Round 6: Showdown at Texas Motor Speedway Results;
Michael Essa Takes the Victory and the Points Lead
Long Beach, Calif. – September 15, 2013 – Formula DRIFT presented by GoPro entered Texas Motor Speedway for the first time. Michael Essa in the GSR Autosport / Yokohama BMW M3 takes the victory and the lead in the Pro Championship points chase heading into the final competition of the 2013 season.
Round 6: Showdown saw a return to Texas with the first Formula DRIFT event in the Lone Star State since 2005. Texas Motor Speedway hosted the highly anticipated event under the night sky. The new track proved to be challenging as one of the fastest drift tracks on the circuit and one of the most technical for tandem drifting.
The consolation round saw Patrick Mordaunt in the Diamond Lighting / APEXi Lexus SC430 against point leader, Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z. Forsberg won the battle to secure third place, but falls to second place overall in the Pro Championship standings with only 15.5 points separating him from the leader. The final battle pitted Essa against Matt Field in the CX Racing / Maxxis / Blacktrax Nissan 240SX. Essa bested Field for his second victory of the season and second straight podium finish to take the event win and lead in the point standings heading into the final competition of the season. This was Field’s first podium finish of his Formula DRIFT career.
“First year here at this track and the course was just insane with sustained speed throughout. It was just crazy out there, but we were able to take home the win,” said Michael Essa, winner of Round 6: Showdown. “Our GSR Autosport BMW E46 with Wisefab suspension and Bilstein suspension along with Yokohama Tires helped make this an amazing event for us. We are leading the points right now by about 15 points heading into Irwindale and we have a shot at the Championship which is not what we expected entering this season with a new car and can’t be more happy with the results.”
Heading into the final competition of the season for Round 7: Final Fight on October 11 – 12, 2013 at Irwindale Speedway. Less than 90 points separate the top six drivers and the championship. Additionally, the inaugural tire and manufacturer championship will be determined at the final competition of the tenth season of Formula DRIFT.
“It is always exciting to hold an event at a new venue and Texas Motor Speedway provided a great place to showcase drifting. The event outcome sets up a competitive finale, ” stated Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “With only one competition left in the season, the Championship is up for grabs with the top six drivers vying to be crowed champion.”
