Race day started off with the usual driver briefing. The drifter in red with hands stretched out is Ken Gushi of Team RSR. No worries Ken, the fans back home in Asia know who you are.

After that the day went by real fast with Jem and Kenneth “working” the start line during qualifying for the Top 16. Just look at the long run-in before the 1 st clipping point. What was cool to see at the start line was the great variety of vehicles in FD, from the Mobil 1 Solstice , Conrad Gruneweld’s Corvette to Gushi’s Scion and even a Cop car??!

By the time the evening rolled around the entire place was already packed with spectators. Marcus was in Race Control and got a bird-eye’s view of the entire track layout. Sitting next to race control was the multitude of team-spotters who were constantly giving instructions to their drivers on line adjustments and entry speeds. The spotter’s role in professional drifting is crucial as they often function as the extra set eyes and ears of the drivers during their runs which are often only a matter of minutes. Professional drifting is a high stakes game whereby every little mistake is magnified.

When the sun went down and the spotlights went on, we could feel that things were gonna get crazy. The jumbo screen also was pretty cool with instant replays and all. We got to get one of those for our own leg as well. Taking a walk around the packed vendor village, one could feel the buzz in the air especially with the Cooper Tires Rig rocking the place out. The guys at the star line were busy as well but Kenneth still managed to find time to say hi to Miss Formula D and various other brand ambassadors.

Once final qualifying was done, the FD USA team had a press con to announce the launch of the Red Bull World Drifting Championships to be held on Nov 15, 2008 at the port of Long Beach. The best drifters from around the world including Singapore and Malaysia will be invited to represent. During the press con, we also took the chance to holler at some of the drivers like Orido (all of you know who he is), Tanner Foust (FD 2007 champion and new host of the US version of Top Gear) and Chris Forsberg.

By 10pm, we started the introduction of the Top 16 and the also the beginning of tandem battles. The fun begins now! Some of the notables were Tony Brakohiapa from Team X who was holding it down! He had experienced a pretty bad crash during qualifying in the mustang the day before. However, the crash must have work him out as I have need seen Tony driver so much intensity in his silver battle-scarred mustang.

One of the more interested bouts was when the 350Zs went up against each other. The Nissan 350Z has gained increasingly popularity in the FD series and is now a pretty common sight. Robbie Nishida and Tanner Foust went head to head in their 350Z. Tanner is the regining 2007 FD Overall champion and also current points leader. After a close battle where both men did not give an inch, a one-more time was called to the delight of the crowd. In the end, Tanner was upset by unseeded Robbie, going to show that everybody could win on any given day.

By the time we had reached the final four drivers, the crowd was going crazy with anticipation. Eventually, Yoshioka is in his little red AE86 Trueno outrun and out drove the entire field of competition to attain his very first FD trophy. The usual suspects, Daijiro Yoshihara and Sam Hubinette finished in 2 nd and 3th place.

Being a spectator at the race was great, being part of the crew was even better as we got to experience first-hand the inner-workings of Formula Drift and the hard work it takes to run the world’s best drifting league. Thank you to the guys from FD USA for “adopting” us for the week and also to my boys, Jem, Kenneth and Jas for representing Singapore in a worthy manner.