So last night Formula D held it’s annual end of the season banquet and handed out it’s awards. This year, as we all know, was special as it was Formula D’s 10th anniversary and therefor it had some special awards as well.
The normal awards for the season and who took them home are…
• Ace of the Year – Chris Forsberg
• Top Gun of the Year – Daigo Saito
• Top Qualifier of the Year – Vaughn Gittin Jr
• Most Improved Driver – Darren McNamara
• Comeback of the Year – Michael Essa
• Hardest Charging – Robbie Nishida
• Manager of the Year – Michael Essa
• Best Drifting Style – Daigo Saito
• Best Personal Style – Matt Powers
• Spirit of Drifting – Robbie Nishida
• Fan Favorite Driver of the Year – Fredric Aasbo
• Fan Favorite Car of the Year – Danny George
• Crew Member of the Year – Shawn Hilliar & Aldo Villagran of Papadakis Racing
Now to mark the 10 year anniversary of Formula D a handful of ‘Decade’ awards were handed out, and here is what they are and who took them home…
• Ace of the Decade – Vaughn Gittin Jr
• Top Gun of the Decade – Daigo Saito
• Best Qualifying Average of the Decade – Tanner Foust
• Most Event Wins of the Decade – Samuel Hubinette
So today is the pre-big day… yea, not sure where I was headed with that, but today is Qualifying for Formula D Round 6 in Texas at Texas Motor Speedway. New location, new track, new layout, new fun, new videos!
Drivers are reporting entry speeds in the high 90s to the low 100s. Early in the day the highest entry was 101mph by Robbie Nishida in his Achilles Radial 2jz powered Lexus SC300, and by last night we saw posts on Facebook saying that D-MAC, Darren McNamara, had an entry of 104mph in his Falken Tire v8 powered Nissan S14.
Another big thing that is causing a lot of commotion is the insane temperatures on the track. Outside temperatures were in the high 90s to low 100s. One driver, Mats Baribeau, reported that outside temp was 39c(102.2f), pavement temp was 58c(136.4f), and the floor temp under the pedals in his Gold In The Net Drift JZX90 was 80c(176f)! I can’t imagine how these drivers are feeling after a single day of practice at the track, let alone how they will be come Sunday when all is said in done. Some drivers were even posting pictures of there NOS tanks on ice in prep for tomorrow.
Anyway without further a due, here are some of the videos posted yesterday and circling the interwebs.
Chris Forsberg testing the track for Formula D Officials (video via facebook.com/ChrisForsbergRacing)
Congratulations to the following drivers for the amazing show they put on today at Evergreen Speedway in Seattle.
1st Place: Chris Forsberg
2nd Place: Michael Essa
3rd Place: Fredric Aasbo
Also big Congratulations to Chris Forsberg for taking the points lead for the season in the Formula D overall standings.
Gatebil took place over this weekend and normally I wouldn’t really share much about it because it’s a bit of out of our reach, being over in Europe, but this awesome video of Mike Whiddett and Fredric Aasbo doing some random tandem drifting at Gatebil has surfaced and I just had to share it. When rounding a corner they look to have caught up unexpectedly with a BMW that was having a lap ahead of them, but instead of calling it off they both -without hesitation- split the sides and drift around the BMW without skipping a beat. I was so impressed I had to share it, hope you are too, enjoy.