Event>>formula D Sonoma: Day One

Well, here I am again in hotel room chuggin' away on the old lap top for what seems like the 20th time this month. Less than two weeks after Formula D Seattle, it's time for the second FD event of the month at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. The event was originally scheduled for mid-September, but was moved up to the same weekend as the Indy Car race for a unique combo weekend.

With the short time between the two events this month, there were a lot of sleepless nights among FD teams. As you'll remember from the Seattle report, Dai Yoshihara's Lexus was damaged beyond repair, and in short order Team Falken put together a new car for him. This S13 actually used to be driven by Ross Petty, but was given a rush rebuild and is now sporting Chevy V8 power. More on the new car later.

Because this event is relatively close to SoCal, we get to see some of the fan favorite drivers like Katsuhiro Ueo in the Drift Speed S15.

And the legendary Matt Powers. Matt left San Diego last night at 930 for a marathon all-night road trip up to Sonoma.

Speaking of NorCal, Bay Area local Calvin Wan will be looking for a good performance this weekend in front of the hometown crowd. This photo gives you an idea of the beautiful scenery up here.

Meanwhile Chris Forsberg will be looking for his second straight FD victory, or at the very least some extra padding for his lead in the championship race.

Tanner Foust was again the smoke king during this afternoon's practice session.

The Drift Emporium crew is ready to rock with their fleet of hot rodded Nissans. I've been meaning to take a closer look at these cars for a while.

There's Taka Aono and Hiro Sumida doing some last minute work to Taka's AE86 before qualifying begins. Typically qualifying is on Friday with the tandem comp on Saturday, but with the Indy Car collabo the drifting has been spread over three days.

With that, there's a quick look at the day's top five qualifiers-

Coming in fifth was Alex Pfeiffer in the Tanaka Racing C5 'Vette with a 71.3 point run.

Fourth went to Rhys Millen, who's got to be satisfied with that spot considering his struggles this year. His score was 72.2.

Mr. Forsberg took the third spot with a 73.7.

With a score of 77.3, second went to Ryuji Miki, who's FD was looking as good as new following some light body damage in Seattle.

But in the end no one was able to match the driving of Katsuhiro Ueo, who's ass-first entries stunned everyone. He wasn't the fastest, but his dynamic style more than made up for it. His final score was an 80.8.

Here's the compete list of qualifying results courtesy of Formula Drift-

1 K. Ueo 15 80.8
2 R. Miki 36 77.3
3 C. Forsberg 64 73.7
4 R. Millen 6 72.2
5 A. Pfeiffer 88 71.3
6 V. Gittin 25 71.1
7 R. Tuerck 44 70.8
8 K. Gushi 5 69.9
9 D. Yoshihara 9 69.1
10 B. Sherman 22 68.2
11 J. Pawlak 13 66.9
12 M. Powers 11 65.7
13 T. McQuarrie 17 65.4
14 S. Verdier 12 64.1
15 T. Brakohiapa 18 63.7
16 P. Mordaunt 90 63.7
17 D. McNamara 8 62.8
18 K. Mohan 99 61.8
19 K. Hayashida 33 61.5
20 K. Yamanaka 7 60.6
21 T. Foust 1 59.5
22 M. Essa 101 58.7
23 Y. Kondo 52 55
24 E. O’Sullivan 35 54
25 R. Nishida 31 53
26 S. Hubinette 77 51.9
27 R. Petty 808 51.9
28 C. Parkhouse 562 51.9
29 R. Ewerth 27 48.4
30 C. Wan 3 42.4
31 T. Aono 86 42
32 J. Jones 29 40.9

Alright then, time for me to get some shut eye. It's back to the track tomorrow for the Top 32 tandem comp, followed by the Top 16 on Saturday.

Stay tuned for more FD action from the beautiful SF Bay Area.

-Mike Garrett

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1

Ass-first entries, huh? Can't wait to see that. These scores seem to be much lower than previous years. Stricter judging or worse driving? Hmm. I remember seeing mid to high 90s like it was nothing. Ueo barely broke 80!



Anyway, these next two days are going to be awesome. I can't even sleep!

2

ueo is a badass dont question his entries! haha it was bull shit he didnt move in at the ports of long beach event haha i miss the corolla days tho :/

3

Go Ueo! I miss seeing his old AE86 though.

4

There better be some awesome shots of Ueo's ass-first entries.

5

the dia, ueo entry battle is still #1 battle in my book ..

6

Yeah, I think I need to see these ass-first entries too... Love the S15 anyhow. <3

7

Pleeaase more info on the drift emporium cars....and DAI's new car...

Seem like some unusuals qualified higher this time....can't wait for the rest of the coverage

8

GOOD TO SEE UEO-san BACK IN ACTION....MISS HIS HATCHI BUT YOU CAMT GO WRONG WITH A S15 ON GRAMLIGHTS.....

NOTHING BUT QUALITY FOR HIM.LET'S SEE IF HE CAN TAKE A WIN.



BTW....WUSSUP WITH DAI AND V8's DON'T LIKE THIS PATTERN.LOL.

COMON MIKE HANG IN THEIR!!!!!great job though

9

when is powers gonna get sponsered. seriously.

10

Pfeiffer's Corvette used to be Conrad Grunewald's, didn't it? What happened to him?

11

@ Jeremy Grunewald is building a 2010 Camaro for drifting I believe.

also I like Dais new car but needs to be lower lol.

12

yea mike

maybe u should do a car spotlight on the drift emporium twins

those babies sound so beastly on the track with their V8 supercharged

13

Powers is "legendary" ?!? why?????????/



he never makes top 16, he doesn't travel anywhere... and his reward for qualifying so high is to face Tanner Foust in the first round.



ugh. I wish people would get off his nuts. there's a lot of guys who deserve a lot more credit!!

14

powers sucks. all the style idiots jock his nuts.

15

powers powers powers powers powers

just look at shot #4, so rad.

thanks for the coverage

16

Powers loses all my respect for being part of that pathetic excuse for a website known as Ziptied.

17

Are you kidding. Look at the guy's car compared to the competition... the fact that he's actually competitive in a car that's basically on the floor, and a mild engine build is pretty damn impressive.



it's easy to talk shit, but what powers is doing is damn impressive.

18

Powers is simply a grassroots guy doing pretty damn good for the car he's in. That's why lots of people respect him. He doesn't have the funds to build a crazy car, he's doing it with his own money. Now that deserves respect.

19

can't believe they got Dai's car ready so fast!

20

I like what the big money people are doing for the sport but I will always have more respect for someone on a tight budget who competes with a sick car. Drifting for me is about having fun and looking cool. Powers seems to be pulling both of those off to a high degree.

21

my lord that Corvette is ugly.



i love Ueo and Miki's cars. def the best looking in FD



22

@KBanks

I couldn't agree more with u, I hate when people take drifting like Rhys Millen. He takes it as a business opportunity. Matt is doin really good for a privateer.

23

go matt powers!!! do it for GRASS ROOTS!

24

It does seem like Powers gets a ton of coverage on here... Did someone go to college with him or something?! Haha! There are a ton of drivers that get very little to no coverage on here (and I'm ok not hearing about Sam or Rhys- both complete D-bags). You guys act like it's not a struggle for anyone but Matt Powers; give me a break already. His car is cool and I'm sure he is nice but you guys are in LOVE with him!

25

Go Ueo. He needs a win. His driving is insane. Loved watching him at Long Beach ports.

26

Ryujiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!

27

I think Matt is cool but the person I have the most respect for is Forrest Wang. Obviously I haven't met everyone, but of the people I have met, he's pretty damn cool. Ross Petty too! He helped out big time at Anaheim trying to get my friend Joe Haven's car back in the game after having clutch problems.

28

I think Matt powers is one of the coolest drifters ever, he truly keeps it real, i think the reason why he gets so much coverage is because he shows how drifting should be. Forrest Wang is a bamf too! And Dai Yoshihara's car is nasty

29

I think Matt powers is one of the coolest drifters ever, he truly keeps it real, i think the reason why he gets so much coverage is because he shows how drifting should be. Forrest Wang is a bamf too! And Dai Yoshihara's car is nasty

30

SPEEDHUNTERS IS SO GRASS ROOTS

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