With four of seven rounds complete, we are now past the halfway point of the 2012 Formula Drift season. With round five kicking off today in Monroe, Washington we want to ask the Speedhunters readers for their predictions on the tight 2012 championship race.
Justin Pawlak – 342 Points. Justin Pawlak has held on to the championship lead for the entire season so far, but as of now his lead is down to a mere 13 points.
Daigo Saito – 329 Points. In second place is of course Daigo, who has turned the Formula Drift world upside down in his first season of US competition. The battle between JTP and Daigo is sure to be intense over the remaining three events this year.
Dai Yoshihara 291 Points. Not to be forgotten is the defending champ Dai Yoshihara who remains in striking distance from fourth place.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. 279 Points. Vaughn Gittin Jr. is riding a wave of momentum following his win in New Jersey, and he could still find himself in contention come the end of the season.
Chris Forsberg 265 Points. Rounding out the top five is ’09 champ Chris Forsberg. As we’ve seen in the past, anything can happen in the fight for the championship, so “The Force” is not to be counted out.
So, which of these drivers do you predict will be holding the title come October?
[polldaddy poll="6404930"]
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
I can't predict who'll win but I'm rooting for Daigo Saito
Yeah lets go Daigo.
If the judges keep giving Saito sweatheart calls, they could hand him the title. However, I think JTP both deserves it, and will get it in the end.
Daigo or JTP have it this year. Not a fan of either to be honest. I was hoping this would be Matt Powers' year, but it doesn't look like its going that way.
I dont hate diago he's a nice guy and an average driver but I'll be very pissed off and mad if he wins the championship he is Not talented or skilled enough to deserve that achievement, he is one of the lower skilled drivers in the formula d the Only reason he does well is because his car has more horsepower than the rest so he pulls away from them other than that he would be at the bottom of the points
Chris Forsberg is definitely one of the top drivers and vaughn gittin also, there are many highly talented and skilled drivers including everyone in the poll Except for Diago who shouldnt even be considered
@MitchJBaierI just wanted to mention a couple of things.
1. 80% of the Formula D drivers are running V8's which gives them an advantage in terms of throttle response, reliability, torque (less downshifts, no spooling) and etc,
2. The difference in power figures is not as disparate as you may think. JTP, JR and a couple others are running 800hp+ V8's (see above.)
3. I wouldn't consider ANY of the Formula D drivers to be AVERAGE. Yes, some are more seasoned than others. But when you consider the fact that this is Daigo's first time in this car, AND running on all these US tracks AND Match that to the number of podiums he's had, it adds up.
With all that being said, May the best man win. Apart from a couple of questionable judging calls, the 2012 FD season has been the most excititing one (ie. FL, ATL) IMO and I look forward to today's race.
I'm not trying to be mean or an asshole, i met and talked to diago in new jersey hes a nice guy and he is a good driver but i still feel the way i said below
everybody always says that daigo has a horsepower advantage but really he doesn't the car was rated at around 980 or something like that which is not that far off of the 845 the mustangs have he also has to deal with the added complications that come with turbo as opposed to na.
@Fg2_FrAn Diago is much less skilled and talented than most of the drivers
@Fg2_FrAn No the mustangs are only 750 hp and diago has 1,300 hp which is a hp advantage
@MitchJBaier
Not sure where you're getting your numbers from...been even IF you were correct...this is NOT drag racing. There's a bigger technical aspect and more to it than to stimply say "he's winning because he has more HP"
@Fg2_FrAn Right from Vaughn himself and no shit its not drag racing dumbass dont patronize me you idiot I'm an expert on drifting but diago usually pulls away from the chasers a good distance giving him the advantage
I would like Daigo to win but he's somewhat of a dirty driver in my opinion. His follow runs are almost always shallow and he's always driving over the clipping points. His battle against JTP in Palm Beach was also kind of Efed up. He also likes to show off his superior horsepower, killing the following car in tire smoke.
Actually, come to think of it, I'd like JTP to win! haha. He seems to be a very consistent driver with minimal mistakes. He lost the championship by a couple points last year and I believe he deserves some of that championship glory that Dai, Daigo, JR, and Chris have all experienced.
@Fg2_FrAn Right from Vaughn himself and diagos team and no shit its not drag racing dumbass dont patronize me you idiot I'm an expert on drifting and formula drift so dont talk to me like an idiot but diago usually pulls away from the chasers a good distance giving him the advantage
@Fg2_FrAn @MitchJBaier
I agree with Fg2. You all can keep saying horspower this horsepower that. Daigo hasn't even drifted these courses before and isn't as familiar with them as the rest. Yes he may have more power but he has a learning curve to overcome which he has been doing at every round. Yes he may pull away on leading rounds but still has a higher chance of making a error.
@dvgtsc @Fg2_FrAn You both made that point However Daigo is a dirty driver, he brake checked justin pawlak in florida and thats not the first time hes done that and it wont be the last, He is a dirty driver and a pathetic one at that the only drivers that drive dirty are the unsure and insecure drivers who arent as good as the others drive dirty in order to try to win or make the others wreck in order to win and its not only in formula d its in this motorsport and any other
Even though I'm not a fan of him, I think JTP will get it in the end. His car seems dialled in and he has been driving great this season.
Earlier this year I go for Chris Forsberg. Still supporting "The Force"!
@MitchJBaier @dvgtsc @Fg2_FrAn
ITS A COMPETITION who cares if he braked checked anyone, did he win playing by the rules YES. You make Daigo sound like a new comer to drifting
@MitchJBaier Bitch please. An expert on drifting. Daigo is only running 900ish HP for reliability. The NOS is there to act as an anti-lag system for the turbo. This was confirmed in GT Channel's interview with Daigo.
@Baljit Singh who you calling bitch better watch what you say but diago has 1300hp available depending on what track hes at depends on if turns up boost and he always pulls away it's a hp advantage
@MitchJBaier @Baljit your an "expert" at drifting - so that means you have your own 1300hp drift spec sc430 which would mean you were actually Daigo himself. Who coincidentally has said numerous times that he is still developing the car. Which means even he's not an expert in his own car. Which is why the people you claim are handicapped by there massive power inferiority are surrounding him in the championship including being ahead of him. And if Daigo is driving dirty that's ultimately for the judges to decide as they really are the "experts" in that regard. And also all of the extra hp is a double edge sword since there is no off the shelf tire tested capable of managing it nor are there proven techniques for dealing with it either. I don't think most pro drivers consider themselves to be experts at drifting just at drifting there own cars. An expert in drifting is saying that you can master any car and few outside auto reviewers like Tiff and KT haven proven that much.
@Baljit Singh Don't call me bitch thank you very much
@MitchJBaier I'm calling you a bitch because your acting like one. Your numbers are wrong as I have contacts who have followed Daigo's build from day one. He hasn't changed HP all season if it were the case then the tyres he is on would blow out. His car is rated heavy enough to use 275 tyres but because Achilles don't make the S123 in 275 he's at a disadvantage if anything. All the parts he uses are off the shelf. His suspension is DG5's, his control arms are Ikeya Formula's A Garrett GTX series turbo, Brian Crower stroker kit, the list goes on. Your lucky if he's even spent 10K on the car. He has one mechanic who does everything, he's known as MnM but yet because of him Daigo can still compete with 80K RnD'd Falken Mustangs and still kick their ass. Why? Because drifting in Japan is all about being as close as possible. Daigo does this superbly and it shows through his skill and competition wins like D1 and MSC. You've made yourself look like a absolute fool. At least know what your talking about before going on a rant. I believe you would have better appreciation for Daigo if you actually saw what goes on behind the scenes. Don't take this personally but nobody is an expert in drifting. Even the pro's. Everyone's learning all the time. I couldn't careless if you had a certified piece of paper stating you are. The point of the matter is, instead of hating one driver over another, learn to appreciate what he brings to the sport. Diversity. Think about it.
@MitchJBaier I'm calling you one because your acting like one. Your numbers are wrong as I have contacts who have followed Daigo's build from day one. He hasn't changed HP all season, if it were the case then the tires he is on would blow out. His car is rated heavy enough to use 275 tires but because Achilles don't make the tire he's on in that size he's at a disadvantage if anything. All the parts he uses are off the shelf. His suspension is DG5's, his control arms are Ikeya Formula's, A Garrett GTX series turbo, Brian Crower Stroker kit.Your lucky if he's even spent 10k on the
car. He has only one mechanic to help him. Yet he can still compete with 80k RnD'd Fallen Mustangs, and still kick their ass. Why? Because Daigo knows how to drive. In Japan drifting is all about being as close as possible. Daigo does it superbly and other shows through his multiple wins through different series and competitions. D1 and Msc for example. You've made yourself look like an absolute fool. At least know what your talking about before going on a rant. I believe you would have better appreciation for Daigo if you actually saw what goes on behind the scenes.
@Baljit Singh I thank you for your insight and knowledge and my bias was not backed up by evidence or facts but I have met him and he is really nice and a great driver I've watched most of the videos of him in Japan and here I don't dislike him anymore I actually support him now
@Baljit Singh Diago is a good driver and a nice guy he is inconsistent but thats because the learning curve getting to know the tracks he creates the most controversy
@Baljit Singh Diago is a good driver and a nice guy he is inconsistent but thats because the learning curve getting to know the tracks he creates the most controversy