10. The Weekend Just Lacked Any Positive Narratives

You know in sports when some miracle happens and they use that tacky cliche “you couldn’t even script this or write this…”? Well, I do hate that cliche because people can write about aliens, unicorns, and flying cars so putting together a compelling sports narrative with a shocking finish does’t seem that far fetched. This weekend of Formula Drift was the opposite of all that hype and lacked any real positive narratives.

The rain made drifting so slow and robbed us of smoke that we would of been just as entertained watching drivers draw straws to get a win. The home grown hero who cut his teeth at Orlando Speed World known as Pat Goodin couldn’t even qualify due to some car troubles giving this weekend the final nail in a miserable coffin.

9. Pro 2 Has Promise for 2015

Even with the bad weather conditions and a track that seemed hell bent on preventing good tandem drifting I saw that the Pro 2 ranks were far more entertaining than last season. I won’t make a bold proclamation about the Pro 2 season until I see them run at Seattle, but I do really like the builds and some drivers that have come out of the wood work for Pro 2 in 2015. The whole operation seems far more professional and relevant than its first season which I enjoy and shows potential for Pro 2 in the future.

8. Yokoi and his Car Are Growing into Formula Drift

Yokoi and his S15 Silvia look like night and day compared from his driving in Long Beach to Orlando. If it wasn’t for the wild fire coming out of his fuel system (more on that down at #4) in a battle versus Ryan Tuerck I think he could of won that battle and possibly became the event winner. Before going out in the Great 8 he managed to beat #1 in points Odi Bakchis in a Road Atlanta rematch. He also made pretty easy work of potential champion Fredric Aasbo in Top 32.

7. Matt Field is Going to Find A Victory This Year

Geez, Matt Field just continues to impress me over and over again. His insane V8 engine swap with a Vortech Supercharger is a little on the unique side in this drift world of turbo kits but it really seems to be getting the job done. The poor guy has finished in 4th place twice now which might mean he needs to work on his qualifying performance more than anything else. He could already have two podiums this year with a better qualifying result. Field currently sits 6th in the championship and would be much higher without a terrible finish at Road Atlanta. I think he is going to win something before the season comes to an end.

6. Orlando Speed World Not Built for Tandem and Parking Wasn’t Free?

Apparently since Formula Drift was coming to town last weekend the track opted to get its scam on and put that “Free” parking clearly listed on the website (click here / I screen capped it in case they remove it) to be not so free because the website forgot the * until Formula Drift shows up asterisk. Several people confirmed they were charged $10 to park which means they probably extorted a good $75,000+ from the local drift fans. Icing on the cake is that the fans who had to pay for free parking also got stuck in a huge queue running miles down the road making them miss some of the event.

The competitive element of drifting was grossly lacking all weekend across Pro and Pro 2. The large “hump” in the middle of the track seemed to prevent people staying close together over and over again. The sheer percentage of successful tandem battles was so low you almost couldn’t really consider it a tandem drift event. A gross lack of media locations and the fact some fan got hit by Yokoi’s wing just makes this place the new worst track on the circuit I am afraid. My guess is it can probably get better in the future because I cannot imagine how it could get much worse.



5. Ryan Tuerck’s Run To Victory Lacked Good Battles

The first sample of this is shown in this video which you can skip to about :30 in the video to see the controversial moments from the LiveStream. Kristaps Bluss clearly slides up into Ryan Tuerck’s lane but it is hard to make a case that he impacted Ryan’s run since Tuerck was in front of Bluss. Ryan Tuerck crashed into the wall and broke some rear suspension parts causing him to stop before the run ended. The terrible camera angles struck again on this one because from angle it looks like the two drivers make contact which later was confirmed did not happen. Bluss was determined at fault so Tuerck was able to advance based on the rulebook. Dean Kearney spun at the finish line, Yokoi went up in flames, and Forsberg couldn’t get his engine to start for the 1st place battle. Not exactly the pinnacle of drift entertainment…..

4. Why Are So Many Cars Catching on Fire?

Maybe I should change the title of this story to 10 Questions I have About Formula Drift Orlando Speedway because I was left more confused than informed through the race day. Yokoi lost a battle to Ryan Tuerck due to this insane fire pictured above. He was red flagged and the staff put out his pretty serious fire. Just minutes later Ken Gushi made contact with Chris Forsberg and he wound up in flames as well. So I’ve determined either we are rigging Formula Drift to turn into WWE with pyrotechnics or we need a serious investigation on why all these cars are going up in flames? Photo Credit to Paco Ibarra.

Videos:

Yokoi S15 Silvia Going Up in Flames

Chris Forsberg Up in Flames with Ken Gushi



3. The Year of Scion is Upon Us

After years and millions of dollars invested into Formula Drift it appears Scion could finally take home a championship. Ken Gushi is driving like I haven’t seen since 2005 and he seems to just get better and better. Ryan Tuerck won the event this weekend making two out of three rounds this year won by Scion branded cars. Fredric Aasbo has had two tough rounds in Atlanta/Orlando but still sits 5th in the championship. Three Scion drivers sit in the Top 5 of the championship overall right now which must be a dream come true for the brand. Right now it looks like Odi Bakchis and Chris Forsberg are the only two who drivers who can ruin the year of Scion that might be upon us.

2. I want to see Alex Heilbrunn & Andy Gray in Pro

It became clear to me even with these adverse weather conditions that Andy Gray and Alex Heilbrunn are better than a good chunk of the drivers on borrowed time in the Pro series. If these guys keep meeting in Pro 2 they will make the cost of admission on Friday worth it alone in Seattle, Texas, and Irwindale. Pay attention to Pro 2 is the lessons here.

1. The Championship Chase Got Way More Interesting

Yokoi defeated Odi Bakchis in the Top 16 and stopped him from starting to run away with the championship pretty early this year. At this point I find the championship to be a 6 person race with a couple new faces in the mix. Seattle always seems to be good for a surprise podium or victory to help shake things up a little more. Maybe Dai Yoshihara or Daigo Saito can keep a car working for a whole race weekend and help shake up the championship chase in New Jersey as well.