Tag: Hankook

[COVERAGE] Drift: Dai Yoshihara Victorious at Formula Drift Round 1 By: What Monsters Do

News

Posted on

20130413-233024.jpg

Formula Drift kicked off it’s tenth season in Long Beach, California. It was another amazing event with over 50 drivers competing to a sold out crowd! Competition was fierce with Dai Yoshihara not only qualifying in first place but coming out victorious – with Vaughn Gittin JR in second and Chris Forsberg in third. More Formula Drift Round 1 action after the jump!

 

Matt Powers S14 Fatlace Formula Drift Round 1 2013

Top 16 competition included Matt Powers going against the 2011 champ Dai Yoshihara in an S14 vs S13 battle. After two good run’s Dai took the win.

Aasbo Scion TC vs Daigo Saito Lexus Formula Drift Long Beach

Both Aasbo and 2012 FD champion Daigo Saito were on top of their game with very close runs. They ended up going “One More Time” twice… so two more times. After 3 almost perfect battles, Daigo had a correction on the last clipping point and it cost him the win. Aasbo moved on to the Great Eight.

Continue reading [COVERAGE] Drift: Dai Yoshihara Victorious at Formula Drift Round 1 By: What Monsters Do

Daigo Saito is Victorious at Round 3: Invasion at Palm Beach International Raceway

News

Posted on

Daigo Saito is Victorious at Round 3: Invasion at Palm Beach International Raceway;
Pawlak Remains in the Pro Championship Points Lead

Long Beach, Calif. – June 2, 2012 – Formula DRIFT returned to Round 3: Invasion at Palm Beach International Raceway for the second consecutive year. Rookie Daigo Saito in the Achilles Tire / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 takes the victory and closes in on the points leader Justin Pawlak in the Falken Tire Ford Mustang.

Round 3: Invasion saw an increase in attendance in the second year of competition at Palm Beach International Raceway. The Driftstream saw over 200,000 viewers in a 24 hour period.

“We’re happy to be able to run the original track configuration due to the improvements by Palm Beach International Raceway which made for an improved event for the fans,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Additional grandstands were brought in to accommodate for the increase in fan attendance. The dedication and investment by the venue shows their support for our Series and look forward to returning next season.”

Points leader and winner of last year’s Palm Beach event, Justin Pawlak and the 2011 Formula DRIFT Champion, Daijiro Yoshihara in the Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan 240SX faced off in a battle for third place. Yoshihara took the win after Pawlak spun out on his chase run and moves into third place overall. The final match of evening pitted Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z against Formula DRIFT rookie Daigo Saito. After a close battle Saito was crowned the winner and has now found the podium for the third consecutive event and increases his chances to win the coveted rookie of the year honors.

“This is the first time being in Formula DRIFT and I was able to take the victory and am extremely happy about that,” said Daigo Saito, winner of Round 3: Invasion. “I want to thank everyone and my sponsor Achilles Tire. All my runs weren’t perfect, but I am happy with the final outcome.”

The Formula DRIFT Pro Championship continues with Round 4: The Gauntlet on June 22-23, 2012 at Wall Speedway.