Photos by Nick & Melissa Poirier, TK Akiyama, and Matt Haugness.
In Part 1 of our Formula DRIFT Round 5 coverage, we posted photos from the car show and the pits. This post is all about the drifting.
Seattle is always an interesting stop on the Formula DRIFT circuit. Even though Round 5 is typically held in mid to late July, the weather is always unpredictable. On Friday it rained for half of the day making practice for both Pro-Am and the professional drifters limited. Although it didn't really clear off at all on Friday, the rain stopped by noon and the track workers were able to clear the track of any standing water.
There were quite a few familiar cars and faces from 2011. Daijiro Yoshihara looked great all weekend and it was surprising when he didn't advance past the top 16. He was knocked out by Rhys Millen in his first battle.
The crowd favorite, Walker Wilkerson made it into the top 16 but was eliminated by Matt Powers.
Evergreen Drift had Round 4 of their Pro-Am competition the same day as FD. Michael Klingele placed third with his LS1-powered FC RX-7.
Tyler Wolfson, who came all the way from San Diego, California, placed second overall but wasn't able to compete in the final battle because of a minor accident between him and Michael.
This meant that Rob Primozich placed first by default. He looked great all weekend and the win was well-deserved. He currently sits in third place overall in EVD's season standings.
Rhys Millen ended up battling Ken Gushi for third place. The first battle between the two of them was so close that the judges made them battle "one more time". Rhys ended up taking the third place podium spot.
The final battle was between Ryan Tuerck in the Team Retaks Nissan 240SX and Vaughn Gittin Jr. in the Monster Energy / Falken Tire Ford Mustang.
Ryan put up a good fight but it wasn't enough to beat Vaughn. Vaughn did so well in qualifying the day before that some predicted that he was going to win from the start. This was his second win in a row and he is currently in the lead for the season.
1st – Vaughn Gittin Jr.
2nd – Ryan Tuerck
3rd – Rhys Millen
Our entire team was happy to attend both days and provide coverage of Round 5 of Formula DRIFT. We can't wait to cover even more FD events in the future. If you missed Part 1 of our coverage which contains photos of the car show and pits make sure to check it out here.
Video by TK Akiyama.
Results
| Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2012 Point Standings After 5 Events | ||
| 1. Gittin Jr., Vaughn | Monster Energy / Falken Ford Mustang | 391 Points |
| 2. Saito, Daigo | Achilles Tire / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 | 383.50 Points |
| 3. Pawlak, Justin | Falken Tire Ford Mustang | 376 Points |
| 4. Yoshihara, Daijiro | Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan S13 | 347 Points |
| 5. Tuerck, Ryan | Team Retaks Nissan 240SX | 328.50 Points |
| 6. Millen, Rhys | Hankook / Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis Coupe | 318.25 Points |
| 7. Aasbo, Fredric | Need for Speed / Papadakis Racing Scion TC | 295.50 Points |
| 8. Forsberg, Chris | NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z | 293 Points |
| 9. Powers, Matt | Need for Speed / Nitto Nissan S14 | 275.50 Points |
| 10. Bakchis, Aurimas "Odi" | Bakchis Motorsports Nissan 240SX S14 | 267.75 Points |
| 11. Gushi, Ken | Greddy / Hankook Scion FR-S | 266.50 Points |
| 12. Grunewald, Conrad | Hankook Chevrolet Camaro | 238.50 Points |
| 13. Essa, Michael | GSR Autosport / Nitto BMW ZR4 | 232 Points |
| 14. Moen, Kenneth | Lutz Performance Nissan 350Z | 231 Points |
| 15. Kado, Ryan | Forged Racing / Nexen Tire Nissan 250Z | 226 Points |
| 16. Yoshioka, Toshiki | RS*R Nissan S15 | 224.75 Points |
| Round 5: Throwdown Event Results | ||
| 1. Gittin Jr., Vaughn | Monster Energy / Falken Ford Mustang | Winner |
| 2. Tuerck, Ryan | Team Retaks Nissan 240SX | Second Place |
| 3. Millen, Rhys | Hankook / Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis Coupe | Third Place |
| Tires.com Triple Crown Standings after 2 events of 3 | ||
| 1. Gittin Jr., Vaughn | Monster Energy / Falken Ford Mustang | 176 Points |
| 2. Aasbo, Fredric | Need for Speed / Papadakis Racing Scion TC | 153 Points |
| 3. Tuerck, Ryan | Team Retaks Nissan 240SX | 143.50 Points |
[Sources: Formula DRIFT, Evergreen Drift]
Photo Gallery
(See pages 2, 3, & 4 more photos)
