This world of drifting, this …vehicular ballet of motor racing is something very different in the speed induced world we live in. I mean, yes, there’s engines, qualifying, racing and winners, but the whole show of it is so different from anything I’ve ever worked in.
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It’s so cut throat, so instant ending and of course being a judged sport there are so many variables. Entry speed, angle, drift, smoke your scrutinized on it all.
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Toyota Speedway at Irwindale California is playing host to Formula Drift’s round 7 finals, the title fight, and from what weve seen on the track during practice and qualifying, this is shaping up to be quite the battle. The track is really grip and as Eric O’Sullivan put it, anything you do wrong here will be amplified.
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This track is considered the “House of Drift”, the mecca of the drift world and I agree, it’s really quite something.
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Watching these cars rip this place up shows us that not only are we playing with the big boys, but have a lot to learn as well. This is why we’re here though, to absorb, soak in the ways of the pro’s…cause after all, we’re one of em now too.
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We’re a much smaller team, smaller budget, fresh out of a pro-am podium and all kinds of eagerness. We’re doing it right though. I spent a lot of time watching team members, the roles they play in the hot pits and back at the truck pits. Spied on em while they did their thing and picked up pointers. We spoke a lot about parts, preparedness, tools and sponsors. Timing, travel and money. Everything has changed, all but our go get’em attitude.
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During this upcoming week, I was wondering if I was going to be intimidated, but it’s actually the quite opposite. We’re good at what we do, and obviously the brass at FD agree, otherwise we wouldn’t be here. We gotta take this one step at a time, and we’re putting the game plan together…and it looks pretty sweet.
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The race is on tomorrow, and this is where I’m going to learn a lot. There’s gonna be a lot to watch, keep track of and lot’s to figure out. I’m excited to get started and am pretty confident that I can give Mats a car that he can go out to put on an awesome show. We just gotta take the time to do it right.
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More updates coming tomorrow!
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Oct 08th by Bannon
