I was bit more relaxed once I found out that I had qualified, but... the fact is, if you qualify in 16th Place, your first round will be against the driver who qualified in First place! This time, it was against Rhys "The High Speed Drifter" Millen. I requested that my team raise the boost pressure and lower the rear tire pressure so that I had more power and better traction. Rhys led the first run. I think he knew that my machine was slower than his, because during First and Second gear he kept pace with me - very kind of him. As a result, I was able to keep up, following his every move and staying right behind him. The result: I finished ahead, by one point! I knew Rhys wanted to win, and anything could happen during the second run, so I drove my machine to its max and held back nothing. Unbelievably, the score came back in my favor, again!
I faced Vaughn Gittin Jr. during the Great 8, who is a driver I have lost to in the past. But, with the excitement and adrenaline of winning against Rhys, I had confidence that I could beat him. The first run was JR's lead... and his machine was so very fast that I could not keep up. I caught him on the bank, but couldn't keep up. JR stuck right on my RX-7's bumper for my lead run, and won the round. Nice battle, JR!
At this point, nothing is 100% confirmed for the next season. My wish is to work side-by-side with my current team, whom I still have not fully paid back for all of their hard work and support. I hope everyone will continue to support me next year, and I will be back with a brand new machine!
P.S. I will study more English as well ...
Sam Hubinette
After losing the lead to Tanner at Sonoma, Sam and his Viper are heading into Irwindale in Second with only a few points separating him from his third Formula D Championship.
Our Irwindale experience began the week before the event, when we went out on the track to finalize the Mopar Viper's gearing, spring rate, rear wing angle, toe out, camber, and damper settings. This all was to make the car fast, smooth and predictable for a demanding track like Irwindale Speedway, where you get a lot of downforce on Turn One's bank, because of it's high speed entry. What's most challenging is to make the car work equally well around the oval, and in the infield's flat, slower turns.
With the Viper already dialed in, I spent most of Friday giving ride-a-longs to different friends and press people. Then, during the last part of the practice session, I went up against Orido for a tandem run. Coming into the infield, I transitioned too late behind him and ended up right in the wall, damaging both the front and the rear of the Viper. It was the biggest hit in my history of drifting. Everything went from feeling "awesome" to "not so good" pretty damn fast.
The NuFormz crew managed to pull the car back together, but had to swap out the differential, so I had to start the race with a completely new final drive. I managed to qualify Fourth, and got a free pass at the start of competition, because Conrad Gruenwald's Corvette broke down during the drivers' intro. I went up against Takatori in the Great 8, and had a big lead on him coming into the infield, until the Viper's rear end came around on me and I nearly spun, giving the move-on to Takatori.
Our season was over, but we had an amazing one... and nearly claimed the championship points race! Second Place is nothing to be upset with. The NuFormz/Mopar/BFG team has been flawless the whole season and I am very proud to have worked with such dedicated, talented people. We're building a new Mopar Drift machine for next year, and will have unveiled it by the time you read this. After that, BFGoodrich will be sending me to the Baja 1000 - another crazy event that I can't wait to take on!