The 5th part of Formula Drift, which took place in Washington, began on Friday evening after our time. In qualifying, Darren McNamara proved to be the best in his Nissan S14. Norwegian Fredic Aasbo came in 2nd place in a redesigned Toyota GT-86, and Matt Field came in 3rd. Last year's champion and American drift icon, Vaughn Gittin Junior, landed in 4th place. Currently leading Japanese Daigo Saito had a close encounter with the wall in the 1st qualifying round, but the mechanics quickly repaired the damage and in the 2nd round Daigo ranked 26th, among the 32 best. When midnight struck us, the race of the best 32, who competed against each other, started at the Evergreen Speedway. The top 16 qualified for the next round. All the favorites qualified, except for the leading Daig Sait, who had no luck on the racetrack this weekend.
He was prevented from performing in the next lap by Toshiki Yoshioka, in an attractive 550-horsepower Subaru BRZ. After a two-hour break, the race of the top 16 has begun. The speeds of the race cars are even faster here, the cars reach incredible angles and the desire to win is visible as the smoke that accompanies every drifter. The top 8 matches began, with the start of Darren McNamara and Michael Esse. The McNamarin Nissan S14 succumbed to trouble, so Essa advanced to the top 4. Vaughn Gittin Junior faced Lithuanian Aurimas Bakchis and after two laps, the judges decided to have the drivers perform again. In the second, the judges determined that the winner was Bakchis.
In the duel between Fredric Aasbo and Justin Pawlak, the Norwegian Aasbo celebrated after the first round as Pawlak crashed hard into the wall, ending his appearance at Formula Drift. The last couple competed, Chris Forsberg and Robbie Nishida. After an excellent ride by both drivers, the judges decided to perform again. After a spectacular duel, Chris Forsberg celebrated. So only 4 drivers remained. Odi Bakchis and Mike Essa competed first. In the first lap, Odi Bakchis had a flat tire and because he had already used his "competition time-out", he was not allowed to change the tire,
which meant Mike Essa was advancing to the finals. Frederic Aasbo and Chris Forsberg competed as the last semi-finalists. After a great start to the race, they collided in the penultimate corner and Aasbo’s GT-86 needed the service of the rear left wheel. Failing to repair his injury in time, Forsberg was entitled to play in the final against Michael Essi. Aasbo competed against Odi for third place and after 3 rounds Norwegian Fredric Aasbo won in 3rd place. In the final race, Michael Essa and Chris Forsberg fought door-to-door, wheel-to-wheel. After two tense rounds, the judges decided that the winner of the 5th round of Formula Drift, Chris Forsberg. Michael Essa landed in 2nd place.
The next Formula Drift spectacle will take place on September 13 and 14 in Texas.
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