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May 11, 2013
Round 2: Road to the Championship Results;
Daigo Saito Takes the Victory
Long Beach, Calif. – May 11, 2013 – Formula DRIFT presented by GoPro continued to Round 2: Road to the Championship at Road Atlanta. Defending 2012 champion, Daigo Saito in the Achilles / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 takes the victory.
Round 2: Road to the Championship returned for the tenth consecutive season to the home of the inaugural Formula DRIFT competition at Road Atlanta. This is the only course on the circuit that has paved a custom section of the track specifically for drifting. Despite the intermittent rain, the fans in Atlanta came out in force and stayed through to the end of the event. Road Atlanta has the largest attendance for the Series outside of California.
“Drifting is chaotic and unpredictable,” stated Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Today showed the ability of the Formula DRIFT drivers to adapt to the changing conditions while still performing.”
The rain slicked track proved to be a challenge as the event entered into the Top 16 portion of the competition. Heading into the competition, Daijiro Yoshihara in the Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan 240SX held the points lead, but surprisingly failed to make it into the Top 16, opening the opportunity for other drivers in the point standings. Michael Essa in the GSR Autosport / Yokohama Tire BMW M3 faced Vaughn Gittin, Jr. in the Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR in the consolation round. Gittin won third place and takes the lead in the 2013 Pro Championship point standings. The final round pitted Darren McNamara in the Falken Tire Nissan 240SX against returning champion Daigo Saito. McNamara on the first run misjudged the speed of Saito and ran into his car causing damage and giving up the advantage, which his team was not able to overcome. Saito earned his first victory of the season and moves into second place overall.
“This almost feels like revenge from Long Beach since I was only able to make it into the Top 16 at Round 1,” said Daigo Saito, winner of Round 2: Road to the Championship. “The track conditions were horrible and it could have been anyone that won, but I am happy that I was able to pull off the victory. Thanks to the team and Achilles for helping make this all possible.”
For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com
Formula DRIFT Professional Championship Presented by GoPro 2013 Standings After Two Rounds
1. Gittin Jr., Vaughn Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR 172 Points
2. Saito, Daigo Achilles Tire / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 161 Points
3. McNamara, Darren Falken Tire Nissan S14 156 Points
4. Essa, Michael GSR Autosport / Yokohama BMW M3 141 Points
5. Yoshihara, Daijiro Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan S13 137 Points
6. Aasbo, Fredric Hankook Tire Scion Racing tC 136 Points
7. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z 135 Points
8. Tuerck, Ryan Team Retaks / Maxxis Scion Racing FR-S 125.50 Points
9. Moen, Kenneth Lutz Performance / Falken Tire Nissan 350Z 120 Points
10. Powers, Matt Nitto Tire / Fatlace Nissan S14 119 Points
11. Pawlak, Justin Falken Tire Ford Mustang 116.50 Points
12. Bakchis, Aurimas Nexen Tire Nissan S14 112 Points
13. DeNofa, Chelsea BC Racing BMW 3 Series 105 Points
14. Mohan, Kyle Nexen Tire / Mazdatrix RX-8 86 Points
15. Wang, Forrest Get Nuts Labs Nissan 240SX 82 Points
16. Field, Matt CX Racing / Blacktrax Nissan 240SX 81.50 Points
Round 2: Road to the Championship Event Results
1. Saito, Daigo Achilles Tire / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 Winner
2. McNamara, Darren Falken Tire Nissan S14 Second Place
3. Gittin Jr., Vaughn Monster Energy / Nitto Ford Mustang RTR Third Place
Manufacturers Championship Standings After Two Rounds
1. Ford 288.50 Points
2. Scion 261.50 Points
3. Nissan 248 Points
4. BMW 246 Points
5. Lexus 239.75 Points
Tire Championship Standings After Two Rounds
1. Falken 330 Points
2. Nitto 311 Points
3. Hankook 270 Points
4. Achilles 243 Points
5. Nexen 228.50 Points
Qualifying Drivers – Top 32
Driver: Car #: Speed: Score:
1 F. Aasbo #151 151 50.8 90.5
2 M. Essa #101 101 45.8 89.8
3 J. Pawlak #13 13 48.9 88.4
4 C. Denofa #88 88 48.1 87.6
5 D. Saito #1 1 50.7 84.5
6 D. McNamara #8 8 48.9 81.4
7 M. Powers #665 665 47.7 80.7
8 M. Field #777 777 47.1 79.6
9 V. Gittin Jr. #25 25 45.1 79.1
10 C. Forsberg #64 64 47.4 77.9
11 O. Bakchis #723 723 44.9 77.9
12 F. Wang #808 808 48.4 72.9
13 J. Jones #29 29 46.2 72.2
14 D. George #7 7 48.2 71.2
15 D. Yoshihara #9 9 49.1 70.6
16 K. Moen #22 22 48.3 68.8
17 R. Nishida #31 31 49.1 85.1
18 C. Grunewald #79 79 49.9 84.9
19 R. Tuerck #62 62 47.4 75.4
20 K. Mohan #99 99 47.8 74.8
21 M. Ovcharik #235 235 47.4 72.4
22 T. Yoshioka #104 104 46.8 72.3
23 T. Aono #86 86 49.1 71.6
24 D. Briggs #24 24 48.9 70.4
25 C. Ward #23 23 46.3 69.8
26 W. Parsons #48 48 45.3 69.8
27 N. Hamilton #144 144 44.9 68.9
28 P. Mordaunt #90 90 46.3 67.8
29 J. Maeng #51 51 42 67.7
30 P. Goodin #46 46 50.8 63
31 C. Hosford #232 232 50.1 59
32 W. Wilkerson #95 95 47.4 58.9
With RD 1 of the 2013 Formula DRIFT Asia Series taking place this weekend in Australia, they also debuted a redesigned website to match the current Formula DRIFT site. The design and functionality of the site has been completely updated to allow for a more user-friendly, faster and integrated approach to this season. Visit http://formuladriftasia.com/
Tickets for this event are still available and can be purchased here by visiting the Round 1 event page.
For fans who are unable to attend but have access to these international channels, here is the television broadcast schedule to watch Round 1: Achilles Formula DRIFT Australia 2013.
ASIA
NOTE: All times are based on Singapore & Hong Kong times. Bold airings are the LIVE broadcast
AUSTRALIA
LIVE broadcast will be on at Speed TV HD (Ch. 512) from 4 to 6pm Eastern Australian Time. Speed TV is a combined package with Fox Sports Australia. For more information, visit: www.foxsports.com.au/