Linhbergh and I have been extremely busy sorting through all of our photos from FD New Jersey, and sending them off to the drivers who are working on their blogs from the event.
For my last bit of personal coverage from Wall Speedway, I've assembled a gallery of the second half of the tandem competition, from the Top 16 through the final.
As usual, the Top 16 kicks off with driver intros. Here we see Dai Yoshihara rolling up in his S13, while the Drift Alliance boys assemble in the background.
The first two drivers to meet in the Top 16 were Dean Kearney and Ryan Tuerck.
The match was decided when Kearney mis-judged the transition and swallowed a few cones.
In the next battle, Stephan Verdier's Impreza lost one of its Enkei wheels after making contact with Tanner Foust's Scion. Snoop and Dre would be proud of this three-wheel motion.
Next up, a Pony Car throwdown between Sam Hubinette and Justin Pawlak, with JTP emerging as the victor.
Tyler McQuarrie was looking for a comeback in Jersey, but his teammate Vaughn Gittin Jr. would put an end to his run in the Top 16.
Next, a long, drawn-out match between Darren McNamara and Ken Gushi. After an OMT run, DMac was declared the winner here.
The rookie and the champ. Charles Ng fought his hardest, but it just wasn't enough to get by Chris Forsberg.
Dai Yoshihara is the hottest fellow in drifting right now, so it didn't come as a huge surprise when he defeated Forrest Wang to move to the Top 8.
Finishing off the Top 16 was an all-S15 battle between Ross Petty and Michihiro Takatori. Here it was Takatori's V8 that took the advantage over Petty's traditional SR power.
Kicking off the Top 8, Tanner Foust and Ryan Tuerck. Not the first time these two have met, and not the last. Foust earned the win on this day though.
Next up, some hot Stang-on-Stang action as Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Justin Pawlak face off. This was a close one, but JTP was eliminated after a spin on his following run.
Chris Forsberg is always a threat, but here he just couldn't match the speed and angle of Darren McNamara's Saturn. DMac wins the open-top battle.
The V8-powered S-chassis duo of Dai Yoshihara and Michihiro Takatori finished up the top 8. Takatori would end up spinning on the transition, giving an easy win to Dai.
The first match of the Final Four put Vaughn Gittin Jr against Tanner Foust. Tanner ended up scraping the wall along the bank, giving Vaughn a huge advantage and the eventual win.
Teammates Dai and DMac battled next, with Dai cruising to victory after Dmac (background) became the next victim of the wall.
After his car had a quick look-over, DMac returned to the track to battle Tanner Foust for third place. The two of them made contact on the final part of the course, with Foust spinning and coming to a stop. Darren didn't look too pleased with the result, but Tanner was awarded the victory.
Then in an exact repeat of Rd.2 in Atlanta, Dai Yoshihara faced Vaughn Gittin Jr. in the final. And just like in Atlanta, Dai emerged victorious.
Here Dai celebrates his second straight victory by getting rowdy with a can of Sierra Mist. Nice one!
That will do it for my coverage from FD New Jersey. Next up, Seattle!
-Mike Garrett
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Got any pics from the hellaflush showcase?
Dai, must I repeat again, is a BEAST.
haha it must have been strange for JR to be racing against his old car
Desktop of the brostangs please!!! Dmac was not pleased because he was brake checked through the whole bank, hence the pit move at the end of the match. Foust also brake checked Tuerck upon initiation and tried to do it to JR.
Two mustangs going sideways - WALPAPER PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!
Dai killed it. Its gonna be Dai vs Vaughn, all year, every track, mark my words.
Tanner....i have seen this in D1, and now in FD....its BAD habit but judges need to speak out on it and make an example. Just because you get SLIGHTLY touched does not mean auto-win. Tanner tends to shut the car down at the first instance, forcing judges to award him the win, even though the contact would not have affected the other car's line. This is wrong and the only way to stop it is for the judges to say, "Sorry Tanner, D-Mac wins. Don't pull that crap anymore." Its obvious they know these tricks are happening, as seen by the red brake strip on the cars now, in response to certain drivers (Millen in LB finals, anyone?) race to first turn, then coast their drift, forcing chase car to lose drift to avoid hitting lead car.
Maybe it's race car driver mentality vs. drifter mentality. Racers play by the rulebook, and reading between the lines is where you gain the advantage often. Drifters are hungry, balls-out 110% looking to BATTLE. Different mindset. Each successful, but I think I know what I prefer.
Stephan Verdier didnt make contact with foust. he was leading that round and his tire just popped under is car mid drift.
sierra mist is so good.
dai's s13 is cool too