Rhys Millen took home 1st place tonight in Las Vegas using the same car that he used at Pikes Peak a couple weeks ago. The rest of the podium in below:
1. Rhys Millen
2. Fredric Aasbo
3. Vaughn Gittin Jr.
The Top 32 bracket has a couple of really interesting matchups including Aasbo vs Forsberg, two drivers that we usually don’t see battle so early in Top 32. Pawlak and McQuarrie are also matched up in Top 32 . You’ll recall that last year Justin Pawlak was given Tyler McQuarrie’s car last year at Vegas causing Tyler to be out of the points race. The rest of the matchups are below:
Left side of the bracket:
F. Aasbo vs C. Forsberg
K. Mohan vs D. Yoshihara
M. Powers vs T. Yoshioka
J. Pawlak vs T. McQuarrie
C. Grunewald vs R. Bell
K. Gushi vs M. Field
V. Gittin vs D. Briggs
J. Maeng vs L. Lonberger
Right side of the bracket:
R. Millen vs A. Lee
C. Ward vs R. Gallagher
D. Saito vs T. Angelo
C. Denofa vs I. Fornier
R. Nishida vs O. Bakchis
R. Tuerck vs D. Mertzanis
M. Essa vs P. Goddin
D. George vs W. Wilkerson
The new track layout is quite a change from years past in Vegas. In fact, the whole place looks different in a great way with movement of the paddock area to the side of the parking lot and moved grandstands. Many top drivers made only a few passes but the track seems to be difficult for almost all. Qualifying should be interesting today.
Check out the gallery: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=310
Formula Drift champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. and American Iron Champion Chris Cobetto teamed up at Summit Point International Raceway. With the evolution of drift car builds over the last few years Vaughn Gittin wanted to prove that your average drift car isn’t as slow as they once were with traditional drift setups. Tune in and see how these two 2013 Ford Mustang RTR’s did with a single lap around Summit Point in drift versus grip.
The most hot place on earth next weekend is hosting a drift event next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the sixth round of Formula Drift. Below is a complete list of drivers coming to Las Vegas to compete for the big weekend.
|
1 |
Gittin, Vaughn Jr. |
25 |
|
2 |
Saito, Daigo* |
430 |
|
3 |
Pawlak, Justin |
13 |
|
4 |
Yoshihara, Daijiro |
9 |
|
5 |
Tuerck, Ryan |
62 |
|
6 |
Millen, Rhys |
67 |
|
7 |
Aasbo, Fredric |
151 |
|
8 |
Forsberg, Chris |
64 |
|
9 |
Powers, Matt |
665 |
|
10 |
Bakchis, Odi |
723 |
|
11 |
Gushi, Ken |
21 |
|
12 |
Grunewald, Conrad |
79 |
|
13 |
Essa, Mike |
101 |
|
14 |
Moen, Kenneth** |
22 |
|
15 |
Kado, Ryan |
614 |
|
16 |
Yoshioka, Toshiki |
5 |
|
17 |
Denofa, Chelsea* |
88 |
|
18 |
McQuarrie, Tyler |
17 |
|
18 |
Wilkerson, Walker |
95 |
|
20 |
Nishida, Robbie |
31 |
|
21 |
Field, Matt |
777 |
|
22 |
McNamara, Darren |
8 |
|
23 |
Mohan, Kyle |
99 |
|
24 |
Angelo, Tony |
96 |
|
25 |
Maeng, Joon |
51 |
|
26 |
Lowe, Jeremy* |
138 |
|
27 |
Mertzanis, Dennis |
323 |
|
27 |
Aono, Taka |
86 |
|
29 |
Ovcharik, Miroslav* |
235 |
|
30 |
Mordaunt, Patrick |
90 |
|
31 |
Castro, Jhonnattan* |
717 |
|
32 |
Brakohiapa, Tony |
18 |
|
33 |
Lonberger, Luke |
28 |
|
34 |
Marstanovic, George* |
111 |
|
35 |
George, Danny |
7 |
|
35 |
Hosford, Corey* |
232 |
|
35 |
Ward, Chris* |
23 |
|
35 |
Goodin, Patrick* |
46 |
|
39 |
D’Alessio, Nick* |
84 |
|
40 |
Amandio, Emmanuel** |
30 |
|
41 |
Lee, Alex** |
81 |
|
43 |
Jones, Jeff |
29 |
|
45 |
Abbott, Jeff |
518 |
|
45 |
Bell, Ryan* |
19 |
|
45 |
Briggs, Dave* |
24 |
|
45 |
Coomes, Andrew* |
12 |
|
45 |
Fournier, Ian |
11 |
|
45 |
Gallagher, Roland |
425 |
|
45 |
Guild, Joshua* |
702 |
|
45 |
Mendoza Jr., Enrique* |
16 |
|
45 |
Ornelas Jr., Mauricio* |
27 |
|
45 |
Skudlarek, Mike |
20 |
|
45 |
Stone, Gabe* |
15 |
|
45 |
Thomas, Nick |
310 |
Vaughn Gittin Jr is now leading the points thanks in large part to his great qualifying efforts. JR released a video showcasing his tandem battles and some antics around the Pikes Place market. His video series, which we’ve featured previously this year, is one of the more entertaining video blogs being put out by the drivers. Watch and enjoy!
As a follow-up to our qualifying post yesterday, we re-calculated the standings based on the tandem points only, and Saito rises to the top as the best tandem driver this season based on the tandem points alone. Justin Pawlak has earned more tandem points than his Ford and Falken Tire teammate Vaughn Gittin Jr, while Chris Forsberg would rank ahead of his Hankook Tire teammate Fredric Aasbo based on tandem points alone. Powers is the highest ranked driver who does not have a podium finish. Yoshioka is the highest ranked driver who has missed a top 32.
To compare these rankings to the current season point totals, check out the post we made after round 5.
Averaging just top 16 would put you at 270 points overall (5×54), or in 9th place ahead of Matt Powers and behind Fredric Aasbo. Averaging a top 8 every round so far would put you in 6th place with 305 points, ahead of Rhys Millen.
| Rank | Name | Rd 1 Tandem | Rd 2 Tandem | Rd 3 Tandem | Rd 4 Tandem | Rd 5 Tandem | Total |
| 1 | Saito | 78 | 78 | 100 | 69 | 54 | 379 |
| 2 | Pawlak | 100 | 100 | 69 | 61 | 24 | 354 |
| 3 | Gittin | 24 | 54 | 61 | 100 | 100 | 339 |
| 4 | Yoshihara | 88 | 24 | 78 | 88 | 54 | 332 |
| 5 | Tuerck | 54 | 54 | 61 | 54 | 88 | 311 |
| 6 | Millen | 54 | 61 | 54 | 54 | 78 | 301 |
| 7 | Forsberg | 61 | 24 | 88 | 78 | 24 | 275 |
| 8 | Aasbo | 54 | 88 | 24 | 54 | 54 | 274 |
| 9 | Powers | 69 | 54 | 24 | 61 | 61 | 269 |
| 10 | Gushi | 61 | 24 | 54 | 54 | 69 | 262 |
| 11 | Bakchis | 54 | 61 | 54 | 54 | 24 | 247 |
| 12 | Grunewald | 54 | 24 | 24 | 61 | 61 | 224 |
| 12 | Moen | 61 | 24 | 61 | 54 | 24 | 224 |
| 14 | Essa | 24 | 61 | 54 | 24 | 54 | 217 |
| 14 | Kado | 54 | 54 | 24 | 24 | 61 | 217 |
| 16 | Yoshioka | 54 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 54 | 216 |
| 17 | DeNofa | 24 | 24 | 61 | 54 | 24 | 187 |
| 18 | Nishida | 24 | 24 | 54 | 54 | 24 | 180 |
| 19 | Wilkerson | 0 | 69 | 54 | 0 | 54 | 177 |
| 20 | McQuarrie | 61 | 24 | 24 | 61 | 0 | 170 |
Vaughn Gittin Jr is leading the points championship entering round 6, mostly due to qualifying points. He has more qualifying points than any other driver, and may possibly earn the championship based more on his qualifying points than tandem points. Vaughn Gittin Jr has qualified no worse than third (Long Beach), and has earned the first or second qualifying position in each of the last four rounds. Here’s how the top 24 drivers would rank based solely on their qualifying points. Notice that Ford drivers take the top 2 spots, Drift Alliance members have four of the top 6 spots, and Saito drops from 2nd place overall to 21st place based on his qualifying efforts.
Note – Initially, we had calculated these rankings based solely on the top 20 drivers in the FD championship standings. We have now expanded the rankings to include the top 30 drivers, which bumped some drivers like Miro Ovcharik and Pat Mordaunt into the top 20 overall due to high ranking qualifying efforts in a single event but low overall tandem results.
| Rank | Driver Name | Rd 1 Qual | Rd 2 Qual | Rd 3 Qual | Rd 4 Qual | Rd 5 Qual | Total Pts |
| 1 | Gittin | 8 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 52 pts |
| 2 | Pawlak | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 22 pts |
| 3 | Aasbo | 2 | 8 | 0.5 | 8 | 3 | 21.5 pts |
| 4 | Bakchis | 0.25 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 0.5 | 20.75 pts |
| 5 | Forsberg | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 18 pts |
| 6 | Tuerck | 12 | 0.5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 17.5 pts |
| 7 | Millen | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0.25 | 17.25 pts |
| 8 | Yoshihara | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 15 pts |
| 8 | Essa | 0.5 | 12 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 15 pts |
| 10 | Grunewald | 3 | 4 | 0.5 | 3 | 4 | 14.5 pts |
| 11 | McQuarrie | 3 | 0.5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 13.5 pts |
| 12 | Ovcharik | x | 0 | 10 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 10.5 pts |
| 13 | McNamara | 2 | 0.25 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10.25 pts |
| 14 | Kado | 2 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 9 pts |
| 15 | Yoshioka | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0 | 8 | 8.75 pts |
| 16 | Moen | 0.5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.5 | 7 pts |
| 16 | Mordaunt | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 6 | 7 pts |
| 18 | Powers | 0.5 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 6.5 pts |
| 18 | Wilkerson | 0 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6.5 pts |
| 20 | DeNofa | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 4 | 0.25 | 5.75 pts |
| 21 | Saito | 0.5 | 1 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 4.5 pts |
| 21 | Gushi | 1 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 2 | 1 | 4.5 pts |
After some rumors have circled around the drift community we got some super solid evidence and communication tonight that after Formula Drift 2012 is complete the ASD and Falken Tire camp will be separated as official partners. The first outward visual issue of the partnership really came when Darren McNamara jumped ship into SPD Metal Works, the team who maintains Daijiro Yoshihara’s 2011 championship S13.4, and planned to finish out the 2012 season with the Falken S15.
Right now Vaughn Gittin Jr. is poised to take home his second championship in three years as he leads the race with just two rounds left. That would leave ASD at a championship average better than most programs building drift cars. No communication yet exactly how things will pan out for Falken Tire or the respective ASD drivers of VGJ and Justin Pawlak but information should be available soon.Whatever they have cooking up in Fontana, California they plan to win more and more championships after going back to back I am sure.
With his back to back wins, Vaughn Gittin Jr has taken 1st place away from Justin Pawlak. Daigo Saito is still in 3rd place.
1. Vaughn Gittin – 391
2. Daigo Saito – 383.50
3. Justin Pawlak – 376
4. Daijiro Yoshihara – 347
5. Ryan Tuerck – 328.50
6. Rhys Millen – 318.25
7. Fredric Aasbo – 295.50
8. Chris Forsberg – 293
9. Matt Powers – 275.50
10. Odi Bakchis – 267.75
11. Ken Gushi – 266.50
12. Conrad Grunewald – 238.50
13. Michael Essa – 232
14. Kenneth Moen – 231
15. Ryan Kado – 226
16. Toshiki Yoshioka – 224.75
