SuperMoto : Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia-Michelin) wins in Sicily / Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia-Michelin) s’impose en Sicile

The combined result of the two races in Triscina, Italy, saw Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia-Team Fast Wheels-Michelin) win the Sicilian Grand Prix, penultimate round of the 2013 SuperMoto World Championship.

Au cumul des deux manches, Adrien Chareyre (Aprilia – Team Fast Wheels - Michelin) remporte le Grand-Prix de Sicile à Triscina, avant-dernière épreuve du Championnat du monde SuperMoto.

After coming second in the first race which was shortened because of rain, Adrien Chareyre took an easy victory – his first of the season – in the weekend’s second showdown.

After qualifying in third position, Thomas Chareyre (TM Factory Team) led out of the first turn of the first race which was soon interrupted by heavy rain.

At the restart, it was his brother Adrien who was fastest off the line. He led until Lap 6 when he was overtaken by Mauno Hermunen (TM SHR). He managed to maintain pressure on the Finn for the remainder of the race, however, but without finding a way past.

Hermunen went on to collect his 10^th victory of the year and was followed across the finish line by Adrien and Thomas Chareyre in that order. Ivan Lazzarini (Honda-L30 Racing-Michelin), Petr Vorlicek (TM SHR) and Sylvain Bidart (Honda-Team Luc1-Michelin) rounded off the top six.

The second race saw Adrien Chareyre claim a flag-to-flag win to beat his brother Thomas by a margin of 1.212s. A quick pace enabled the former to open up a gap of more than four seconds before he lifted to make sure of his and Michelin’s first victory of this year’s world championship.

Meanwhile, Thomas Chareyre fought his way back from fourth on Lap 7 to claim second place ahead of Hermunen, Andrea Occhini and Bidart.

With one meeting remaining, Hermunen is now 25 points clear of Thomas Chareyre in the championship standings. Adrien is third, a further 32 points adrift.

Deuxième de la première manche perturbée et neutralisée suite à l’arrivée de la pluie, Adrien Chareyre s’impose en solitaire lors de la seconde pour remporter sa première victoire de la saison.

Qualifié en troisième position, Thomas Chareyre (TM Factory Team)réalise le holeshot lors de la première manche avant que celle-ci ne soit interrompue par la pluie. Au re-start, c’est Adrien qui signe le meilleur départ et va mener jusqu’au sixième tour avant de se faire dépasser par Mauno Hermunen (TM SHR). Adrien va maintenir la pression sur le Finlandais pendant une bonne partie de la course sans jamais être en mesure de l’attaquer. Hermunen remporte sa 10^ème victoire de la saison. Adrien Chareyre termine deuxième juste devant son frère Thomas. Ivan Lazzarini (Honda  - L30 Racing- Michelin), Petr Vorlicek (TM SHR) et Sylvain Bidart (Honda – Team Luc1- Michelin) complètent le Top 6.

Adrien Chareyre a mené la seconde course de bout en bout. Intouchable, il s’impose en solitaire en ralliant l’arrivée avec 1,212 seconde d’avance sur Thomas. Rapide dès le départ, Adrien impose un rythme élevé lui permettant de creuser un écart confortable sur ses poursuivants. A quatre tours du drapeau à damiers, il compte plus de quatre secondes d’avance. Il réduit un peu la cadence pour s’assurer d’une première victoire, la première également pour Michelin cette saison en Championnat du monde.

Derrière, relégué à la quatrième place au bout du septième tour, Thomas Chareyre va entamer une belle remontée et passé Andrea Occhini et Hermunen pour se classer deuxième. Le Finlandais termine troisième devant l’Italien et Bidart.

A une épreuve de la fin du Championnat, Hermunen possède 25 points d’avance sur Thomas Chareyre. Adrien, troisième, compte 32 points de retard sur son frère.

Résultats :

Course 1 : 1. Mauno Hermunen (FIN-TM) ; 2. Adrien Chareyre (FRA-Aprilia) ; 3. Thomas Chareyre (FRA-TM), 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA-Honda) ; 5. Petr Vorlicek (CZE-TM) ; 6. Sylvain Bidart (FRA-Honda) ;…

Course 2 : 1. Adrien Chareyre (FRA-Aprilia) ; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA-TM) ; 3. Mauno Hermunen (FIN-TM) ; 4. Andrea Occhini (ITA-Suzuki) ; 5. Sylvain Bidart (FRA-Honda) ;…

Classement général : 1. Mauno Hermunen (FIN-TM) 241 points; 2. Thomas Chareyre (FRA-TM) 261 p.; 3. Adrien Chareyre (FRA-Aprilia) 229 p.; 4. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA-Honda) 206 p.; 5. Sylvain Bidart (FRA-Honda) 188 p. ;…

Prochaine et dernière épreuve : France, Rivesaltes, 22 septembre

European Le Mans Series : SIGNATECH-ALPINE FAIT TRIOMPHER L'A450 EN HONGRIE !

Il aura fallu attendre quatre manches European Le Mans Series pour voir la première victoire de l'Alpine A450. A l'issue des trois heures de course, Nelson Panciatici et Pierre Ragues ont porté haut les couleurs Signatech-Alpine avec une domination de bout en bout. En arrivant en Hongrie, Philippe Sinault avait donné la feuille de route qui tenait en un mot : victoire ! Mission accomplie pour la belle bleue. Durant la dernière heure, Brendon Hartley aura eu beau faire sonner la charge sur la ORECA 03 du Murphy Prototypes mais le tandem Hirschi/Hartley a dû se contenter de la place de deuxième à 38 secondes. La #18 a perdu quelques plumes lors d'un tête à queue de Hartley en sortant des stands. La Zytek Z11SN/Jota Sport complète le podium sachant que Simon Dolan et Oliver Turvey auraient entrevoir un meilleur résultat sans une crevaison (débris) qui leur a fait perdre un tour dans l'aventure. Belle quatrième place de la ORECA 03 du SMP Racing de Mediani/Zlobin devant la Morgan LMP2/Morand Racing de Gachnang/Klien. Seulement 7ème (6ème en LMP2), la ORECA 03 du Thiriet by TDS Racing de Thiriet/Beche a perdu de gros points au championnat avec un arrêt de plus que la concurrence. Le Boutsen Ginion Racing a terminé parmi les GTC alors que Race Performance a rapidement abandonné (accrochage). La pluie du début de course a vite laissé place à une piste sèche. Les équipes ont dû se creuser la tête pour savoir quelle stratégie adopter sur le plan des pneumatiques. Chez Signatech-Alpine, les Michelin ont fait des étincelles sous la pluie. Victoire de Hirsch/Chatin en LMPC avec 14 tours d'avance sur Pons/Ayari, retardés dès le premier tour suite à un accrochage impliquant Soheil Ayari. La LMPC du Algarve Pro Racing Team a terminé encore plus loin, handicapée par des soucis de transmission.

Après plusieurs victoires Ferrari, c'est au tour de Porsche de rafler la mise en GTE. On attendait le team IMSA Performance Matmut avec un Jean-Karl Vernay flamboyant mais une pénalité a fait chuter la #67 de Vernay/Milesi au 5ème rang. C'est la Porsche 911 GT3-RSR du Proton Competition de Bachler/Tandy/Ried qui s'est imposée devant la Ferrari F458 Italia/RAM Racing de Mowlem/Griffin et la Ferrari F458 Italia/AF Corse de Cioci/Perazzini/Leo après un gros travail de Marco Cioci. Pas de chance pour la Ferrari F458 Italia du JMW Motorsport de Camathias/Bertolini longuement retardée. Quatrième place pour la Porsche 911 GT3-RSR/ProSpeed Competition de Collard/Perrodo.

Une fois de plus, le SMP Racing a fait parler la poudre en GTC avec un doublé pour les Ferrari 458 Italia du team russe. Fabio Babini, Viktor Shaitar et Kirill Ladygin ont imposé la #69 devant la #72 de Devi Markosov, Alexander Frolov et Luca Persiani. La BMW Z4 GT3/Ecurie Ecosse pouvait prétendre au podium jusqu'à l'entame de la dernière demi-heure mais un accrochage avec la Ferrari F458 Italia/AF Corse #54 de Blank/Bachelier/Mallegol ne lui a pas permis de franchir la ligne d'arrivée. Une autre Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 s'est hissée sur la dernière marche du podium avec la #62 d'AF Corse de Rizzoli/Gai/Casé.

Au championnat, Pierre Thiriet reste aux commandes avec 73 points, à égalité de points avec les vainqueurs du jour Pierre Ragues et Nelson Panciatici. Mathias Beche compte 58 points contre 55 à Turvey/Dolan. Le titre se jouera entre ces pilotes au Paul Ricard dans deux semaines. Rien n'est fait non plus en LMPC même si la couronne semble se profiler pour Hirsch/Chatin qui comptent 96 points contre 73 à Pons/Ayari. Du côté du GTE, Mowlem/Griffin gardent les commandes avec 85 points. Viennent ensuite Ried/Roda (65) et Jeannette/Montecalvo (57). Changement de leader en GTC avec la tête pour les pilotes SMP Racing, à savoir Babini/Ladigyn/Shaitar (75) devant Rizzoli/Gai/Casé (70) et Smith/Millroy (55). Les quatre titres se joueront donc dans deux semaines au Paul Ricard...

Le classement des 3 Heures du Hungaroring est ici

via Endurance-Info 

ERC :Home success for Poland’s Kajetanowicz / Kajetanowicz s’impose à domicile

The Lotos Rally Poland, round nine of the FIA European Rally Championship, was won by Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin) in poor weather. The Pole was joined on the podium by Bryan Bouffier (Peugeot 207 S2000) and Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia S2000).

Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Ford Fiesta R5/Michelin) a remporté le Lotos Rally Poland, neuvième manche du Championnat d’Europe des Rallyes FIA 2013, disputé dans des conditions dantesques. Bryan Bouffier (Peugeot 207 S2000) et Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia S2000) complètent le podium.

After coming sixth on January’s Jännerrallye, the four-time Polish champion secured his best-ever international result this weekend and also handed the new Ford Fiesta R5 its first major victory. Kajetan Kajetanowicz, 34, eased into the lead of his home event after SS9 when Bryan Bouffier (Peugeot 207 S2000) was slowed by a rear damper problem.

The Frenchman, who has won three Polish titles himself, had led at the end of Day 1 which was marked by appalling weather. Heavy rain made the stages extremely muddy and the organisers were forced to shorten certain tests.

Many drivers were either eliminated or delayed by the conditions, including Robert Kubica (Citroën DS3 RRC) who was contesting Rally Poland for the first time. The former F1 star ripped a wheel off on SS7 while in second position.

The provisional ERC leader Jan Kopecky (Skoda/Michelin) salvaged third place after being handicapped by transmission trouble on SS10. The same test also caused problems for Craig Breen (puncture) and Jérémi Ancian (gearbox) who ended up seventh and 12^th overall respectively.

Michal Solowow (6^th, Ford RRC) was fourth until a puncture delayed him on SS13. Michal Kosciuszko (Ford R5) inherited the position to finish clear of veteran Krzysztof Holowczyc (Ford RRC) who rounded off the top five. Estonian youngster Martin Kangur, 20, posted two fastest times before his Ford Fiesta R5 developed a power steering problem.

The next round of the ERC will take teams to Croatia in two weeks’ time.

Après une 6^e place au Jännerrallye, le quadruple champion de Pologne (34 ans) a signé son plus beau résultat sur la scène internationale et offert la première victoire à la nouvelle Ford Fiesta R5. Kajetan Kajetanowicz a pris la tête du Lotos Rally Poland à l’issue de l’ES9 où Bryan Bouffier a connu un problème d’amortisseur arrière sur sa Peugeot 207 S2000.

Le Français, triple champion de Pologne, était leader au terme de la première journée de course disputée dans des conditions météo exécrables. Les pluies diluviennes tombées avant le départ avaient transformé les pistes en de véritables bourbiers, forçant les organisateurs à raccourcir certaines spéciales.

Ces conditions ont éliminé ou retardé de nombreux autres candidats à la victoire, comme Robert Kubica (Citroën DS3 RRC) qui disputait son premier Rally Poland. L’ancien pilote de F1 a arraché sa roue avant droite dans l’ES7 alors qu’il pointait à la 2^e place du classement général.

Leader du championnat ERC après cinq victoires cette année, Jan Kopecky (Skoda/Michelin) a terminé sur le podium malgré un souci de transmission dans l’ES10 où les pilotes de la Peugeot Rally Academy ont aussi connu bien des misères : crevaison pour Craig Breen (7^e) et boîte de vitesses défaillante pour Jérémi Ancian (12^e).

Michal Solowow (Ford RRC, 6^e) était au pied du podium avant une crevaison dans l’ES13. Michal Kosciuszko (Ford R5) lui a donc succédé à la 4^e place et devance le vétéran Krzysztof Holowczyc (Ford RRC) qui complète le top-five. Le jeune estonien Martin Kangur (20 ans) a signé deux meilleurs temps avant des ennuis de direction assistée sur sa Ford Fiesta R5.

La prochaine manche ERC se déroulera en Croatie dans deux semaines.

Mean Machine's Mad Max

Bonnefication on Facebook

From Bonneville to Bonneville - Le Record

From Bonneville to Bonneville, un projet un peu fou pour aller chercher le record du monde de vitesse sur une Harley Davidson, qui tenait depuis 2001. JVC Team Sport raconte cette belle histoire en 5 épisodes. Voici le 5e, qui montre le run victorieux à 255,30 km/h (158,642 miles/h).

'81 Yamaha SR 250 - La Raíz Motorcycles

It's that time of year. A time when our Northern Hemisphere friends are enduring the slow, steady descent into winter. And while they sadly put away their bikes and hunker down for many months of snowy oblivion, we here on the bottom the of planet are doing just the opposite. That's right - summer is coming. You can smell it in the air, and unless you haven't cleaned your leathers from last year, it's probably the sweet perfume of spring flowers. That's why this bike instantly caught our attention. There's something about it that screams summer like a Tourette's surfer with a loud hailer. The only thing missing from the shots is a case of cerveza, a beach, and a few surfboards. Like a warn breeze, here's the latest from Spain's La Raíz Motorcycles.

“Hi, my name is Gonzalo and I'm the co-owner of La Raíz Motorcycles from Vigo, in Spain. I'm responsible for graphic design and I'm also in charge of skateboard and surfing department. I´m the happy owner of this restored Yamaha SR 250 from '81. We called this Project the “Mark & The Mysterious”. As you can see we have changed some parts, like the handlebar, tyres, exhaust, suspension, rear fender and seat. On top of this we have simplified the electrical system and made the subframe shorter and higher.

“We gave the petrol tank an old rusty look by splashing seawater over it for two weeks straight. Coloman, our friend who is a tattoo artist and painter from Lugo, designed a skull on the lid of the petrol tank. We have made the engine stronger by changing the cylinder, piston and valves for brand new ones. We also reduced the gear ratio.”

“We had added difficulty raising the swing arm to make the motorbike higher, so we had to change the rear brake position and the braking mechanism. Another issue was where to hide the battery. Finally it was placed under the swing arm and it fits well while being completely hidden.” 

“The donor bike was completely abandoned in an open air vineyard; it was completely rusted, even some parts inside the engine. The motorbike is inspired in the forgotten navy boats wrecks that are absolutely and totally rusted on some distant tropical island. Despite their age, you can still see some markings that have disappeared in some places yet they they still let you know a little bit about their history. We love this idea.”

You still here? We were going to write a nice ending to this piece, but you know what? Apparently the swell at Bondi is running at 3 metres and someone's just gone on a beer run. Also, there's a BBQ to light, so you'll just have to make do and imagine it all by yourselves. Hasta mañana!

via PIPEBURN

WSBK : Double Turkish delight for Eugene Laverty at Istanbul

Eugene Laverty is the ’sultan’ of the Intercity Istanbul Park circuit. The Aprilia rider after his victory in race 1, repeating himself in race 2 in the inaugural World Superbike championship in Turkey.

Race 2 seemed a copy of race 1 with Tom Sykes on the holeshot and trying to get away but this time trailing him was Sylvain Guintoli while the other Aprilia factory rider fell back to fifth.

However Laverty wanted another podium as he picked off the riders in front of him and then relentlessly hunted down Sykes and passing with just five laps remaining in the race. Once past the Kawasaki rider, Laverty just slipped away and raced to the finish line uncontested for the victory - his sixth of the 2013 season.

 

Despite being on the top of the timesheets, Sylvain Guintoli managed to take home a third place podium, but he was expecting much more as he is now eight points behind Sykes in the standings.

Marco Melandri was fourth. The BMW rider lost a inordinately amount of time battling with his former MotoGP and Gresini team mate Toni Elias, who would outbrake the Italian every time until Melandri changed his tatics and managed to get past him, but it was too late to chase after the leaders of the race. Elias had a fantastic World Superbike debut taking a fifth place and fighting off Chaz Davies on the final lap for the position.

Jules Cluzel and Leon Haslam would also battle throughout the race for seventh place, with the position going going to the Suzuki rider, while Davide Giugliano and Michel Fabrizio completed the top ten.

For the first time in 26 years there were only 15 riders on the starting grid as Ayrton Badovini sat out race two, his injured ankle bothering him too much. Mark Aitchison took 11th ahead of Federico Sandi, Vittorio Iannuzzo, while Tolga Urpak and Yunus Ercelik went to points again.

2013 WSBK Istanbul Race 2 results:

01- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – 18 laps in 34’58.775
02- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.708
03- Sylvain Guintoli – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 4.052
04- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team – BMW S1000RR – + 10.860
05- Toni Elias – Red Devils Roma – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 12.171
06- Chaz Davies – BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team – BMW S1000RR – + 12.396
07- Jules Cluzel – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 17.434
08- Leon Haslam – Pata Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 17.683
09- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 25.770
10- Michel Fabrizio – Pata Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 38.735

via TWOWHEELSBLOG

Jorge Lorenzo takes second consecutive victory with Misano win

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Jorge Lorenzo was simply majestic at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli , taking his fifth victory of the season and his second consecutive win after Silverstone, while Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa once again completed the podium.

The reigning World Champion literally won the Italian GP race on the first lap after giving Dani Pedrosa and the rest of the field a blistering and impossible 1.2 second gap by end of the first lap.

With his punishing and regular rhythm Lorenzo was never contested for the lead in the entire 28 lapper as he crossed over the finish line with a very comfortable margin.

The race was livened up by the very intense in house battle between the two Repsol Honda riders, that was once again won by the rookie over the veteran. Marquez seemed to be in serious difficulty in the first part of the race with a bad start despite sitting in pole position and having trouble finding his usual rhythm and then committing an error at the Quercia that let Valentino Rossi take third.

Regrouping and after losing almost a second from Rossi, in just two laps he hit back and barged through at the Tramonto forcing Rossi slightly wide, and then set his sights on his team mate who was more than a second ahead of him.

It didn’t take long as the dicing between the two began. In very tight and aggressive pass at turn 2 Marquez dived under his teammate take 2nd, while Pedrosa answered back at the Tramonto and with barely the time to take a breath, Marquez was back in front of his team mate after out braking him into the Carro, and then Pedrosa ran out of aggressiveness and speed as he began to fade.

The same thing happened to Valentino Rossi who would take another lonely fourth place, but he unexplainable faded hard in the final seven/eight laps of the race, he no doubt will be highly disappointed as he wanted a podium in his home race.

Stefan Bradl would take fifth in a last lap battle with Cal Crutchlow, while Alvaro Bautista was seventh.

The Ducati Challenge was won by Andrea Dovizioso ahead of Nicky Hayden and Michele Pirro while Andrea Iannone binned his GP13 during the 3rd lap.

For the first time this season Aleix Espargaro wasn’t the best CRT rider. The Aspar rider who was in the enviable position of starting fifth made a jump start and was punished with a ride through that dropped him into 13th giving the top CRT honors to Colin Edwards in 12th.

2013 MotoGP Misano race results:

01- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – 28 laps in 44’05.522
02- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 3.379
03- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 7.368
04- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 15.062
05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 22.355
06- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 22.599
07- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 31.059
08- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 42.702
09- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 44.858
10- Michele Pirro – Ignite Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 47.818

Bonhams at the 2013 Goodwood Revival: A field of dreams

Atten-shun! Stand by your beds, it’s Revival time – and one of the meeting’s many highlights is the annual Bonhams sale, held in a big marquee just over the road from the West Sussex circuit...

As ever, Classic Driver tries to pick some cars both eminently ‘Goodwoodable’ (a state of mind, rather than sure-fire entries to the event itself), as well as good, all-round classics.

You, too, could play Emanuele Pirro by bidding on Lot 236, the historic racing 1962 Jaguar E-type S1 3.8 FHC (£60,000 – 80,000). Or, for £140,000 - 180,000, there’s another racy Jaguar, the 1951 XK120 that competed in the New Zealand International Grand Prix.

On the Ferrari front (with British connotations as it’s finished in a fine Racing Green), there’s a LHD 1961 250 GT Series II Cabriolet by Pininfarina. And we always like the understated 330/365 GTC series of the mid-60s. Two cars will be offered by Bonhams, both RHD, a red 1967 330 GTC (£280,000 – 340,000) and a white 1969 365 GTC, once owned by Eric Clapton, for £380,000 – 460,000.

Top-sellers are likely to be one of the pre-War cars, headlined of course by the ex-Scuderia Ferrari 1935-36 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 (£5.5m – 6.5m). There’s also the ex-Works 1931 Invicta 4½-Litre S-Type 'Low Chassis' for £900,000 – 1.2 million.

And anything ‘fun’? Of course, how about the magnificent, polished metal 1992 Airstream 350LE Class A Motorhome, the ideal solution to the problem of finding Revival accommodation for years to come? Estimate: £70,000 – 90,000.

Photos: Bonhams

via Classic Driver

DRIFT FORMULA D TEXAS: THE MONSTER QUALIFIER IS BACK

It goes to show that when you get knocked down, you have to get back up again. Our very own Vaughn Gittin, Jr. qualified first at round six of the Formula Drift Pro Championship at Texas Motor Speedway.

You guys may or may not have been following the controversy in the drift world regarding a penalty given to Vaughn’s team which caused him 30 championship points. You can read about it in detail here on the Formula Drift website.

Either way Vaughn took it in stride, even though the penalty bumped him down from fifth to sixth place. His score of 92.6 was achieved with an entry speed of over 103 mph.

Second also went to a Speedhunters driver: Fredric Aasbø the Norwegian Hammer. Fredric has never been so close to earning his first championship as he’s sitting in fourth place.

It seems the one who always beats him is himself. This may come as a surprise to you guys, but Fredric has never won a Formula Drift Championship event. With the Texas bracket I could see him meeting Michael Essa in the top eight.

The third qualifying spot went to the championship leader, Chris ‘The Force‘ Forsberg. This year’s race for glory is closer than ever with just three points separating the top three drivers.

Chris looked very at home on the long sweeping high speed track. His entry speed was just a hair under 100mph, but he kept his speed very high throughout the course, a little over one mile per hour faster than Fredric and Vaughn.

This event will determine how close the race will be come Irwindale. There is a good chance the top three drivers will increase their gap with the rest of the field.

If you check out the bracket you will see that Chris will have a tough time in the top 16 when he will most likely meet Justin Pawlak. Both drivers have two wins each so it can go either way.

If Chris makes it into the top eight then he will most likely meet up with Daigo Saito. Here is where it gets tricky – both drivers have only met each other twice.

They have one win each. Daigo will definitely have to win this battle if he wants to take the lead for his second championship. On top of that Daigo had the highest entry speed so far with a 107.7 mph. I’m actually really looking forward to this battle, so hopefully it happens.

I’ve always liked watching Forrest drive and his S14 is one of my favorite cars on the grid. His entry speed was just 92 miles an hour, much slower than many of the other drivers who made it into the top 32 bracket, but he still had a very high score due to style, angle and line.

Toshiki Yoshioka seemed to have been struggling all year with his BRZ, but after four events it seems like he’s finally dialed it in as he qualified in tenth position.

There were a few notable names absent from the top 32 bracket. Including Darren McNamara, who was seventh in the championship standings. He will be bumped down significantly for not making it into the top 32.

Also absent was Ryan Tuerck, who was just shy outside of the top 32. He looked great during practice, but it seems like he just pushed a little too hard on his qualifying runs.

Also absent was Tyler McQuarrie. This was not his year, but I guess there’s such a steep learning curve with owning your own team. Vaughn seems to be learning that first hand as well.

As usual there were a fair amount of spills and thrills, including a crazy jump drift performed by Corey Hosford.

Mike Essa has such a good chance of taking his first championship, and as a privateer no less. If he does get into the top eight which looks very likely, he will face Fredric Aasbø.

Interestingly enough, they have only met once in battle and that was last year at Palm Beach in his BMW Z4. Mike won that battle, but we will see how he does in the BMW E46.

Let’s hope that cowboy hat brings him good luck in the lone star state, because he’s going to need it. His side of the bracket is super stacked.

It’s crazy because Forsberg and Daigo are going for their second championship.

While Fredric Aasbø and Michael Essa are going for their very first one.

There’s also a chance that we could revisit the Daigo vs. Fredric battle. Up until New Jersey of this year Daigo had never beaten Fredric, but now Fredric is leading two to one.

Even with a huge points deficit, there is still a chance for Vaughn to battle his way to his second championship. He’s in a great position qualifying in first – on top of that he got a good head start in recovering some of those points.

I guess we will have to see as the drivers battle it out on one of the fastest tracks they have ever drifted on.

Photos by Larry Chen