Long Beach, Calif. – April 8, 2016 – In a rare move today, Formula DRIFT was forced to enact a never been used before provision of the Sporting Regulations that allows Formula DRIFT to forgo Qualifying in the face of inclement weather or the inability to start or finish Qualifying.
Formula DRIFT is not unfamiliar with rainy conditions as six of seven rounds were completed in such conditions in 2015. However, given the volume of rain, the variable surface conditions of the street course, combined with being a public street, made for treacherous conditions in general. Adding that walls surround the course added another level of risk, in which the Series did not want to take in light of making sure that all 32 drivers were ready for competition tomorrow, whatever the conditions may be. The decision was made shortly after Top 32 Practice started when as many as seven consecutive drivers wrecked into the walls of outside zone two. This rare occurrence caused Formula DRIFT to go on Rain Delay and call a drivers meeting with teams to discuss the options that would best suite the drivers and fans.
“We spoke to the teams and the large majority felt it was better to have a full field of 32 drivers tomorrow than risk wrecks that would not be fixable due to the damage cause by the walls or have drivers with double zero’s that would disallow them to be placed in the bracket”, says Kevin Wells, Competition Director of Formula DRIFT. “Being that we had exactly 32 cars in competition, no one would be left out and so that seemed to be the prudent thing to do. We want the drivers to have a voice. The majority spoke and we answered.”
The show did not end there, however. Formula DRIFT opened up the track for open practice and under much less stressed conditions; fans at the event and watching the live stream were treated to an open tandem practice ahead of tomorrow’s event. All 32 drivers are set to go and ready to kick off Round 1 of 8 tomorrow on the streets of Long Beach.
For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com, www.NetworkA.com, and www.Sportsrocket.com. Find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.
