Formula D Diaries - Seattle WA

Tyler McQuarrie
Funny how the championship standings are a lot like the act of drifting. Once a driver gets some momentum, he rides the slide and appears almost unstoppable. That's what's happening with Tyler McQuarrie. He's already had a sniff of the podium, got close in Vegas and has become a major contender. If only that darned Forsberg wouldn't keep getting in his way.

I had been looking forward to Seattle the whole year. The track is super-fast and a lot of a run is spent riding the wall, which I love. The crowd is awesome, and to top it off, the Falken Tire 350Z is dialed in.

We spent most of Thursday's practice getting the gearing sorted out. It's pretty easy to try many different gears, since we have a quick-change rear end. After I found a gear I liked, we spent a little time adjusting the shocks and tire pressures to the track. The car was dialed in everywhere except for straight lines. I struggled to put the power down leaving the start line and got pulled by everyone. We realized we couldn't fix the issue at this event. It's all part of developing a new car, and I knew to be patient with it. I qualified Sixth and my first match-up for Top 32 was Ron Ewerth. Although his speed entering the oval was much slower than mine, his speed off the oval and into the hairpin was pretty good. I led first and pulled out a large gap. The trick was following him. I needed to gap him just enough so I could be on his door coming off the bank. I timed it right and was able to get on his door in the infield and pull alongside at the finish. I moved on to the Top 16 to face Yasu Kondo in his AE86.

Yasu had been looking fast all weekend, so I knew this wouldn't be an easy win. I had a clean run and was able to pull out a few car lengths; I just needed to be close to him in the follow run. As we entered the oval, his bumper flew off and went over my head, followed by his hatch. It was like he had a switch he could flip to jettison body parts and throw other drivers off. After dodging the parts, I was able to reel him in and get the win.

Onto the Great 8, where things started to get tough and interesting at the same time. I was matched with Samuel Hubinette in the Viper. Sam led first, got a really good jump and took off. It was such a helpless feeling, watching his car get smaller and smaller as he pulled out an eight-car lead. All I could do at that point was to try and catch him. I got to within one car length by the end. On my lead run, I went all-out and did one of my best runs of the weekend. I wasn't sure if it was enough, so all I was thinking was OMT. Then my crew chief, Ian, came over the radio and said I'd won. I guess the judges didn't like how he took off, but liked how I caught him.

My match-up in the semi-finals was Chris Forsberg, the fourth time this year he and I have met in competition. Whoever won this battle would win the event, since O'Sullivan had advanced to the Finals, but his car couldn't continue. Chris and I talked before, and agreed to use the pace cone. On my lead run, I struggled to get the power down, so Chris had to wait a bit for me. But as we entered the oval, I drove as hard as I could and pulled out a pretty big gap. Following Chris on the next run, my plan was to stick with him and victory would be mine. Charging into the oval, I was on his right rear throughout the bank. Chris was a little slower coming off the bank, but I was too close to just ease off. I grabbed some e-brake to avoid hitting him, which caused me to stall out a bit. Victory went to Chris.

Next came the consolation round for Third Place against my Falken teammate, J.R. At this point, Falken was guaranteed a podium spot, but this was an important run for us both. J.R. was Fourth in the championship and I was half a point behind him. I led the first run and pulled out a gap on the bank, but he closed it back down to a car length on the infield. On my follow run, I stuck to him and came within inches of his rear bumper coming off the bank. I was then able to get up alongside his driver's door on the infield. It was a hard-fought battle with my teammate, but the judges awarded me the third step on the podium.

What an amazing event. My second podium of the year and I've moved up to Third in the championship with two events to go. I'm having so much fun this year! Thanks to Team Falken and ASD for giving me a car to contest the championship. Bring it, Sonoma!

Gopro Camera
www.goprocamera.com

Falken Tire
www.falkentire.com

Brian Crower
www.runbc.com

1st
Chris Forsberg
The drift gods taketh away and the drift gods giveth. If the likes of Millen and Yoshihara are wondering where all their luck has gone, they ought to ask Chris Forsberg. The bearded one is riding the crest of a wave right now. There's a lot to be said for raw talent, but the more someone prepares and practices, the luckier they get.

Seriously, did that just happen? What an unbelievable weekend. We came to Seattle this year hoping to make it through a couple of rounds and keep in the top three. Given our past years of bad luck at Evergreen, that seemed to be asking for a lot. We made no big changes to the car from Las Vegas, focusing mainly on the reliability aspect, to avoid another engine failure. Another major concern was the weather. We had to be prepared to run in the rain, if necessary.

The weekend started out pretty good. I had the chance to go to Microsoft and test out the new Forza 3 game that will debut soon. The team at Turn 10 took us around the office and showed us all the efforts that go into making a new video game. The game play is excellent, and with more than 400 cars, it could take years to drive every one.

To business. I felt I had a lot of weight on my shoulders going into this event. I had never led the championship this far into the year. I was nervous about what could happen, or if we didn't qualify, and dozens of other scenarios. I always get a little jittery before qualifying, especially before the Top 32 field, but this time my nervousness was tenfold. I tried not to think about it as the day went on, but as certain people moved on or got knocked out, I could calculate the points in my head, even up to my Top 16 match with Darren.

I knew Darren's car was working well and it would be a tough fight to get past him. My mechanic, Kevin, and I had a long discussion before the Top 16, how to make the car a little faster to keep up with him. But when it came time to make a decision, we opted to run with our current setup and see what would happen. There was no point in trying to make a last-minute change and hope it would work. On our first run, Darren was in the chase position. He hit my door on the infield and spun to a stop, giving me a clear advantage. My chase run was clean, giving me the win.

From there I felt more confident, I had made the Top 8 and now it was going to be anyone's day. Top 8 led us to Ross Petty, who was cranking out so much smoke when he was leading that I couldn't even see the blinding strobe lights on his car. I stayed in the throttle and followed the smoke until he slowed down and I could see him again. I dumped the car down into Third gear and dived in for his door. I followed closely through the infield and came out with the win, putting me in the semi-finals. This was where things got a little confusing.

J.R. and Eric O'Sullivan were the first two drivers to pair off in the semis. Word came back to the pits that there was a serious crash in the bank. After about 10 minutes, we heard the judges rule that J.R. had been at fault and Eric O'Sullivan would move to the finals. Here's the twist: Eric's car was inoperable, which meant the winner of my upcoming semi-final run with Tyler would therefore clinch the whole event. As that idea started to set in, so did the pressure.

On my chase lap, I jumped off the line and ran down the straight as fast as I could, hoping not to get left behind. Tyler's car was at my rear bumper as he fought for traction down the straight, so I lifted off momentarily to let him get back in the lead, he rocketed by and feint-drifted right across my front bumper. I got back on the throttle and initiated as well, but he had a large gap at the beginning of the bank. I tried to make up ground as best as I could as we drifted through the infield, but there was still a decent gap.

My lead lap had to be all or nothing. I threw the car up toward the wall and held it all the way around the bank, but Tyler was closing in fast. I cranked in as much angle as I could as we slowed to enter the infield. This is where I got lucky. Tyler over-rotated his car, causing him to lose speed and create a big gap between us. I cleared through the rest of the course with no corrections and was then declared the winner. After the consolation round for Third Place, I drifted through the course and took my victory lap. I'm so pumped and grateful to have had such an amazing weekend!

Drift Alliance
www.driftalliance.com

Nos Energy Drink
www.drinknos.com

Maxxis Tire
www.maxxis.com

Rd 5. Results
Seattle, WA Podium
1. Chris Forsberg
2. Eric O'Sullivan
3. Tyler McQuarrie

Overall Standings
1. Forsberg
2. Tuerck
3. McQuarrie
4. Hubinette
5. Gittin
6. McNamara
7. Nishida
8. Foust
9. Pawlak
10. Brakohiapa

By Carter Jung

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