Formula Drift Round 7 - Title Fight at Irwindale Matchups

Here are the matchups that will be seen during the Top 32 Round of the Irwindale Formula Drift event.

Rhys Millen vs Kenny Moen
Justin Pawlak vs Walker Wilkerson
Frederic Aasbo vs Darren McNamara
Chris Forsberg vs Conrad Grunewald
Ken Gushi vs Toshiki Yoshioka
Ryan Tuerck vs Ryan Kado
Tyler McQuarrie vs Joon Maeng
Chelsea Denofa vs Pat Mordaunt
Vaugh Gittin vs Nick D'Alessio
Tony Brakohiapa vs Michael Essa
Matt Field vs Luke Lonberger
Matt Powers vs Jeremy Lowe
Daigo Saito vs Taka Aono
Dave Briggs vs Robbie Nishida
Alex Lee vs Tony Angelo
Kyle Mohan vs Dai Yoshihara

With the points after qualifying and factoring in that each driver is guarenteed 24 event points for participating in the Top 32 round, Vaughn Gittin leads Daigo Saito by 26.5 points.  At this stage, the top 6 drivers have a mathematical shot at taking the 2012 Formula DRIFT Championship.

Other than points, drivers will mostly be letting it all hang out for this event, since they will be trying their hardest to put on a good show for their sponsors and teams.

Kevin Wells, the Formula DRIFT Technical Director, had x-rays of the Top 7 point position cars done to determine if there was any illegal ballasts placed on the cars' frame rails, which if found would disqualify that driver from the event and effectively eliminate them from winning the championship.

Evergreen Qualifying Results and Matchups

Here is a look at how qualifying rounded out at Evergreen Speedway and the matchups that will ensue from the qualifying order.

1. V. Gittin Jr vs 32. M. Ovcharik
2. J. Pawlak vs 31. J. Lowe
3. T. Yoshioka vs 30. T. Angelo
4. P. Mordaunt vs 29. J. Castro
5. C. Forsberg vs 28. R. Millen
6. C. Grunewald vs 27. T. Brakohiapa
7. F. Aasbo vs 26. P. Goodin
8. W. Wilkerson vs 25. C. Denofa
9. M. Powers vs 24. K. Pollard
10. R. Kado vs 23. A. Lee
11. D. McNamara vs 22. D. Saito
12. D. Yoshihara vs 21. D. Mertzanis
13. M. Field vs 20. T. Aono
14. K. Gushi vs 19. K. Moen
15. R. Tuerck vs 18. R. Nishida
16. M. Essa vs 17. O. Bakchis

Noteably not in the field is Tyler McQuarrie, who was knocked out when Daijiro Yoshihara ran his second qualifying run of 84 after a 0 on his first run.  Daigo Saito faced pressure similar to Dai Yoshihara when his first run was a 0, but was able to post a 79 to make it into the field, which knocked Jeff Jones out.

Also not in the field is Joon Maeng, who was unable to get his S13 ready in time for the event and Kyle Mohan, who had engine damage due to an issue with his fuel pump.

Wall NJ Qualifying Results

Here is the official qualifying order for Formula DRIFT Round 4.  The judges are reviewing the speed scores due to the weather conditions.  I will be sure to post any updates on the order.

****Updated 8:32PM****



1. Odi Bakchis
2. Vaughn Gittin Jr.
3. Frederic Aasbo
4. Dai Yoshihara
5. Chelsea Denofa
6. Chris Forsberg
7. Kenneth Moen
8. Conrad Grunewald
9. Ken Gushi
10. Darren McNamara
11. Ryan Tuerck
12. Tyler McQuarrie
13. Rhys Millen
14. Justin Pawlak
15. Robbie Nishida
16. Luke Lonberger
17. Daigo Saito
18. Joon Maeng
19. Ryan Kado
20. Michael Essa
21. Dennis Mertzanis
22. Kyle Mohan
23. Matt Powers
24. Pat Mordaunt
25. Chris Ward
26. Tony Brakohiapa
27. Danny George
28. Tony Angelo
29. Taka Aono
30. Jhonnattan Castro
31. Miro Ovcharik
32. Nick D'Alessio

Formula DRIFT Palm Beach Qualifying Results

Vaughn Gittin takes home the #1 qualifying spot at Formula Drift Palm Beach. The rest of the top 32 follows below:

1. V. Gittin
2. M. Ovcharik
3. T. McQuarrie
4. O. Bakchis
5. D. McNamara
6. R. Millen
7. T. Brakohiapa
8. W. Wilkerson
9. J. Pawlak
10. C. Forsberg
11. R. Tuerck
12. D. Saito
13. T. Angelo
14. D. Yoshihara
15. K. Moen
16. M. Essa
17. F. Aasbo
18. M. Powers
19. C. Ward
20. C. Denofa
21. C. Grunwald
22. T. Aono
23. C. Hosford
24. R. Kado
25. L. Lonberger
26. T. Yoshioka
27. J. Lowe
28. K. Mohan
29. J. Maeng
30. R. Nishida
31. K. Gushi
32. M. Field

I'll be posting up a bracket-style post with the match ups in a bit.