Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA, was the setting for this season's fourth installment of oversteer overkill. Good weather, a packed house, a fast, banked track, and plenty of rubber going up in smoke. Oh, and if you ever see Taka Aono and want to wish him luck, don't use that famous theatrical saying, "Break a leg." He really won't thank you for it, as Charles Ng explains to the right.
Charles Ng
One of this year's privateer newbies is Charles "Kaki" Ng. This 25-year-old comes from Hong Kong and his Formula D machine is a '91 Mazda RX-7. But needing more torque than a factory rotary engine can provide, there's a 420hp Corvette LS6 V-8 engine under the hood. So far, it's been working pretty well for him.
Coming from pure street racing in Hong Kong and Asian Touring Cars, moving to California and winning the Skip Barber USA MX-5 Cup and some time-attack stuff, I made a big transition last year into competing at the Formula D Pro-Am. I won the regional event at Irwindale and got my license at the Nationals. This year, I have signed on for a full season of Formula D professional competition, and I'm currently leading the Rookie of the Year points table. Although few people have seen the hard work and determination behind those times, things seem to be working out . . . fingers crossed.
Round Four of Formula D in Seattle is a high-speed, banked oval circuit mixed with some technical turns in the infield. As a rookie, I had not driven or even seen the course before. My team and I arrived on Tuesday, unloaded the trailer, walked the track, took some notes, and got a rough taste of what the driving part would be like. However, we couldn't practice until Thursday, so we spent time cruising around the city on Wednesday and doing some prep work.
Thursday practice went well. Entry to the bank is taken in Fourth gear, and since it was the first time I was driving on 275/35-18 Nitto NT05s, I didn't know how the tires would react to a banked oval. To be on the safe side, we increased tire pressures just to make sure the car would break loose at the long bank, and gradually lowered them to find the right level where we could do the whole bank in style, with speed, and get enough grip for the infield at the same time.
In Friday's qualifying session, I was pretty confident about riding close to the wall. I ran close In my first pass, made a good transition into the infield, reduced speed a little to take the wide line, and clipped the late apex at the second-to-last corner. However, I overshot it with a little too much speed and angle, causing me to lift at the last hairpin, which meant a big deduction in points. On my second pass, I took a gangster line at the bank, rode the wall and made a quick and smooth transition into the infield and rode the outer wall closer than ever. Suddenly, the rear lost traction and I spun. I heard later that there was oil on the track and a couple of other drivers also ended up falling victim to it. All in all, it was enough to qualify for the main show on Saturday.
In Top 32, I was up against Taka Aono, a well respected FD veteran in his turbo AE86. He led first. Coming off the bank, I went a little wide and created too much of a gap. Taka made a mistake in the next corner, giving me an opportunity to catch up through the last corners. When I was leading, I ran a high line at the bank, right against the wall. I felt great and was smooth throughout the whole course, but when I finished and looked back, I didn't see Taka. He had tapped the wall in the bank, badly. He not only damaged his car but also broke his leg. He says he will try his best to make the next round in Vegas. Get well soon, Taka-san!