Formula Drift: September 13, 2008 - Sonoma, CA

After a second place finish from Vaughn Gittin JR. last year in Sonoma, team Falken walked into Formula D round six with our heads held high looking to back up the stellar performance a year ago.  Friday's unseeded qualifiers proved to be a test of skills as well as courage with 95 mph entry speeds, the fastest of any Formula D track.  Our very own Taka Aono behind the wheel of his turbocharged Toyota Corolla proved to be Mr. Consistent landing top qualifier honors with huge angle and big smoke from the Azenis RT-615's.  Hiro Sumida in the Discount Tire Lexus IS350 and Ross Petty in the Falken Nissan 240sx also qualified for Saturday's event after two great runs placed them in the 12th and 15th spots respectively.  Calvin Wan finished one spot away from making the cut after a qualifying run from a competitor knocked him out by a single point.  The weekend also proved to be a rough one for Seigo Yamamoto after a spin ended his weekend prematurely after showing great promise during his first qualifying run.

Saturday's festivities kicked off to thousands of screaming fans supporting their favorite Team Falken drivers during the early morning practice session.  Top sixteen qualifiers kept everyone on their toes with drivers pushing their cars to the limit vying for a position in the next round.  After respectable runs from all of our guys highlighted by Darren McNamara utilizing every ounce of the 700hp Sears Saturn Sky, Vaughn Gittin was the only Falken driver left to carry the torch in the main event.  The sweet sixteen tandem runs matched Vaughn up with Daijiro Yoshihara in the tough to beat Pontiac GTO.  The battle for V8 supremacy will be the topic of discussion for years to come as both drivers went head to head at 96mph mere inches away from each other sideways!  The judges unanimously agreed the match was too close to call ordering the drivers to battle one more time as the crowd cheered in approval.  Vaughn's never back down driving style proved to be too much for Daijiro in the second match and the victory was awarded to the Falken Mustang advancing us to the elite eight for the second time this year.

Things didn't get any easier in the next round having to go up against series point's leader Tanner Foust.  Both cars displayed equally impressive runs with Tanner gaining a slight three point advantage after the first run.  Knowing he had to put some distance between himself and Tanner to make up for the point deficit, JR charged into his second run at full throttle running a great line that was a little too wide veering  slightly off course.  Although Vaughn was disappointed with getting eliminated from competition, it was a step in the right direction as we head into the finals in Irwindale’s "House of Drift". We hope that all of you can make it out to help us celebrate our homecoming and enjoy the action as we end the 2008 season and battle for a top podium finish.