There was an air of change coming into Atlanta.

There was a new car on the grid, a few others saw the introduction of new liveries…

…and there was slight wind of change blowing about. One of the most noteable thing that everyone on the grid noticed this year was that Atlanta's nickname, "hotlanta", was not living up to its name. The weather was a warm, slightly breezy, and saw little to no humidity. It was like perfect spring day. It was a far cry from the hot, sticky, high humidity affair that FD veterens were used to. 

For the second event in a row, the number of attendees for qualifying day was impressive.

Also, the line during the autograph session was much longer and more crowded than expected.

A lot of folks were already pre-partying before the actual party during tomorrow's competition battles.

There was a few visual changes on the Atlanta grid. Ryan Tuerck's Solstice now sports a brand new Gardella Racing livery with Eric O'Sullivan behind the wheel…

…and Charles Ng showed up to the event with a red paint job and D1GP inspired Evasive Motorsports livery. 

Chris Forsberg's 370Z also saw a bit of updated livery as the blue and black lines now come into the front bumper. In Long Beach, the front bumper was completely orange.

A few things may have changed on the grid, but it was business as usual at the Need for Speed booth. DJ Miki Taka bumped the beats but occasionally took breaks to play videogames. Not a bad life, eh?

Everyone that attended Thursday practice, mentioned that Matt Powers was looking rather impressive and would be a to-watch during qualifying. 

So with that, let's take a look at today's qualifying session.

This season's rookie-to-watch, Walker Wilkerson, placed 30th on the grid.

The non-rookie-but-privateer to watch, Matt Field, qualified 26th.

Charles Ng with his V8 powered FC RX-7 qualified 27th on the grid. 

I mentioned there seems to the winds of change this year as the old guard seem to be bowing out. Samuel Hubinette was having problems with his Dodge Charger and was unable to qualify for the second event this year. 

Another of the old guard, Rhys Millen, was also unable to qualify do to an accident during practice. 

On the other end of the qualifying list, Conrad Grunewald qualified first with a phenomenal run which included an astonishing backwards entry.

Second place went to Ryan Tuerck with the newest car on the grid, the Gardella Racing Mobil 1/Redbull Chevy Camaro which replaces the old Ponitac Solstice. Quite an impressive first outing for sure.

There are many times where I don't know why Joon Maeng's nick name is "gentle." The moment he gets in a car and hits the track, he's far from anything from his nickname. This un-gentlemenness put him 3rd on the grid.

Fourth on the grid stands Daijiro Yoshihara. 

He's definitely a man to watch this season.

On the Team Need for Speed side of things, Fredric Aasbo qualified 13th…

…and Matt Powers laid down a solid first qualifying run of 89.9 but on his second run, he entered into the first corner fast and backwards…

…but hit the rumble strips hard breaking his front suspension. The score from his first run secured him in the Top 32 and placed him 7th on the grid.

Matt and his crew chief, Costa Gialamas, worked on the broken S14 late into the evening. Luckily, they were able to fix and replace everything that was broken. Matt will be attending his Top 32 battle tomorrow.

Because Vaughn Gittin Jr. did not qualify in the last round of FD at Long Beach, everyone watched with clenched teeth as he laid down his two runs.

He put down two solid and consistent runs which put him 12th on the grid.

The winner of the previous event, Justin Pawlak qualified 15th. 

Many of us Speedhunters, agree that the new tire/weight rules for this year have leveled the field out quite a bit and has made for some very interesting qualifying results as well as some great upsets during competition. Seeing what we saw at Long Beach, we can't wait to see what the Top 32 has in store in Atlanta this year. 

-Linhbergh

Photos by Linhbergh, Larry Chen and Charles Kha

Speedhunters FD Atlanta Coverage

Formula D Atlanta Top 32 Bracket

Top 32 Qualifiers:

1. Conrad Grunewald – 96.2
2. Ryan Tuerck – 94.4
3. Joon Maeng – 94.4
4. Dai Yoshihara – 93.3
5. Tyler McQuarrie – 91.1
6. Ken Gushi – 90.9
7. Matt Powers – 89.8
8. Chris Forsberg – 88.4
9. Kyle Mohan – 87.8
10. Darren McNamara – 87.6
11. Michael Essa – 80.8
12. Vaughn Gittin – 80.6
13. Fredric Aasbo – 79.3
14. Toshiki Yoshioka – 77.8
15. Justin Pawlak – 77.3
16. Matt Waldin – 77
17. Kenneth Moen – 76.2
18. Dennis Mertzanis – 73.3
19. Ross Petty – 72.5
20. Pat Cyr – 71
21. Odi Bachis – 70.5
22. Patrick Mordaunt – 70.3
23. Mike Feiock – 69.9
24. Eric O’Sullian – 66.6
25. Cyrus Martinez – 66.5
26. Matt Field – 65.5
27. Charles Ng – 65.4
28. Dean Kearney – 64.9
29. Jeff Jones – 64.3
30. Walker Wilkerson – 63.8
31. Taka Aono – 59.8
32. John Russakoff – 58.6