In the Top 32, I went against Jeff Jones. He is a new driver for Formula D, and I'd never really seen him run, so I had no idea how he was going to drive. In any case, I didn't have any extra room in my head to think about anything other than my own driving. My first run leading went pretty well. I entered hard, had good angle, and tons of smoke. When I was following, Jeff had awesome angle at the first turn, which made him very slow into the next transition. I was trying to slow my car down to match his speed but I couldn't. I ended up spinning. LBC was over.
This was not exactly the best way to start the season. At least I got some points, thanks to the new Top 32 points system. That's good! Now, I have to work hard with my team to expand the driveability of my Lexus IS. I'm confident as the season progresses and as we develop the car, I will be able to do battle with the best of them!
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Chris Forsberg
Wrapping last season in Fifth overall, Chris Forsberg is back in his tried-and-true 350Z. Putting it down in the big, bad LBC in '08, Chris took the first round win a year ago. Can he repeat his performance and get the year off on the right foot?
In the weeks before Long Beach, my team and I noticed that we were not freaking out. We usually spend a lot of time before the first event trying to finish the car, test, load our gear, but this year, we were ready. It was surreal.
For Friday morning's practice, our plan was to run through the course a few times, check out the surface changes (there were about six), and make sure the car felt comfortable. By the time Qualifying started, we were feeling great--the new judging format seemed to give drivers much more feedback on exactly what they lacked in their run (i.e. speed, line, angle, and style). When it was time for us to run, I walked over to the car, stretched, and climbed in. We won here at Long Beach a year before, and we were here to show them why. Down the straightaway, I handbraked into the first turn (Turn Nine), and held Fourth gear the whole way around. Coming out, I rolled the pedal to the floor in Fourth and held it all the way down the shoot, transferring to the left for the main sweeper up against the wall, carrying as much speed as possible through Turn 10, and pushing for the wall again, with the throttle never leaving the floor. As soon as the Nissan got out to the second wall, I downshifted, added angle, and ran past the first inside clip at full-lock, transfering back to the right in the hairpin and downshifting again, then rolling back on the throttle. I waited to hear my score on the radio . . . 88.4! We were in First Place! What a relief! There was still a round of Qualifying left, but just knowing that you put down a good run takes all the weight off your shoulders.
For the second round of Qualifying, I wasn't going to just cruise through the course. I pushed even harder than my first, carrying more speed! As I transferred back to the left for the main sweeper, my foot was through the floor, pushing me out towards the walls where my rear bumper painted an orange stripe across the entire outer clipping zone! As I continued pushing towards the second outside clip, I grazed the wall again! Clearing the course, I heard my spotter, Blair, yelling at what an amazing run it was! We scored a 93.1--five points higher than Second Place and the only score in the 90s, earning us the top qualifying spot for the second time.