Tanner Foust - Formula D Diaries

Ken Gushi
Converting an FF car to FR is no easy task. Just ask Ken Gushi about his custom-built tC. Last season saw the "Gush" plagued worse than the Bubonic with mechanical woes. But with the car entering its second year of service and with Ken's never-give-up attitude, can 2009 be the year he makes his comeback?

I didn't even make it into the points roster. Great. What a way to kick off the '09 season. I don't want to sound negative or anything, but I feel that my car or our team is haunted with bad spirits.

During testing and practice, the RS-R Scion tC ran great, and I felt confident. As soon as the car got to Long Beach, however, it did not feel the same. Perhaps it was from all the pressure I felt from what everyone expected of my performance. That, and I had not competed the car since November of 2008 at the Red Bull World Championships. Actually, the last time I actually drifted the car sideways was October of 2008--at Red Bull, the motor was broken. So a long off-season with no drifting hurt big time. This game is all about seat time and practice. Whoever had the most testing sessions during the off-season was bound to do well.

To make matters worse, we changed quite a bit of stuff around in our car. We added bars to the front to make it stiffer, so technically, the front end of the car should have felt better. But because I didn't have sufficient time getting familiar with it, I was feeling nervous. I was jumping into a fresh car on a track with concrete walls on both sides. And guess what? During Tuesday's media ride-along, I crashed. I broke the lower control arm, a few parts on the steering knuckle, and bent a rotor. My team did a great job repairing what I had damaged and thankfully, John, Koji and Scott from SPD had spares ready.

The format for Qualifying is different from the previous year. Everyone must qualify to make the Top 32 cut. Seeds don't exist any more. On my first run to qualify, I spun out the same exact way I did when I crashed the car on Tuesday, but this time, I was able to recover from the last experience. I saved it. My second run was much more solid until the last hairpin. All of a sudden, I lost power and could not throttle out of the final corner. I ended up in 32nd place and my hope was to stay there. However, Ryuji Miki and Ryan Tuerck had not made their passes yet. Unfortunately, I was beat by Ryan and I ended up in 33rd place.

I had never qualified so low in my career. What a disappointment. I can already see what improvements need to be made before Atlanta, but I also need practice. It was evident that I lacked seat time. You can only blame mechanical problems for so long. Sooner or later, people will begin to question the driver's ability to drive. I must save myself! And to do that, I need to practice.