Long Beach Grand Prix - Formula D Diaries

Ken Gushi
The Gush is turning Japanese, going from a Mustang last season to an all-new tC. Lacking crucial seat time, with practice, time will only tell if this Scion will really move you.

Formula D at Long Beach was a nightmare for me. I only tested the RS-R Scion tC once before the main event and I was not quite accustomed to the car yet. To make things worse, the axles broke during practice on Friday and I was not able to run the entire day. Crap happens though, right? A new car with absolutely no data can't run like a champ right off the bat. Nervous? Not really. I knew Gary from Design Craft would work some magic to make crazy things happen. But everyone else was freaking out because we had Scion representatives coming to the event the very next day and it would look bad on me as a driver if I couldn't get the thing to run during qualifying on Saturday.

That night I remember telling myself, You know what? Who cares if you crash the car? Just go balls-out and don't lift! I think that's the attitude you need when driving a new car that you have no idea of where it's going to turn. Whether you choose to crash the car or not is up to you. I don't want to crash a new car in the first round, but I think the "balls-out" attitude is what I need in every run. I did what I had to and magically pulled off an 89.5, which placed me 10th overall in qualifying. Everyone was surprised including myself. With close to no practice, no seat time, and no time to think, I went "balls-out" and for the first time, the car did what I wanted it to do. Dad, you were right. I was holding back all this time.

Scion Racing
www.scionracing.com

RS-R
www.rs-r.com

XM Radio
www.xmradio.com

By Carter Jung

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