Formula D 2007 kicked off on the streets of Long Beach in what you could almost consider the cage match of Drifting. With no room for mistakes most drivers entered the event with a great amount of caution. The most exciting tandem battle in Long Beach was by far Mitsuru Haruguchi and Chris Forsberg. After a ‘one more time’ was called by the judges and two more insane tandem runs they awarded Mitsuru Haruguchi the win of this tandem battle. Tanner Foust was the next order of competition for Mitsuru Haruguchi. He was able to defeat Tanner Foust in the finals and clinch victory for himself and Team Falken.
Round two of the Formula D series took place at Road Atlanta right outside of Atlanta, Georgia. This track is much faster than Long Beach and a very different style being on a real road course with things like elevation changes. The finals in Atlanta found Darren McNamara in his AE86 and Chris Forsberg in his Nissan 350z. After a few runs Chris Forsberg was able to take home a victory for Drift Alliance.
The saga of Formula D continued in Summit Point, West Virginia for round three. An interesting track that was definitely the most technical course any of the drivers have seen to date in the season. Sam Hubinette struggled in his new Dodge Charger at Long Beach with technical issues and was actually unable to qualify in Atlanta due to a car malfunction! Nuformz and Team Mopar got the car where they wanted it finally and Sam Hubinette took charge to the field of drivers. After a tough battle he snagged a well earned victory against Bill Sherman and continued to win Round 3 of Formula D 2007!
Round four took us to Seattle, Washington where Formula D took the battle to the circle track. Daijiro Yoshihara came geared up in his new Nissan 240sx that they debuted at Summit Point. Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Daijiro battled in the finals but Daijiro edged him out to take home his first victory of the season.
Round five put us in Sonoma, California at the famous Infineon Raceway. Chris Forsberg secured his second victory of the season and kept close in the championship race. The other huge story that came from round five was Vaughn Gittin Jr. secured another second place victory for himself. With two second place victories in a row Vaughn will be looking to score top honors in Jersey or Irwindale.
Round six put us up in Wall Township, New Jersey. Daijiro Yoshihara took down his second victory for 2007 and put himself in position to tie Chris Forsberg for second place in the points chase behind Tanner Foust. The big shining star of New Jersey however was Tyler McQuarrie in his Porsche GT2. They just unveiled his car in Sonoma and Tyler was able to push his way into the top 16 and shake up some of the competition. We will need to watch out for this thing in 2008.
Round seven brought us to the House of Drift in Irwindale, California. This place is where Drifting history and stars are made. Tanner Foust came into the event sitting in first place and was looking to seal the championship up for the AEM/Memphis Car Audio team. Chris Forsberg and Daijiro Yoshihara had other plans and found themselves doing battle in the final four. Chris Forsberg edged Yoshihara out and ran into Tanner Foust in the finals which ended up with Tanner beating Chris and securing his 2007 Championship. Congrats to Tanner Foust and team for the long fought battle and victory.
Darren McNamara came over from Ireland and left a huge impression with the Americans this year in Formula D. More Irish drivers could be looking to come get involved in 2008 and Darren McNamara should be making a bigger impact in his second year of Formula D. Watch out for him as we expect to see him taking home a first place victory in at least one event or maybe two.
Rhys Millen’s Pontiac Solstice had the critics asking lots of questions going into the 2007 season but he held his own in a first year platform car. Look for him to be much more aggressive in 2008 and take home some victories of his own now that he is settled into the little machine. Once he makes a full recovery from his backflip accident, we expect to see Rhys Millen chasing that 2008 championship aggressively.
Ryan Tuerck has been one of the biggest names making waves for 2008. Ryan Tuerck has partnered with long time drag racer Gary Gardella who runs under the GM/Redbull umbrella. If Ryan Tuerck is given a solid platform to drive on in 2008 from Gardella Racing, it is possible he could be next year’s Formula D champion. He has the talent, heart, and dedication so keep an eye out for him! Congrats to all the teams who competed in 2007 and good luck this year in 2008. See everyone at the race track. For more Drifting information, visit us at Wrecked Magazine
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