FORMULA D Seattle (Aug. 21st PRESS RELEASE)

[INFO]

By Formula D

August 21, 2006
Wow, what a weekend! If anyone thought the Northwest was not ready for Formula D, boy would they be wrong. Walking away from this event, some people said it was the best ever.

First, the weekend begins as current points leader Samuel Hubinette was not in practice. Apparently during some testing, Samuel has engine issues and reportedly blew his motor. Would he make it back, could he make it back? Second place in points, Rhys Millen has his own issues. First his Team RMR were air-shipping a new motor to the track for installation only to have their vehicle transport blow a turbo and get stuck on the side of the road on the way up. Team RMR in all their glory, found a U-Haul and towed the 2005 Champion's Pontiac GTO to Monroe. All this before the 5th round of the Need For Speed Formula Drift Championship kicked off.

In the competition, all would see some huge occurrences and new faces in the mix. First, it would be Taka Aono who with the fastest qualifying entry speed all day took his first ever #1 Qualifying position. Dai Yoshihara had one shot to qualify as he had engine issues on he first attempt and did not even leave the line. He punished hard but spun and number four in points would have to call it a day. Surprisingly another top drifter, Tyler McQuarrie pushing too hard just could not find his way into the top 16 and spun as well. Everyone was really impressed with Yokinubo Okubo's consistency and speed in qualifying and as he would show later it was no fluke. Here are the rest of the Top 16:

1. Aono 96.33
2. Okubo 96.17
3. Millen 96 (faster speed)
4. Gittin Jr. 96
5. Foust 95.83
6. Canul 94.67
7. Hubinette 93.83
8. Yamamoto 92.83
9. Forsberg 92.50
10. Sumida 90.83
11. Gushi 90.50
12. Yamanaka 90.33
13. Nishida 88.83
14. Ho 88.33
15. Wan 88.17
16. Angelo 85.83


Tandems would face off some interesting battles. Making his first top 16 appearance in some time would be Drift Alliance team member Tony Angelo. He took on tope qualifier Taka Aono and upset the little Hachi moving on to his first Great 8. Next would be Seigo Yamamoto and Falken member Chris Forsberg. Seigo was able to take out the V-8 and move on. Another team battle, JR Gittin and Robbie Nishida would take out two Falken drivers early on as JR's big Mustang took out Nishida. On we continue as Mr. Consistency of late, Tanner Foust needed a One More Time to knock off the solid JIC Driver Kenji Yamanaka in a VERY close and controversial battle. As Top 16 moved on we would see Okubo take out Calvin Wan, Millen knock out first time top entrant Todd Ho and Samuel Hubinette would take out Hiro Sumida. Samuel's team was able to fix the Viper but never got to practice on the previous day. He came out on game day and made Top 16, a tribute to his talent. Finally, it would be Casper Canul taking out Ken Gushi top cap off the Top 16.

Top 8 brought more carnage and more unreal battles...... Tony Angelo's luck ran dry as Seigo Yamamoto, driving as a mad man just kept pushing and sent Tony home. Tanner, though he was easily one of the crowd favorites and just killing it all day was stopped at Top 8 by and equally impressive JR. Gittin. JR was charging so hard every run and it showed as he once again made it deep into the competition. Putting BFG up against BFG, we would see Hubinette take on Okubo and with the fastest entry speed all day even faster than qualifying, Okubo would knock out the current points leader and send Sam home. With Millen going in the next round this really put the pressure on him to beat Casper if he wants a chance to gain some ground on Samuel for the Championship. THis battle was a repaet of the Sonoma final in which Rhys was victorious. Well, Rhys did hold off the red-hot Canul and advanced to the Top 4.

Ok, so now there is Yamamoto and Gittin and Okubo and Millen. Wow! Unfortunately for JR, Team Falken and all his fans, would not make it to the line for his battle against Yamamoto and was pushed out to the Consolation Round to face the loser of Okubo and Millen.

Okubo kept on his hot streak and beat Millen in the Top 4 for pushing Rhys to meet JR. It is not an easy task to take out Mad Skills Millen so it is to be understood how powerful and strong Okubo was driving this weekend. As fate would have it, the clock on JR's second five minute allotment would come to an end and JR would lose two consecutive battles by not coming to the line. Tough break. This would give Millen three consecutive podium finishes as he guaranteed himself third place.

The final. First, there may have never been a more exciting final round in Formula D history. Yamamoto and Okubo. Okubo took and early advantage as he pushed Seigo's limits and set himself up for his first ever FD win. However as the second half of the battle begun, it was Okubo pushing so hard that he came inside on the bank and passed Seigo in an incredible move, one not seen before in competition. The crowd was in a complete frenzy. After discussion, the judges were clear that that was an illegal pass made by Okubo and it set-up the first Japanese FD final to go for a One More Time. Okubo, strong again, had a slight advantage as he battled Seigo in the first half of the the run. One the second half of the run, Seigo pushing so hard as he knew he had to out duel Okubo hit the outer bank and popped back down on the course and was t-bone by Okubo. Both cars crunched into each other and created an amazing spectacle and an expensive mess. Okubo, seemingly not fazed by the crash plowed right through and finished his run. The crowd in utter amazement were rabid with excitement and exploded like a bomb being dropped into Monroe. It was amazing.

As the dust settled and all drivers were pronounced safe and clear the awards ceremony capped off a huge day as the judges awarded Okubo the win with Yamamoto taking second and Rhys Millen taking home the bronze.

Stay tuned for more Formula D action as FD heads East to Wall Speedway on September 9th

[GranMastrDrift]

Whats more amazing is the the final heated battle that ended in a mind blowing run wouldnt have happend if the judges did not do a "one more time" glad they did!

[conspire]

By Formula Dit was Okubo pushing so hard that he came inside on the bank and passed Seigo in an incredible move, one not seen before in competition. The crowd was in a complete frenzy. After discussion, the judges were clear that that was an illegal pass made by Okubo and it set-up the first Japanese FD final to go for a One More Time.

I wasn't there, but if you watch this video, and jump to 3:00 minutes in, I don't see how the pass was ruled illegal. Can anyone shed more light into this ruling? The video shows the lead driver go off line, with no contact, and hit the barriers.

[Slapshotnerd]

Alex Pfeiffer has long been an opponent to passing. remember, this isn't a timed motorsport. You shouldn't be forced to take a 'protective' line, you should always try and take the more difficult "gangster" line. Okubo was much much lower on the bank than Seigo was, that's why he was able to pass him. Had Okubo taken the high line like he was instructed to do in the drivers meeting, then there was no room to pass.

Formula D has made a big push this year to let the drivers know that they want an outside line, and no passing in tandems. Therefore, any / all passes made where the other driver did not spin out are considered 'illegal'.

[D1 DRIFTER]

i agree there was no contact and seigo went off line!

[conspire]

remember, this isn't a timed motorsport.

I understand the concept of the sport.

Had Okubo taken the high line like he was instructed to do in the drivers meeting, then there was no room to pass.
Formula D has made a big push this year to let the drivers know that they want an outside line, and no passing in tandems. Therefore, any / all passes made where the other driver did not spin out are considered 'illegal'.

this is the answer i was looking for.

[GranMastrDrift]

Yea i like that, it makes it a bit more reasuring that you are not gonna get by some guy trying to pass you

[slideways2004]

i kind of like the no passing rule b/c some guys make there lines to where they can easilly pass. in tandem the point is to follow closely not pass. Now passing when someone is going off line is very controversial b/c in FD a lot of people have different views on identifying "lines". some people think that if you're sideways, you're in line. and some people think that a strcit line is to be followed

[Rob Fleming]

from my perspective okubo's low line made seigo go offline. Okubo was not exploiting a mistake by Seigo, he created one IMHO. Regardless the runs are insane and Okubo and Seigo both stepped the game up a lot.

[lookoutmike]

my 2 cents.

not having to be protective of the line is a joke. what would drive someone to be better or take a bigger risk ie late braking deep into a corner or taking a rapid outside move? where is the sport if there is no defense? the fact that it isn't timed has no bearing, the goal is still to go as fast as possible while drifting. pressure from the following driver is supposed to make you go offline, hence "battle" if you want to be lame and call it that. the better more aggressive driver will be able to force a mistake by taking a different line. the fact that the lead driver went offline and subsequently off course is much more of a penalty than being off line in the first place. forcing the one more time caused the lead driver to spin and crash into the following driver. now i know thats what all the lame fans want to see, but i would rather see a crash caused by aggressive driving and a close match than a lame spin. and from a drivers' standpoint (i know im not FD elite) but even though i pay for every cent of my car, i still push as hard as i can crash or not. and please don't ever use the term "gangster" to describe anything in motorsport again.

[lookoutdriftmik]

my 2 cents.

not having to be protective of the line?? are you kidding?? having to protect the line is part of performance driving. what would drive someone to be better, faster or take a bigger risk ie late braking deep into a corner or taking a rapid outside/inside move? where is the sport if there is no defense? the fact that it isn't timed has no bearing, the goal is still to go as fast as possible while drifting. pressure from the following driver is supposed to make you go offline, hence "battle" if you want to be lame and call it that. the better more aggressive driver will be able to force a mistake by taking a different line. the fact that the lead driver went offline and subsequently off course is much more of a penalty than being off line in the first place. forcing the one more time caused the lead driver to spin and crash into the following driver. now i know thats what all the lame fans want to see, but i would rather see a crash caused by aggressive driving and a close match than a lame spin. and from a drivers' standpoint (i know im not FD elite) but even though i pay for every cent of my car, i still push as hard as i can crash or not. illegal pass should be confined to contact. and slapshotnerd, please don't ever use the term "gangster" to describe anything in motorsport again.

[Rob Fleming]

I whole heartedly disagree. Best moments in drifting are two cars door to door at 90mph through a turn. The judges encourage us to take a baller line around the course. If we're playing a game of 'block the pass' then I promise the drifting will not look as exciting.

In this situation, if I was Seigo, I would prolly have cut back because had I stayed the line I would have lit Okubo (okubo invaded his line).

Watch D1. D1 has always been awesome. Its not a game of 'sneak the pass'. Its poor sportsmanship/driver control, and should not be praised.

[my 1 88 u]

Alex Pfeiffer has long been an opponent to passing. remember, this isn't a timed motorsport. You shouldn't be forced to take a 'protective' line, you should always try and take the more difficult "gangster" line. Okubo was much much lower on the bank than Seigo was, that's why he was able to pass him. Had Okubo taken the high line like he was instructed to do in the drivers meeting, then there was no room to pass.

Formula D has made a big push this year to let the drivers know that they want an outside line, and no passing in tandems. Therefore, any / all passes made where the other driver did not spin out are considered 'illegal'.

I hate that American drifting has adopted the word "Ganster" into its vocabulary. But if you must, a gangster is someone who takes are does what they want irregardless of the rules, ie. taking someones line and passing them when they were instructed not to.

[my 1 88 u]

I whole heartedly disagree. Best moments in drifting are two cars door to door at 90mph through a turn. The judges encourage us to take a baller line around the course. If we're playing a game of 'block the pass' then I promise the drifting will not look as exciting.

In this situation, if I was Seigo, I would prolly have cut back because had I stayed the line I would have lit Okubo (okubo invaded his line).

Watch D1. D1 has always been awesome. Its not a game of 'sneak the pass'. Its poor sportsmanship/driver control, and should not be praised.

Watching a Ueo in his AE86 passing Taniguchis S15 on the inside, then NOB crashing on the next run because of the pressure will forever be the most memorable moment in American drifting. Passing with angle and smoke > Close tandems

[lookoutdriftmik]

how is taking someones line and making a clean drifting pass poor sportsmanship and driver control? every other form of motorsport praises the driver with the ability to do what he does, pass and keep on. if anything, that driver can manipulate the car better, pick a line and go with it. and as for D1, guess what it's not D1. i mean, in the beginning, it was great to try and emulate it, but to me, in the 7 years ive been drifting and watching drifting, it has gotten boring (except when im behind the wheel which isnt often lately). its time to step it up. its like listening to the same old U2 album over and over and quite frankly, if it doesnt change it will stagnate. the drivers with the skill (and there are many) to pass cleanly and drift at the same time (and right there is your definition for "illegal pass"), should be able to, proving they can run with the big boys, if you cant defend your line like in every other form of motorsport (and here we can define drifting as a motorsport for good and not a joke like many would like to believe) then maybe you should drop down and practice a bit more. I just dont want this sport that i love to go the way of touring cars in america, and road racing, and open wheel racing etc...in that its great overseas and there is a cult following but due to cultural differences here, cannot succeed but for so long at the highest level. to survive it must evolve, american style. and if you arent in it for the long haul (this goes for everyone) get out now because there are many people who are and you are taking up spots. and this post post is now TOTALLY off topic. maybe it should be its own thread.

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