Yokohama Tire, 2015 sponsor of one of the most exciting motorsports to date – Formula Drift sponsors several talents driver’s including former champions and our team travelled to Seattle for the 5th round of the 2015 Championships to see our Yokohama ADVAN AD08R tires in action. Driver’s who competed include former 2013 Champ Michael Essa, Young Up & Comer Matt Field, and International Talent Masashi Yokoi.
Although Team Yokohama missed the podium this round, they had some absolutely amazing performances & we have all the action directly from the track.
MICHAEL ESSA
With a solid qualifying run to make it to the Top 32, Michael Essa and his V8 Camaro feel confident going into competition day to face off none other than another former champ with Dai Yoshihara who in his very own right knows Essa is a force to be reckoned with and knows he need to put on the pressure. With Essa in a lead run, he lit up those ADVAN AD08R tires with lots of smoke, angle, and transitions. With his chase run, he finished in true championship form staying close with identical angle giving him the advance to the Top 16! It seemed that every round Essa was involved in, it was a meeting of champions as he was to face off against Fredric Aasbo (who won FD Seattle & is current points leader) and it was a close battle. Despite a good fought battle, Essa was not able to advance. With it being the 1st year with his new Camaro, every round he progresses to improve and we look forward to seeing him for the remainder of the 2015 season!
MATT FIELD
With one of the most eye catching liveries in Formula Drift, the highlighter green Nissan S14 Silvia from Matt Field had no problem qualifying into the Top 32. In competition day he faced off against Castro, but with a 1000+ Horsepower car with ADVAN AD08R’s, even in wet conditions, Field was able to have a near perfect run and even pulling away from Castro moving him on to the Top 16.
“ADVAN AD08R’s are the best wet tires hands down!”- Matt Field
In the Top 16, Field faces off in an intense battle with Denofa where in both chase and lead runs, they were literally door to door with one of the best angle mimicking of the night. With Field pushing out the win, he moved on to the Great 8!
In the Great 8, another intense battle as Field faces Pat Goodin. Both being extremely talent drivers, they pushed each other in both chase and lead runs debatably winning one each, which causes the crowd to go for “One More Time!” which the judges agree. As they go for another chase and lead run, Field comes in with immense angle and takes several car lengths as well as during the chase run, he puts on pressure to Goodin. This being one of the most debatable calls of the night, Field does not move on the Final 4, but looks to hit that podium for the next round!
MASASHI YOKOI
Masashi Yokoi is one of the most talented drifters around the world and 2015 is the 1st year making his North American debut. Known for his aggressive driving style and angle, he has instantly become a crowd favourite.
In the Top 32 he faced off against Pat Goodin where the two had a battle of proximity. In the chase run for Yokoi, by mid bank on bank 1 he comes only a few feet away and that is the story of the entire run. Very impressive by both driver’s. Slight edge to Yokoi. With the lead run, Goodin puts the pressure on the Japanese driver and his proximity was solid as well. In the end, Yokoi does not move on due to Goodin’s ability to close proximity in the final run.
With FD Seattle all wrapped up, it’s just over a few weeks until Formula Drift Texas as well as the Finale in Irwindale and we look forward to seeing Yokohama Tire’s ADVAN AD08R’s in action.
Stay tuned for full coverage.
Find out more about our ADVAN AD08R tires here
Photos provided by: Drive Marketing Group
