Formula D (Drift) and BOTI (Battle of the Imports)
Comes to Las Vegas July 11-12th 2008

04.11.08

Written by Jeremiah Heller
Photography by Jeremiah Heller

The Las Vegas International Speedway played host to Formula D and BOTI this weekend. Round 4 of Formula D, “High Stakes”, was blessed by the appearance of Super GT driver and D1 judge, Manabu Orido,  driving the über sick Project Mu / 3T Motorsport / Yokohama Toyota Aristo. After round 5 of BOTI, Ed Bergenholtz, Kenny Tran, and Norris Prayoonto still hold the lead in their respective classes.

I showed up around 2pm on Saturday to find out the previous night had been cancelled due to the thunderstorms. After hanging out for an hour in the black tarp covered media area that felt like a sauna, I grabbed my photo vest and went to work in the 94°, 28% humidity (high for Vegas) vendor staging area.  

Most of my day consisted of coverage of the show and drifting events due to the schedule and the sheer amount of walking that was involved in getting to and from the drag strip and drifting track. As the sun finally began to set, qualifying events started and the crowd grew filling almost every seat trackside.

The 32 Formula D teams began the afternoon with several exciting practice sessions, and by 10pm had narrowed the field to 16. The #1 non-seeded qualifier Robbie Nishida put down the fastest entry speed of 98.3 mph in the Hankook sponsored 350Z, and crowd favorite Tanner Foust took the honors for the #1 seeded qualifying position. Tanner would later be upset in the top 8 by Robbie Nishida. The field was narrowed again to the top 4 consisting of Daijiro Yoshihara, Toshiki Yoshioka, Samuel Hubinette, and Michihiro Takatori.  In the end, Toshiki Yoshioka piloted his bright red Toyota Corolla to victory for his first Formula D podium. Of note is that Toshiki was the 2006 D1GP winner in Las Vegas.

Podium:

1. Toshiki Yoshioka – Yokohama / aspec Toyota Corolla Trueno  
2. Daijiro Yoshihara – RMR / Bridgestone Pontiac GTO
3. Samuel Hubinette – Nuformz / Mopar / BFG Dodge Viper
4. Michihiro Takatori – SuperAutobacs / Koyo / Toyo R34 Nissan Skyline GTR 

Top 10 Points leaders after round 4 of the 2008 Formula Drift series:

• Tanner Foust – 321
• Samuel Hubinette – 313
• Daijiro Yoshihara – 308
• Chris Forsberg – 282
• Michihiro Takatori – 280
• Rhys Millen – 254
• Ryan Tuerck – 254
• Vaughn Gitten Jr. – 182
• Conrad Grunewald – 173
• Darren McNamara – 172

 

 

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