Here we are-at the seventh round of the seventh season of Formula Drift. To say the series has gotten better with time barely scratches the surface. All season long, we've seen neck-and-neck competition-and the most positive rivalry any racing fan could ask for-between two of the league's original slide masters, culminating in a championship seat that's stayed fair game for both until the end. And hot on the wheels of it all there's been the threat of past and defending FD champs, and some of the biggest guns in import drag racing now trained on mastering the sideways arts. The final chapter of Formula D Diaries brings it back to the legendary House of Drift: Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, CA.
Ryan Tuerck
Any fan of import drag racing will be familiar with Gardella Racing. The Howell, NJ, privateers' Ecko-sponsored red Civic hatch ran consistent low-eight-second E.T.s in NHRA Hot Rod competition throughout 2003 and 2004, and won the NDRA Pro 4 Cylinder Championship outright in 2005, setting a class E.T. record with a 7.92-second pass in the process. They've also done an equally progressive job of winning drift events with Ryan Tuerck behind the wheel of the team's Red Bull/Mobil 1 Saturn Sky, winning two events in 2009 and finishing Second for the Champ chase. Would their streak continue for 2010?
Leading up to Irwindale, I was able to spend a few days at my place in New York to relax for a little while. This made me pretty comfortable, thinking about the weekend ahead. I got into LAX the Tuesday prior to the event for some planned early testing, but rain for the first two days changed those plans. The weather cleared up for open practice on Thursday, and the Gardella Racing team and I were itching to hit the track. After half a day's testing and tuning, the car was perfect-I couldn't have asked for a better setup. But by the end of the session the motor was running a little funny. We brought it back to the pit and found out that we had destroyed a lifter-nothing too serious. Gardella Racing mechanics Scott and Mike had it changed in about 20 minutes.
Friday was Qualifying. I was sitting Fourth in the championship and still had a shot at Second or Third, so I needed to get every point I could. I stayed calm. I felt really strong during morning practice and was ready to step it up a notch for my two qualifying runs. The first Qualifying lap I laid down was killer-I was high on the bank, nailed the first two clips, ran fast through the center clip, and flicked it hard into the lower bank wall. For a split second I thought I was going to plant my rear bumper into the wall, but I pulled it off and finished strong. My score was 83.9-good enough for Second. I put down another solid run but was too low on the bank and only scored an 82.2, leaving me in Fourth. I really wanted to be in the top three but it just wasn't in the cards.
Saturday was game day; the day that would decide whether we would have a long, dark, crappy off-season or not. For Top 32 I was up against Ryuji Miki. I had been watching him in practice and had a pretty good strategy going up against him. As we lined up to the grid I was on the right side to lead the first lap. We took off and paced each other and once we passed the pace cone I floored it to get my normal entry speed, and nailed the run. It was the best lap I had all weekend! I put a good amount of distance on Miki so I knew I'd have an advantage on my following lap. I had a minor correction on the bank, but ran clean enough to move on to the Top 16 where I would see my buddy Justin Pawlak.