i remember...you know what taka and sam would have been a prime example to the masses as to WHY and how an underpowered slower car can point you to the better driver(in battle)....and that is what drifting is about how well a person DRIVES there car, the effort Taka put in was phenominal...

calvin, rhys, dai, sam, jr, alex, bubba drift, casper, HUBERT, tony a., ROSS, TAKA, seigo, gushi, everyone drove their hearts out, the competition was insane, no one knew how the best 16 would be selected really EVERYONE is of fire now

Thank you again formula d for giving us a place to rip, G4 I want the videos now!!! Thanks MITCH WE LOVE YOU, and i personally want to ride a motorcycle through road atlanta so bad it hurts...

i need another shower.......

[kaneda3]

(I swear I'm gonna start a "Dumb J-Rod Quote" thread)

please do
i have many from nj

[Octagon]

You, me, and a whole lot of other folks would have liked to see Taka win just on general principles, but it's not our call.

Formula Drift pays guys to make the call, sometimes their calls don't make as much sense as other times but they do their job.

Let's be reasonable folks (before some Japanophile zealots start waving their JDM flags and pointing to some grand DaimlerChrysler/SCCA conspiracy) and realize that this is a judged sport. Purely subjective judging based on a few immeasurable guidelines.

You want measurements that will take away the subjective guesswork? Then it becomes a race, a technical excercise, and the focus goes right to engineering. All of the things you "drifters" rail against so fiercely.

Do Sam's tactics violate some code of drifting ethics? I don't know. No one has bothered to write them into a rulebook. Is Sam concentrating solely on winning events? Of course. This is a professional motorsport. If you don't win, you don't get to pay the bills. Should there be rules and a code of conduct for drivers?

Sure, if you want a big nebulous phrase like NASCAR has; Actions Detrimental to the Sport of Motor Racing.

So what's my point in all of this? In summary, this: The "Spirit of Drifting" that every one preaches about is exactly what gives rise to these sorts of situations. You cannot change the rulebook to prevent this situation (and, to be frightfully honest, I think the real "situation" is another Hubinette win. End of story) without compromising the real spirit of drifting.

Either turn drifting into "racing" to prevent judging cockups, or accept that judges can make bad calls. We've all seen referees miss fouls, right?

[cfrost]

Do Sam's tactics violate some code of drifting ethics? I don't know.

I do know, the answer is YES. I don't like the way he drives, he simply doesn't get it when it comes to drifting....I remember seeing a video of him vs. alex pfeiffer in his black corolla, and that stupid viper gripped half of the course while alex was drifting it.

I think sam h. is a good driver, but he just doesn't GET IT when it comes to drifting IMO. It seems like everyone else understands the unwritten law about not gripping half of the course while your competitor in front drifts the rest of it.

[Ghost of Duluth]

Sounds like last year. But this year Sam has good, non-grip drifts and made the cut. You guys don't agree with the decision, but it wasn't your decision to make so nothing you can really do about it. The Corolla did a fine job but in the end, it didn't make it. It couldn't link the turn coming out of the horseshoe and unfortunately that was the track layout so that was the track they judged. He wasn't powerful enough to make it. You guys are all up in arms about it being unfair to the Corolla but do you honestly think they are going to modify tracks like Road Atlanta just so that Corollas can have a fair go at it against mondo power cars? Nope. Because the professional side of the sport is shifting away from the older, lower horsepower cars. They are going towards the Big power, big money cars and that is what seperates the men from the boys. It gives the up and comers something to shoot for.

Road Atlanta is a track for big power. If you know that coming into the event, plan for it.

Tony A made it because (in my opinion) they stressed over and over on all his runs that he was NOT in HIS car. He was in a borrowed car that he was not used too and went out there and made a good first judged. So point to Tony and he moved on. The judging on a Formula D event ALWAYS comes under fire after an event. Same thing happened last year, this year and pretty much all events. It all goes back to having Japanese judges presiding over an American event.

Also, I agree, that announcer wanted me to gouge my eyes out.

[driftersil80]

Wait...im confused. Who are the judges??? Are they American or Japanese?

[Ghost of Duluth]

There were 2 Japanese and one American if memory serves me correctly.

I also thought that track official was gonna throw that flag at Tarzan when he kept going and going. That guy almost had a heart attack.

[balmo]

wow, there is a lot of sentiment that taka should have won. i gotta see this in g4.

[Pruto]

I wasn't there so i don't know, but the point of having higher power cars is to drift longer and faster NOT to out drag your opponent, that is bull, the judges should have seen it IF it did happen.

People were complaining that Sam did the same thing at NJ, dragging vs his opponents, if there is multiple complaints, then there might be some truth to it.

also, stop your bitching about why so and so didn't make it into the top 16, it is the top 16, there is a limit of the number of people in the top 16, hence... top 16.

so if you want to say so and so should have made it, say who he should have replaced in the top 16, and why. so and so is my boooyeee is not a valid reason.

and people, drifting is NOT racing. the point isn't the fastest way to the finish, style matters, that is why people CAN drive a 20 year old car, and that fact SHOULD be taken into consideration. If someone can drift just as well with a handicap such as a weaker car, he gets the nod, either in tandem or in qualifying.

[SageCraft]

Hey All,

Here is a link to the "Ask Samuel Hubinette" topic. All who feel he is driving unfairly should maybe talk to him. It's available. That's the beauty of the internet.

http://www.drifting.com/forums/showt...8&page=1&pp=15

I'm always routing for my fellow corolla drivers. It's too bad the judges didn't agree with the majority of the fans. Maybe they were seeing something the audience could not? I wasn't there, but hopefully someone will post a vid or some pics. Anyways, that's it from me.

SageCraft@hotmail.com
Jonny

[zdss14]

haha all this "contraversy" just makes drifting even more interesting and exciting, it's just on big soap opera, and sams some how been made into the bad guy, and i like the idea of writing the unwritten rules down, just don't make them actualy FD/D1 rules, because if they are violated it just makes the violater look like more of a b!tch, and they wont do it again.

[tony speed]

i don't know. when i saw the japanese drift at irwindale for the d1 first round and all the high-hp cars recognized that the 86 was severely under-powered and would wait up for the ae86 at the start. it's not a race, its a test of skill. there were unwritten rules of sportsmanship that were followed cause it was about respect.

the reason the judges keep saying 1 more time is unknown to me, but it needs to stop. as far as i know, americans invented one more time at d1 last year because of sam's battles in the supra. do they do it in japan as well? 4 one more times is a bit too much.

[Slapshotnerd]

the reason the judges keep saying 1 more time is unknown to me, but it needs to stop. as far as i know, americans invented one more time at d1 last year because of sam's battles in the supra. do they do it in japan as well? 4 one more times is a bit too much.

http://www.hksusa.com/info/?id=2776

The finals were a renewal of one of the classic D1 Grand Prix Rivalries, Taniguchi the 2001 D1 Grand Prix Series Champion vs. Katsuhiro Ueo the 2002 Champion. During the first run Taniguchi under-steered and Ueo spun his Toyota AE86, so the run was deemed a tie. The 2nd run was too close to call so a sudden death battle was called for. In sudden death Taniguchi and Ueo were simply amazing neither driver was willing to concede to the other. They ran a total of five sudden death battles! In the final battle with Taniguchi chasing there was a loud "bang" which came from the HKS IS220-R on the third turn. Sparks flew from the undercarriage and the car stopped on the track. Since the Odaiba track is normally a parking lot, there are many bumps and dips. Due to these harsh conditions, the drive shaft snapped which gave Taniguchi no choice but to retire. Ueo took first place.

5 "one more times". It's not an American thing...

[my 1 88 u]

also, stop your bitching about why so and so didn't make it into the top 16, it is the top 16, there is a limit of the number of people in the top 16, hence... top 16.

so if you want to say so and so should have made it, say who he should have replaced in the top 16, and why. so and so is my boooyeee is not a valid reason.

if you read my freakin post you'ld see I say Tony A should not of made it in.

[hatebbobbarker]

wasnt there and havent seen it on TV so all im going to say is that it SOUNDS like hubinette was racing the course and not drifting it?
oh well, ill be at the 2 california ones and watch