Sunday is usually the day for me to lock myself inside my room and start editing all the photos that I’ve taken during the week, but this Sunday was much different from that… Instead of being in my room editing away peacefully, I found myself sniffing the smell of burnt rubber and taking photos of drift cars at Formula Drift appearing in Australia for the first time. Walking into the gates of the event I felt like a little kid in candy land after seeing all the beautiful drift cars! I was used to seeing these cars only on the screen of my TV, so it was totally surreal seeing them in real life. I arrived just in time for their first practice session, heart already racing from hearing the cars start up!
Based on Formula Drift’s traditional “head-to-head battle” format, drivers attempt to qualify, in single judged runs, to be one of the 16 drivers that will enter the main competition bracket. During the bracketed “tandem battle” competitions, drivers are paired off in a head-to-head competition of skill and nerves in a championship format to determine one final winner.
After a good session of practicing it was time to bring the cars back into the garage and start prepping for the first qualifying session.
While the cars were in the garage getting ready for qualifying, I made the most of my spare time to walk around to see what else was around.
GTR with a 2JZ heart… O.O
Two massive turbos laying peacefully in this 350Z, was disappointing to not see it in action on track.
Ryan Cummings’ Slide Strawberry made the trip down from Queensland. You may have seen this car at our recent Track Battle event!
One of the main crowd pleasers, the recently-completed RSR Toyota 86 with an LS1 heart from a NASCAR. The sound from this was just incredible.
The infamous Mad Mike strolling around among the crowd whilst his car was getting ready.
Also spotted Daijiro Yoshihara taking photos and signing autographs for his fans.
Qualifying began and it was getting more intense each round as the cars starting battling to get into the top 16.
Before I knew it, qualifying was over and it was time for the top 16 to start their epic battle!
A quick little parade before the battle session bagan
Everyone getting off from their seat to see the battle happen, I myself started getting butterflies!
Queenslander Josh Boettcher took out Europe’s top drifter Fredric Aasbo to finish in third place. A crowd of nearly 6,000 people turned up to cheer on the drivers with seven Aussies qualifying for the top 16 final round. There were a few surprises when favourites such as Robbie Nishida and Kiwi Mike Widdhett made early exits.
South Australian drifter and Formula Drift Asia 2013 runner up Monkhouse said it was fantastic to compete with the world’s best drifters. “It was a great experience to be driving in front of a home crowd. Driving against Saito and being able to finish in second place is a great result for me and the team. I still can’t believe it, it’s like a dream!”
As the sun was setting, the event was coming to an end.
Congratulations to reigning Formula Drift Asia and USA 2012 Champion Daigo Saito! He beat the Aussies to be crowned Champion at the Achilles Formula Drift Asia’s 2013 season opener in Melbourne.
The next leg of Formula Drift will be in Kuala Lumpur on 29 June 2013. A massive thanks to the sponsors and the team for making this event happen, it was truly amazing and I wish to see you guys here again next year!
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