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This is long, but hear me out.
There are a couple of things that I have noticed over the past 3 years of drifting in the US which have led me to this conclusion.
Basically, since day 1, I have noticed that the same 20 or so drivers are always in the top 16, and when it comes down to it, there are only 12 or so drivers who actually win tandem battles and are able to move on. While there are 40-50 drivers on tour, this means that more drivers come to the events and never even have their name announced to the crowd than actually do. Furthermore, some of these drivers have made it into Top 16 on more than one occasion, but when it comes time for tandem, they're seeded against the top 4 or 5 drivers, and really have no chance. I believe there were only 2 cases this year (and none in years past) where the number 16 qualifier eliminated the number 1 qualifier. To me, this isn't fair to the drivers who spend thousands in travel costs to get almost no opportunity to showcase their skills to a packed audience. Finally, only 9 different drivers actually stepped foot on the podium this year. This is an all time high in FD history, but I think there are more than 9 drivers who dfeserve to be showcased in front of others.
Another thing which occurs is that there are also long breaks. First of all, no cars are driving on track until 12pm at any event. Additionally, even with the long qualifying process of top 32, there is often a 1.5 to 2 hour break between qualifying and top 16. I realize that this break is necessary for the teams to prepare the cars for competition, but that doesn't mean that other drivers can't be competing. In the past, some spectators have suggested that drivers who didn't make the competition come out and
What I'm hinting at is that there could be a second tier of 'competition' created. Previously, I have tried to come up with a way to split up the competition, and couldn't figure it out. But, this weekend I ran into some drifters who were visiting from Pro Drift in Ireland, and they told me how things are organized over there. Basically, there is a "Pro" division and a "Semi Pro" division, both of which compete at all of the Formula D events. They also have an "amateur" division which is basically what the Drift Day competition uses - solo runs which are judged, and the winner is determined without any tandem competition.
I think this could be applied to FD, and logistically could work.
Pro competition - normal FD comp. 16 drivers on friday + 16 top seeded drivers. I think this could almost be cut down to 20 or 25 'eligible' drivers overall, then the other drivers are allowed to compete in "semi pro"
Semi pro - basically, for people who can't compete with rhys / sam / tanner / JR / etc... these are people who are still given a chance to compete and win a 'formula d' event. You could do the same thing - must have a Formula D license to enter, but you must 'graduate' from semi-pro to pro. Maybe the top 4 or 5 drivers in the season points can move up to pro the following year. Or maybe have east / west regional winners, so that teams who can't afford to run the whole series are given an opportunity to win a 'championship' for their sponsors.
Drivers who I think would be perfect for 'semi pro' - enjuku (rob and John), Bill Sherman, Wes Hamachi, Andy Sapp, Takahiro Fujita, Al Lagura, Tony Angelo, Ryan Tuerck (he's looked awesome in practice, but hasn't gotten very far in tandems), Tony B., Hiromi, Steph Papdakis, Todd Ho, Steph Verdier, Big Smoke Schwartz, Quoc Ly, maybe Robbie Nishida, maybe ross petty, hubert young, etc. I think that a tandem competition between this level of drivers would be absolutely awesome to watch!
This does a couple of things
- gives these drivers a fair and competitive arena to compete in, in front of thousands of Formula D fans.
- gives more publicity to these drivers - I can see most magazines / media outlets running results of semi pro / pro side by side just like different divisions in drag racing are published (top fuel / funny car, or hot rod / modified in sport compact racing).
- gives more seat time and track time to these drivers.
If you're tight on time, you could run top 8 competition for the 'semi pro' division. But if you move the start time up from 12 noon to 10am, and cut the break down to 30 minutes (remember, with 2 divisions, the break between end of qualifying for 1 division and begining of tandem is still a full hour and a half or so), I think you can still fit this into the same time slot. It would be a bit more work for the judges and the track crew, but it would also be less downtime (again, can be good and bad). You still have the same number of drivers attending each event and making qualifying passes, you just add a few more tandem runs.
You would still have 50 drivers at each event. But you'd have 24 / 32 drivers driving tandem, and you have 2 seperate podiums. More tandem experience, more publicity for the not-so-funded teams, more entertainment for the fans, etc.
What does everybody think?
*again, this is my own crazy brain creating it's own crazy idea for competition, i haven't run this by Formula D or anyone else for that matter*
There are a couple of things that I have noticed over the past 3 years of drifting in the US which have led me to this conclusion.
Basically, since day 1, I have noticed that the same 20 or so drivers are always in the top 16, and when it comes down to it, there are only 12 or so drivers who actually win tandem battles and are able to move on. While there are 40-50 drivers on tour, this means that more drivers come to the events and never even have their name announced to the crowd than actually do. Furthermore, some of these drivers have made it into Top 16 on more than one occasion, but when it comes time for tandem, they're seeded against the top 4 or 5 drivers, and really have no chance. I believe there were only 2 cases this year (and none in years past) where the number 16 qualifier eliminated the number 1 qualifier. To me, this isn't fair to the drivers who spend thousands in travel costs to get almost no opportunity to showcase their skills to a packed audience. Finally, only 9 different drivers actually stepped foot on the podium this year. This is an all time high in FD history, but I think there are more than 9 drivers who dfeserve to be showcased in front of others.
Another thing which occurs is that there are also long breaks. First of all, no cars are driving on track until 12pm at any event. Additionally, even with the long qualifying process of top 32, there is often a 1.5 to 2 hour break between qualifying and top 16. I realize that this break is necessary for the teams to prepare the cars for competition, but that doesn't mean that other drivers can't be competing. In the past, some spectators have suggested that drivers who didn't make the competition come out and
What I'm hinting at is that there could be a second tier of 'competition' created. Previously, I have tried to come up with a way to split up the competition, and couldn't figure it out. But, this weekend I ran into some drifters who were visiting from Pro Drift in Ireland, and they told me how things are organized over there. Basically, there is a "Pro" division and a "Semi Pro" division, both of which compete at all of the Formula D events. They also have an "amateur" division which is basically what the Drift Day competition uses - solo runs which are judged, and the winner is determined without any tandem competition.
I think this could be applied to FD, and logistically could work.
Pro competition - normal FD comp. 16 drivers on friday + 16 top seeded drivers. I think this could almost be cut down to 20 or 25 'eligible' drivers overall, then the other drivers are allowed to compete in "semi pro"
Semi pro - basically, for people who can't compete with rhys / sam / tanner / JR / etc... these are people who are still given a chance to compete and win a 'formula d' event. You could do the same thing - must have a Formula D license to enter, but you must 'graduate' from semi-pro to pro. Maybe the top 4 or 5 drivers in the season points can move up to pro the following year. Or maybe have east / west regional winners, so that teams who can't afford to run the whole series are given an opportunity to win a 'championship' for their sponsors.
Drivers who I think would be perfect for 'semi pro' - enjuku (rob and John), Bill Sherman, Wes Hamachi, Andy Sapp, Takahiro Fujita, Al Lagura, Tony Angelo, Ryan Tuerck (he's looked awesome in practice, but hasn't gotten very far in tandems), Tony B., Hiromi, Steph Papdakis, Todd Ho, Steph Verdier, Big Smoke Schwartz, Quoc Ly, maybe Robbie Nishida, maybe ross petty, hubert young, etc. I think that a tandem competition between this level of drivers would be absolutely awesome to watch!
This does a couple of things
- gives these drivers a fair and competitive arena to compete in, in front of thousands of Formula D fans.
- gives more publicity to these drivers - I can see most magazines / media outlets running results of semi pro / pro side by side just like different divisions in drag racing are published (top fuel / funny car, or hot rod / modified in sport compact racing).
- gives more seat time and track time to these drivers.
If you're tight on time, you could run top 8 competition for the 'semi pro' division. But if you move the start time up from 12 noon to 10am, and cut the break down to 30 minutes (remember, with 2 divisions, the break between end of qualifying for 1 division and begining of tandem is still a full hour and a half or so), I think you can still fit this into the same time slot. It would be a bit more work for the judges and the track crew, but it would also be less downtime (again, can be good and bad). You still have the same number of drivers attending each event and making qualifying passes, you just add a few more tandem runs.
You would still have 50 drivers at each event. But you'd have 24 / 32 drivers driving tandem, and you have 2 seperate podiums. More tandem experience, more publicity for the not-so-funded teams, more entertainment for the fans, etc.
What does everybody think?
*again, this is my own crazy brain creating it's own crazy idea for competition, i haven't run this by Formula D or anyone else for that matter*
Maybe my opinion is biased but its what I have experienced.
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