This year there were a lot more rookies than ever before. It made for an exciting atmosphere as more drivers were gunning for the limited 32 qualifying spots of competition. There was one “rookie” driver that stood out from that pack of newbies. His name was Daigo Saito. He may be new to Formula Drift, but he is far from being an amateur in the sport of drifting. Daigo has been competing in D1 Grand Prix in Japan for years before he came to this series. And boy did he make his presence known when he slid his 1,200 hp Lexus SC430 around the turns. I do not believe any other car produced as much tire smoke as he had.
Formula Drift will also be aired on NBC Sports. I think this new exposure made the drivers push even harder to put on a show. Some pushed their cars too hard and smacked into the concrete k-rails, tires, or both. I don’t think I have ever seen as many crashes at this track in the many years I had covered the event here.
The top 32 qualifying drivers for Friday are:
Driver: Score:
1 R. Tuerck #62 97
2 R. Millen #67 96
3 V. Gittin Jr. #25 95
4 J. Pawlak #13 93
5 E. Amandio #30 92
6 D. Yoshihara #9 90.5
7 T. McQuarrie #17 89
8 C. Grunewald #79 88.5
9 D. McNamara #8 87.5
10 R. Kado #614 87
11 F. Aasbo #151 86.5
12 C. Forsberg #64 86
13 K. Mohan #99 85.5
14 K. Gushi #21 84.5
15 G. Marstanovic #111 82
16 T. Aono #86 79.5
17 M. Powers #665 78
18 D. Saito #430 78
19 J. Lowe #138 78
20 M. Essa #101 78
21 T. Angelo #96 77.5
22 C. Denofa #88 75
23 P. Mordaunt #90 75
24 K. Moen #22 72
25 R. Nishida #31 70.5
26 J. Maeng #51 68.5
27 M. Field #777 68
28 T. Yoshioka #5 67.5
29 R. Petty #808 67.5
30 O. Bakchis #723 67
31 N. D’Alessio #84 63
32 D. Mertzanis #323 61.5
