Vaughn Gittin Jr. has sealed the deal once again by taking outright victory at Formula D Seattle. He needs to watch his back though, as he’s leading in the points championship by a mere seven and a half points.
His job was made all the easier when Justin Pawlak knocked himself out, by putting two tires off course in his lead run against Jeremy Lowe in the Top 32 bracket. Justin now drops to 3rd overall in the championship.
2nd overall now belongs to Daigo Saito who got knocked out by Conrad Grunewald.
Our very own Fredric Aasbo looked great all weekend and made it into the Top 16 without a hitch.
However, just when looked like he would take the win versus Ryan Kado in his 350z, Fredric made a fatal mistake at the last corner and hit the wall.
Fredric’s NFS teammate, Matt Powers, was also having a great weekend. It was his birthday after all, so I am sure he was in a great mood.
In Top 16 he met with local favorite Walker Wilkerson. Both drivers put in a great fight…
… but Walker gifted Matt the win after hitting the wall on his lead run.
Matt would meet Vaughn Gittin in the Top 8 bracket. He was out for revenge after losing to Vaughn at Formula Drift New Jersey but it was JR who advanced.
One driver that had an obvious breakout performance was none other than Ken Gushi.
It looked like he’d make it to the podium but those dreams were crushed by Rhys Millen in the final four bracket. Rhys would go on to earn a 3rd place finish.
2nd place went to Formula Drift veteran Ryan Tuerck. He had a fairly close call in the top 32 bracket with Robbie Nishida as both scraped the wall pretty far.
Ryan pulled out of it in time however Robbie Nishida was not so lucky. The team called five minutes, but they could not repair the car in time.
The finals consisted of two Drift Alliance brothers who practice tandem in their missile cars on a regular basis.
Ryan moves up a couple places in the championship, now holding down 5th place.
Vaughn could not celebrate enough! This was his chance to show the world he could win another Formula D championship.
Daigo Saito still has a commanding lead over all the other Formula Drift rookies. He’s only a few points behind Vaughn, with a big chance he’ll lead the race for the championship at one point or another.
That’s it for a couple of quick trackside updates. Stay tuned for more from Formula Drift Seattle.
-Larry Chen
larry@dev.speedhunters.com
More Formula Drift stories on Speedhunters
More stories by Larry Chen on Speedhunters
Round 5 results:
| 1. Gittin Jr., Vaughn | Monster Energy / Falken Ford Mustang | Winner |
| 2. Tuerck, Ryan | Team Retaks Nissan 240SX | Second Place |
| 3. Millen, Rhys | Hankook / Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis Coupe | Third Place |
Points standings:
| 1. Gittin Jr., Vaughn | Monster Energy / Falken Ford Mustang | 391 Points |
| 2. Saito, Daigo | Achilles Tire / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 | 383.50 Points |
| 3. Pawlak, Justin | Falken Tire Ford Mustang | 376 Points |
| 4. Yoshihara, Daijiro | Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan S13 | 347 Points |
| 5. Tuerck, Ryan | Team Retaks Nissan 240SX | 328.50 Points |
| 6. Millen, Rhys | Hankook / Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis Coupe | 318.25 Points |
| 7. Aasbo, Fredric | Need for Speed / Papadakis Racing Scion TC | 295.50 Points |
| 8. Forsberg, Chris | NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z | 293 Points |
| 9. Powers, Matt | Need for Speed / Nitto Nissan S14 | 275.50 Points |
| 10. Bakchis, Aurimas “Odi” | Bakchis Motorsports Nissan 240SX S14 | 267.75 Points |
| 11. Gushi, Ken | Greddy / Hankook Scion FR-S | 266.50 Points |
| 12. Grunewald, Conrad | Hankook Chevrolet Camaro | 238.50 Points |
| 13. Essa, Michael | GSR Autosport / Nitto BMW ZR4 | 232 Points |
| 14. Moen, Kenneth | Lutz Performance Nissan 350Z | 231 Points |
| 15. Kado, Ryan | Forged Racing / Nexen Tire Nissan 250Z | 226 Points |
| 16. Yoshioka, Toshiki | RS*R Nissan S15 | 224.75 Points |
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Silly suits with their stilly hats.
If I remember correctly, Aasbo didn't crash. Kado hit the wall on his lead run, which made Aasbo reduce speed and got two tires off course on the last turn cause he just couldn't get enough speed. I don't remember Fredric hitting the wall against kado. Unless I remember wrong.
Does anyone know what the small stripe of red lights above the windshield is supposed to do? Some cars seem to have it, some don't.Thanks in advance.
the light strip in the windshield is a brake indicator so the judges can see if the driver is braking without seeing the back of the car
also, conrad was such a little bitch on his follow run against daigo, man up and use the loud pedal for fucks sake you baby
@Dekro Yeah, it should have been an MOT, Castro did the almost the same thing as kado, lost so much speed on his lead lap that field spinned out (wich is also considered a 0) but there castro got booted. Silly judges.
@KristofferSandnes I'm assuming you meat OMT? Haha. Yeah. I was really mad then didn't go OMT there. If Aasbo had advanced last night, I think he couldve gotten another podium or 4th at least. Aasbo has the talent, just not the luck.
So glad JLow made it to top 16 beating JTP, I watched him last year in streetwise drift where he absolutely rocked it and he definitely has a rightly earned place in formula D. Also I definitely think JR will win the championship. I can't wait to see Chelsea's new BM in action! Oh and kudos to a well earned place for Ryan Tuerck!
'Daigo Saito still has a commanding lead over all the other Formula Drift rookies' ... Duh...
Seriously Saito should not be considered a rookie...thats retarded, the guys has competed everywhere especially in D1 which is probably the biggest drift championship there is...
The other 'real' rookies must be so pissed this guys taking all the attention they deserve. Daigo doesn't need to be considered a rookies to attract attention, he already does it with how popular he already is... (which says alots about ' rookie Daigo')
you should only be considered a rookie if you comme from a smaller championship
Look at JR's face in the first picture. That's the face I make when I'm taking a dump.
Now take a look at the third to last picture. That's the face(and stance) I make when I'm done.
Also, why did Robbie Nishida go black with his sc?
@Dekro I'm assuming you MEAN?
Haha. JK..Formula D judging is fucked up.. OMT Justin Pawlak vs Jeremy Lowe wtf?! Thank god it was only 1 out of 3 who meant that.
@MariusEngenSkinnesHaha xD. Yeah. Powers vs Gitten should've been OMT too. C'mon guys it was his birthday!
1: Why does it take 20 minutes to decide that JTP had tires off when it was clearly so? Oh yeah, he was chosen to win and they were looking for ANY excuse to give it to him.
2. Aasbo won. Judges FAILED.
3. Finals should have been OMT. Teurk was equal or better.
4. Most battles decided by cheap technical fouls. Terrible. Judging sucked all the energy out.
5. Conrad is a little crybaby bitch.
Dunno where this season is heading but I've been left rather dissatisfied with every FD event so far this year. Judging in previous years looked like a setup, now it looks like an inept setup. Just my 2 cents.
Tuerck has the fanciest lady.
@Two40 Late to the party I see.
@KristofferSandnes I will have to watch the replays again, but for some reason I thought that he hit the wall in the last corner in his lead run.
Sorry to say, your reporting is pretty biased here Larry.
How are you going to mention JTP beat himself and then make it seem like Conrad beat Daigo? Daigo beat himself too.
And how can a veteran driver of 7 years have a 'breakout' performance? Gushi has been there from the beginning, there is nothing to breakout from. If by breakout you mean benefitting from other drivers mistakes ALL the way to the Top 4, then getting handled easily, then yes, what a tremendous breakout performance!!!!
i feel like a broken record when I talk to people like you but the key word is to be OBJECTIVE.
1. yes it took longer then what we fans expected it to take to declare JTP over the yellow lines but so what? as much crap as the judges get it only makes sense that they really do a good job reviewing the tape. you see the same thing in other sports that have reply. get the right call, you dont watch it once and say "ok thats it". you do what it takes to make the right call and they did.
2. n/a
3. no. watch the tape. JR had a great lead run and during his follow run he was higher on the banking and had more angle through corners while keeping close enough proximity. Tuerck had a great run but it wasn't enough. in the finals it's the small details that are the difference between winning and losing.
4. this point is ONLY valid if the FD officials were not very clear about the rules they would be judging on. they were very clear and the rules applied to everyone. while you may not like them, they were fair and everyone had to abid by them.
5. this statement is the dumbest of all the others that you made. first of all conrad has beaten Daigo twice now and gotten it called OMT so he using every LEGAL advantage he has is totally understandable. also i doubt he would have called off 2 starts had the LED starters box been used because he could judge the timing of the start to get a proper jump. instead it was old school hand starting and im sure he didnt want to over jump the start either. again, be objective, he is trying to not get blown out of the water off the start by a higher HP car in a drag race when the judges are using proximity as a major judging point.
and if you are so dissatisfied then i suggest you make it a point to send your resume into FD for a judging position.
just my 2 cents
@Two40 we've already gone over this. He's a rookie because he's new to Formula D, not because he's new to the sport. Think about it in terms of another sport like basketball or something. If a player switches leagues, they are a rookie in the new league.
Good show the past couple days, I was very pleased to see J. Lowe make it to top 16, great step for him and his team, too bad about riding the wall but overall it was a good event for him, happy to see the smaller teams making some waves still. The only main judging issue that I have is the lack of consistency in some of their findings, mainly when scoring the chase runs, they were saying how gittin jr. was higher on the bank thus a more aggressive line, however when pat mordaunt did the same thing they faulted him because he was not following the lead cars line, which was lower and less angle.
All in all this is a tough sport to judge, far different then any other motorsport that is simply speed and/or time. give the judges a break and have fun, good times and stoked for Vegas.
ha ha - i know it!
The big story of the event was JTP going two tires off so I wanted to mention that in my quickie update.
You are right about Daigo, but I was planning on going into more detail about this battle in my next post.
Gushi has not had much luck with the new chassis so it was a breakout performance. After all, benefiting from other peoples mistakes is a big part of drifting. Would you agree?
go daigo!!!!
go daigo!!!!
@Larry Chen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAR8Va5eDeo only replay of his lead lap i could find, but i dont think it looks like he did.
@Larry Chen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAR8Va5eDeo only replay of his lead lap i could find, but i dont think it looks like he did.
@DariusKromoser I think it comes on whenever they brake. They have it on the front and the back. I think it is to aid judging and maybe help the drivers not run up into each other. That's just my guess.
@DariusKromoser I think it comes on whenever they brake. They have it on the front and the back. I think it is to aid judging and maybe help the drivers not run up into each other. That's just my guess.
Awesome. Now there's a twist in the tale. Exciting. All down to the final round!
Awesome. Now there's a twist in the tale. Exciting. All down to the final round!
Whoever designed the outfit for the models of team Falken must love Asuka Kazama of Tekken...
Whoever designed the outfit for the models of team Falken must love Asuka Kazama of Tekken...
1. Why did they take so much time with him and not the others that went off? Why is judging JTP always so particular? Any other drivers they would have made a call and moved on. Not this year's Falken Star. THAT is what I'm talking about.He needs to be treated the same as everyone else.
2.. Wrong.
3. Yes, I watched the tape. Teurck was smooth and kept proximity. I thought JR did good but certainly not a win.
4. They changed the course line to make the track more difficult, then called so many technical fouls that there were no good tandems. Drivers were having so much trouble trying to hit all these exact points that they weren't doing squat for tandem. This was even mentioned by the announcers.
5. Conrad has plenty of HP, he's running 800-900. Calling for restart after restart made him look like a little Prost crying about Senna. Do you want to be known as a winner for manipulating rules, or for drifting like a man?
I've been watching and attending FD for 6 years now. This isn't my first time and this event left a terrible taste in my mouth. The finals were as exciting as a wet firecracker.
1. Why did they take so much time with him and not the others that went off? Why is judging JTP always so particular? Any other drivers they would have made a call and moved on. Not this year's Falken Star. THAT is what I'm talking about.He needs to be treated the same as everyone else.
2.. Wrong.
3. Yes, I watched the tape. Teurck was smooth and kept proximity. I thought JR did good but certainly not a win.
4. They changed the course line to make the track more difficult, then called so many technical fouls that there were no good tandems. Drivers were having so much trouble trying to hit all these exact points that they weren't doing squat for tandem. This was even mentioned by the announcers.
5. Conrad has plenty of HP, he's running 800-900. Calling for restart after restart made him look like a little Prost crying about Senna. Do you want to be known as a winner for manipulating rules, or for drifting like a man?
I've been watching and attending FD for 6 years now. This isn't my first time and this event left a terrible taste in my mouth. The finals were as exciting as a wet firecracker.
Its the lead drivers job to make sure the chase driver is next to him as he approaches the first corner. If we get blown away off the line the judges want us to restart, not go into the bank 10 car lengths apart....
And my car makes 561 whp...
it seems there is a sidecontest of fitting as much GoPro's on the car as possible. That pic of Gushi and Rhys looks a bit silly with all those cameras sticking from the car like pimples
anyone else think the amount of gopros on the cars detracts from the beauty that the photos of them capture? they look like cactus' now.
yeah, they look terrible with multiple cameras mounted on the exterior..
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
What amazes me is how unreal Larry's pictures are. I was the event and I have no idea how he does what he does but I hope he never stops.
@ConradG
unlike many of the fan boys i feel you have given Daigo a major handful all year and have beaten him a few times only to have it called a OMT. keep up the good work! looking good out there.
1. it was the first off of the day, it happens. If you really feel that the judges are going to bend over backwards and is so insanely corrupt then why even watch? they will just get in who they want anyway right?
2. not sure why you put "wrong", i said "n/a" because my stream was so messed up for that run that i couldnt make a judgement either way.
3. my question, be objective, did JR have the better run? thats the only qualification needed.
4. this is what i hate about drift fans. the constant whining about how the tracks are too weak compared to D1, the cars are all about smoke shows, blah blah blah, and then FD makes a very technical track that allows smaller HP cars to compete due to it being a "drivers" course and now that's unacceptable too? *face palm*
5. i have seen first hand Daigo literally run away from people on his lead runs. and as Conrad said FD wants the cars to go into the first turn as close as possible and that is up to both drivers to do thus the use of a pace cone that they usually have set up (although not this event). if the follow driver feels he didnt get a good enough start or if he feels the lead driver just took off then they are fully within their right, as per the rules, to restart.
it really bothers me that i'm seeing all this bashing of conrad, who is an awesome and stand up guy, as some sort of cheater or "pussy" when it could just as easily be said that daigo was trying to cheat by using his higher HP vehicle to run away by the first corner. THIS is what i mean by being objective. step back from being a fan and really look at the situation and draw a realistic conclusion. Daigo Saito isn't a god people, he's just a guy and everything he doesn't isn't right JUST because he does it. just ask the people he has parked on this year...
ok i'm off my soap box.
I get what Larry is saying because this is his first year in the Scion FRS and its a big accomplishment for a driver and team with a brand new car that nobody else owned to go all the way to 4th place.
I get what Larry is saying because this is his first year in the Scion FRS and its a big accomplishment for a driver and team with a brand new car that nobody else owned to go all the way to 4th place.
Yeah, I'm gonna need you to post a wallpaper version of that last pic, okay? Great...
@Larry Chen I didn't hit a physical wall, but definitely one of the imaginary walls!
@AaronVenable The footage that comes off them looks pretty good though!
@FredricAasbo Can't argue with that...
you got that diff mended?
@AaronVenable @FredricAasbo Sort of!