The action of Formula Drift (FD) Long Beach is spread over two days, turning Seaside and Shoreline Drive in Long Beach, California into a tire-melting party. Preceding Friday’s qualifying session was an open practice for drivers to shake off the off-season dust. The ground-pounding V8s and the machine gun-like anti-lag systems of high revving inline-six turbos echoing off the buildings were a sweet symphony for any car lover.
The angst in the some of the drivers shown through as they pushed hard- a big gamble when the racing hadn’t even started, but to get into the Top 32 elimination round, that’s what it took. Why? This year’s Long Beach race saw an unprecedented 37 drivers gunning to get into the Top 32. Each driver had two chances to qualify with the lower scored run thrown out. These qualifying scores are used to break any ties that could have come up. The Judges brought back sector scoring from the 2017 season with Line and Angle being the focus in each of the five sectors. Style, which is broken down into fluidity and commitment, is judged over the entire length of the course.
Early on, Dirk Stratton had a bad crash in his Lingenfelter-powered Corvette in practice while fellow ‘Vette-hucking competitor Matt Field laid down two very impressive runs putting him in the number one qualifier position. Dirk, along with his team, was able to get his car back together and qualify to run against Chris Forsberg in eliminations. FD Pro newcomer Joao Barion, from Brazil, backed his C7 Corvette into the wall and Kevin Lawrence was out of competition entirely after his 240sx met its demise for the weekend. These wrecks are a testament to how unforgiving Long Beach is. Being a street course, there is little to no room for error when sliding sideways at freeway speeds mere inches from concrete barriers.
After a full day of battling for a spot in competition, the drivers met up with fans to sign autographs and take selfies. A relaxing way to round out the day before the first elimination round of 2019 Formula Drift Championship begun. Check out the full replay of qualifying below.
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