SpeedLounge

Lyrics and Photos by Andrew Jennings

Formula Drift returned to Road Atlanta for the 5th year running to show the Southeast what it means to get sideways. As in previous years, the treacherous turn 10 and the specially paved horseshoe loop were used for the course, bringing things close enough so the crowd of over 10,000 didn’t miss a second of the action. While rain threatened part of last year’s race, the weather stayed warm and dry this time to make it a fantastic weekend.

Going into Friday, the big story was Rhys “Mad Skills” Millen. Due to a back injury that he sustained while practicing for a New Year’s Eve stunt, he was unable to compete in the first round of the series in Long Beach last month. That meant that he would be unseeded for the first time in the history of the series. His Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP underwent slight modifications in the off-season, and now features a much more aggressive, wider rear end. Rhys did not disappoint, and showed that he was far from rusty, throwing down an insane run to take the top slot of unseeded qualifying.

Due to some confusion by the event officials, both Calvin Wan and Bill Sherman did not take unseeded qualifying runs, but were allowed to move into the second round of qualifying regardless because two of the seeded drivers from Long Beach, Kazu Hayashida and Mitsuru Haruguchi, did not make the trek to the east coast. What is usually a top 32 turned into a top 34 qualifying session in the afternoon on Saturday. Wild Bill laid down a solid run in his new widebody Braille Batteries Nissan 350Z roadster to earn his way into top 16, but Calvin did not advance.

No race weekend is without car malfunctions however, and a few drivers found this out as their rides were turned over to the DL before they could qualify for the main event. Ken Gushi, who has looked so awesome in his brand new RWD-converted Scion RS*R tC, suffered mechanical problems early on in practice, and Ryuji Miki blew his third transmission in the Apexi/Nitto RX-7. Joon Maeng also had engine trouble with his new Hankook Tires Nissan S14, unable to put the power down and hold a good drift through the tough elevation changes of the track. All three of these guys will be back for more, so keep an eye on them throughout the rest of the season.

Plenty of new blood did make it into the main event, which seems to be the trend after Kyle Mohan, Justin Pawleck and others proved themselves a force to be reckoned with in Cali. Pat Mordaunt in the yellow Riceboytv.com / Cooper Tires S14 advanced to qualify for his first professional competition. Stephan Verdier was also on his game to propel the lone Subaru in Formula D onto the top 16 tandem battles. When it came to the veterans of the series though, all eyes were on Tanner Foust, last year’s overall points champion. With new Rockstar Energy Drink livery on his AEM Nissan 350Z, Tanner floored it with the sickest angle all day into the first corner, entering at over 90mph to qualify first.

As the track lights came on and the sun began to set, it was time to get serious. The crowds packed the amphitheater grand stands, and the roar of engines announced the beginning of what they had all come to see. Fan-favorite Tanner Foust was up first against Kenji Yamanaka. As expected, Kenji didn’t have much of a chance as Tanner rode close through the entire run and then sped away to victory. It was in his great eight battle however that Tanner managed to overdo things. Up against Ryan Tuerck in the Gardella Racing / Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice, lightning stroke twice as Tanner let two wheels drop into the dirt on the uphill turn entering the horseshoe. This is the same place that Tanner slipped up last year, costing him a chance at the final. Two wheels off is a 0 on the board, and it was too much for Tanner to recover from, allowing Ryan, a.k.a. Hampshaa, to advance to the final four.

Hampshaa’s Drift Alliance teammate Vaughn Gittin Jr. had quite an unexpected battle in the first round as well. Facing young Pat Mordaunt, JR made a costly mistake in their second run to send things to a one-more time battle with the rookie. This time, as Pat lead, JR really put on the pressure out of the first corner, forcing the banana-split like Nissan halfway into the dirt. Mordaunt showed true potential, but in the end was lost in the plumes of smoke dropped by JR.

Rhys Millen found himself against another GM convertible in the first round, facing off against Darren McNamara in the right-hand drive converted Falken Tires / Sears Saturn Sky. Rhys’ line was flawless, and even though Darren did well to keep up in the first run, he lost grip leading the second run and slid right off the track before entering the first left hander. Rhys went on to take out JR with a taste of his own medicine, causing the Mustang to overshoot the transition to the second turn and go off amidst the fierce duel.

Elsewhere in the ladder, newcomer to the Formula D series Michihiro Takatori in the Super Autobacs Nissan Skyline R34 was showing everyone how the Japanese do things. An experienced driver from the D1GP series, Takatori had his first battle against Chris Forsberg. The judges were unable to choose a winner after each put down textbook runs, so a one-more time battle was needed to decide it. Takatori seemed to glide the GT-R around each corner perfectly, going wide and using each inch of pavement to his advantage. Forsberg burned plenty of Maxxis rubber but it would not be enough as Takatori took the win to advance. Sam Hubinette, the crazy Swede kickin his favorite Mopar Viper, was waiting for him in the round of eight, but Takatori was on a roll. A small mistake by Sam on the second run when following the blue Nissan would be enough to end his night early as Takatori entered the final four.

Last but far from least, Dai Yoshihara showed everyone that he too could handle an american point plant in Rhy’s old 2005 championship Pontiac GTO. Dai did not reckon on meeting his new teammate Rhys in the final four however, and theirs also proved to be an epic battle for Pontiac bragging rights. Again, the first round could not decide a clear winner as both drivers did their best and made sure neither gained any ground when leading. On the second set of runs, Rhys came away with the victory but only by one point, putting the slip on Dai as he exited the horseshoe to speed away up towards the finish line. Said Rhys afterwards about the race, “I built [the GTO]. I know what it can do.”

Dai couldn’t take off his helmet just yet as there was still a consolation round to be decided for third place on the podium. Ryan Tuerck lost to Takatori in the other final four round, which meant that Dai would have to start all over against another Solstice. Dai just couldn’t catch a break, and even though Tuerck’s car wasn’t tuned for nearly as much power as Rhys’, Hampshaa seemed to know how to fully utilize the lightweight compact and attack Dai at every turn. The tired GTO put up a great fight but again lost by only one point to another one-more time match-up. With this third place victory, and round of eight points from Long Beach, Hampshaa moves into 5th place in the overall points standings and will try to keep up with the rest of the big guns as the season rolls on.

In the finals, Rhys and Takatori faced off for one last meeting in front of the thousands that had waited eagerly all evening for this moment. Takatori was the crowd favorite, creating a wave of excited cheers as he carried the action around the course. Rhys would not be out done however, putting up a worthy smoke screen infront of the R34 and sending things to overtime once more. Despite Takatori’s best efforts and crisp line, Rhys used every ounce of torque from the little ecotech motor and pulled away in their second run to claim the victory. He went from unseeded to the top of the podium, a rare episode in this competitive racing environment, proving without a doubt that his nickname Mad Skills isn’t without merit.

With the closure of Wall Sppedway in NJ, the series instead moves on to Englishtown for the first time to host round 3. The point standings couldn’t be closer, with Sam Hubinette and Chris Forsberg now tied for the overall lead, but Tanner and Takatori are right in the hunt with them. Check back next month to The Speed Lounge for complete coverage and be sure to visit the photo gallery for more from Atlanta.

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