This past weekend was the start of the 2012 Formula Drift season held at Long Beach, California. Roughly 60 drivers attended the event including some of our own Florida drivers: Zoltan Hadju, Patrick Goodin, Chelsea Denofa, and Jeremy Lowe.
The event began on Friday with open practice split into 2 groups. Group 1 featured all the rookies and group 2 featured all the pros. Chelsea and Jeremy looked solid amongst the field of competitors as they consistently delivered solid runs. Zoltan struggled to work his way around the track but began to show signs of confidence towards the end of practice.
Unfortunately lady luck was not on Pat's side as he was riddled with gremlins throughout the entire time. It wasn't very clear exactly what was going on but at first it looked like he was having issues with his ebrake thus preventing him from initiating properly. But it wasn't the case as he managed to post this on the forum:
With practice over things weren't looking positive for Pat.
Before qualifying began the judges spoke about their judging criteria. This year angle can garner more points than speed as the judges look to put less emphasis on speed. The event also featured proximity sensors placed in certain clipping points to help with the judging. When a driver drifts within a certain proximity of the sensor, roughly 1 foot if I recall correctly, the sensor will light up. The judges emphasized the sensors are just an aid and won't necessarily cause you to gain points. Speed guns were also put in place to determine speeds. Drivers had to reach at least 53MPH when going through the guns in order to add 10 points to their score.
The first person to line up for qualifying was none other than Zoltan Hadju. In his first run the judges were not impressed and was given a score not high enough to qualify. He could have had a second attempt but could not make it to the grid as his clutch gave out at the last moment.
Throughout the weekend the announcer kept highlighting the new pavement that was placed onto the track for this event. The new pavement was considered by many to be "very sticky". Patrick Goodin realized this during his first qualifying run when his tires immediately caught grip after he let go of his ebrake to initiate. He was forced to straighten out in order to save the car but in doing so scored a 0. Coming up to his second qualifying run he delivered what I think to be the best run he had throughout the entire weekend but it wasn't enough to qualify.
Next up was Jeremy Lowe. Now my memory is quite vague regarding his first qualifying run because I don't remember if he hit the wall or not. I think he had the most amount of contact out of anyone else in the event. Luckily every time it wasn't serious. His second run though was just on point. Jeremy did what he does best and managed to score enough points to secure a spot for the competition.
Finally it was Chelsea in his BMW sporting a new livery for this season. He scored poorly in his first run due to lack of speed amongst other things but his entry was just insane. It looked like he was trying to do a reverse entry which was
to us but to the judges. Chelsea looked to have quickly realized the error of his ways and for his second run rectified most of the criticisms the judges had. With his second run he qualified for the competition.In the end this was the result of the qualifying session:
Jeremy Lowe vs. Ken Gushi
Chelsea Denofa vs. Fredric Aasbo
Or you can see it as Florida vs. Scion
Jeremy Lowe stumbled during his chase run giving the advantage to Ken Gushi. Switching sides Jeremy delivered a solid run but was not enough to shake Ken off his back, even with all the smoke and noise the rotary engine was producing. Ken advanced knocking Jeremy out.
Chelsea Denofa also stumbled during his chase run, particularly when taking off the line as Fredric Aasbo put a considerable amount of distance between the two. When they switched sides, both drivers made no mistakes. Fredric advanced knocking Chelsea out.
Chelsea's elimination brought an end to Florida's attempt at a podium finish. A weekend full of action, suspense, and anticipation, Florida has received it's first battle scars in professional drifting this year. For Jeremy and Chelsea, they can stand proud knowing they were able to deliver when the odds were against them. For Patrick and Zoltan, it's back to the garage as they look to sort out the issues that haunted them throughout the weekend.
The battle now moves over to Atlanta where Florida gets another chance to battle for a spot at the top.
Photos by: Wrecked Magazine, Motor Mavens, Import Tuner
Bonus:
Source: http://www.sfldrifters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77433
Upcoming Events:
Last edited:
