Drift Invasion

After the pecking order was established by qualifying, the top 16 were paired up in order to go mano a mano in the first round. In D1, each pair must make three laps around the circuit. The first is a practice lap, and the second two are follow the leader where each driver takes a spin up front. The first car sets the pace, tearing through the course as fast as possible while still going any which way but straight. It is up to the second car to maintain the pace, keeping as close to the first one as possible.

When both drivers are evenly matched, the result is pure synchronicity. However, with the slightest misstep, this delicate dance quickly turns to a tangled clump of metal, much like a high-speed version of our parallel parking technique. The atomic super wedgie--or the checkmate D1 maneuver--comes when a driver can hold his drift and pass the lead driver. It is the drifting equivalent of a two-pronged Wet Willie.

In the first round, Millen met Mr. Monkey Magic himself, Nomuken. Millen's powerful rally style wowed everyone, and the judges said that had he not spun, he would have been in contention for the win. Fixmer was a tremendous fan favorite, and he gave Imamura a serious run in their first round match-up. In fact, their runs were so close that the crowds chants of "One more time!" prompted the judges to request an additional set of laps. Throughout the day, the crowd played an important part at times, seemingly forcing the judges to ask for additional laps.

As the sun set on the track and the hopes of all of the other drivers, only four remained to battle it out in the semifinals: Taniguchi, Ueno, Imamura, and Ueo. In the first pairing, the broad and powerful HKS S15 pressured Ueno into a spin--advantage Taniguchi. As Imamura lead out the second pairing, it was clear that his A'PEXi FD was immensely more powerful than Ueo's 180hp Cusco Yuke's AE86, but the champion proved his mettle, forcing a rematch and then finally taking the win to meet Taniguchi in the finals.

In the finals, Taniguchi tried to muscle his 430hp Silvia into the winner's circle with some not so gentle taps crunching the little Toyota's right rear quarter panel, but Ueo continued to show his form forcing not one, but two rematches. On the first lap of the second rematch, Ueo seized his opportunity and did the unthinkable: he slid inside of Taniguchi, holding his textbook form throughout the pass.