Dai Yoshihara
So far, the new season and new car--a Lexus IS350--haven't been kind to this Second Place finisher of the Red Bull World Championship. A consistent Top 16 drifter, drivability issues knocked Dai Yoshihara out during Top 32 tandems in Round 1. Spirit and skills more than willing, was there enough time between rounds to work out the kinks?
Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks and I love the people there. They are really nice and friendly--I always have a good time competing in Atlanta. After Round 1, we had testing sessions with the IS350 that made it better, but we couldn't solve one major issue: steering setup. The IS doesn't have much self steering, so it's very hard to control, especially when transitioning to the next corner.
I spun many times at the practice session, which is what I expected, but it was not as bad as in Long Beach. By the end of practice, I was able to do pretty well without spinning, although I wasn't consistent. After Qualifying, I ended up Second! Woo hoo!! My run during Qualifying was my best, all day. I was so happy that I could deliver in desperate times!
In the Top 32 round, I went against Pat Mordaunt. Even though I was able to qualify in Second Place, the IS350 is very hard to control during tandem. My strategy was to focus during my lead run and create a gap, and take it easier than usual when I was following. Not ideal, but it's better than being out of control and spinning. I think my strategy worked and I had solid runs. But I guess Pat did really good too, so the Judges called One More Time . . . WTF! I tried to do the same thing, but I messed up this time. When I was leading, I almost spun at the horseshoe and my rear tires went off into the dirt at the last corner. When I was following, the main switch turned off when I shifted to Second gear at the straightaway . . . WTF! I switched it back to "on" immediately, but there was a huge gap to Pat by then. I chased him, but I couldn't catch him till the last corner. I lost the battle.
I can't believe that I didn't make Top 16 two rounds in a row. We have to work on the car as soon as possible to get ready for Round 3 in New Jersey. I don't want to be the underdog anymore...
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By Carter Jung
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