Any story about drifting doesn't need to have a title as campy and cliched as "no holds barred", but to get things straight, Chicago's finest entertainment establishments seem to have a strange fascination with names ending with a Bar of some sort. The Circle Bar, Sound Bar, Spy Bar and if Carter and I had paid enough attention, I'm sure we would have hit the Nudie Bar. But if the title had to make sense, then sure enough, a page's worth of Google references do in fact say that "no holds barred in a figurative sense means "no restrictions", and is often used today to describe any event, particularly wrestling, where the participants are free to express themselves in any manner they choose." Hmm, this sounds a lot like drifting, doesn't it?
Top 16
Chicago's weather patterns are always changing, and like that psycho-ex, can be cold one minute, then warm and fuzzy the next. It's enough to drive people mad. A typical June day should be pleasant-the sun dropping down with a tender breeze from the lake-but not this weekend. As is the Super Street editor's curse; whatever pleasant conditions you hope it will be, will always turn out the exact opposite. A formation of clouds followed by chilling winds dimmed our spirits but not our excitement as the US' top drivers took the stage for the third round of Formula D. Staged along the lakeshore amongst an area that has been engaged many times before by athletes of yore, Soldier Field came alive once again-well, at least its parking lot did-with the sounds of spooling turbochargers, screeching tires and the second appearance of Pierre Kleinubing's insanely loud S2000.
This weekend's playing field was lighter in comparison to the two previous rounds, having the guaranteed seeded drivers and non-seeded drivers that were in attendance from Road Atlanta; there were no non-seeded qualifying drivers competing from the local Chicago area and beyond, which may have been unfortunate for aspiring drivers but at the same time made for a much quicker event.
The Top 16 kicked off with the number one qualifier, Tyler McQuarrie, who has done a great job taking over Alex Pfeiffer's position in the RS*R S2000, against relative newcomer, Hiromi Kajikumi in her Hankook-sponsored AE86. Now, if you remember, Hiromi was the first female to qualify in any US Top 16 and repeated last round's performance, proving herself as a competent driver. Tyler took an easy advantage after executing a flawless line then won by demonstrating better control over Hiromi. Dai Yoshihara, who placed Third in Atlanta, was hungry for a top spot on the podium and took the advantage over Kenji Yamanaka when Kenji goofed on the entry. But during a dramatic "one more time" battle, Dai, even with the early 8-2 advantage, spun out on the second pass, which gave him an automatic zero, allowing Kenji to move to the Top 8.