Rain no hindrance to Formula Drift Qualifying Rounds
It was raining cats & dogs at the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang yesterday, but it didn’t stop the 53 contestants of the Goodyear Formula Drift 2009 from going all out to secure themselves one of the 32 coveted spots in the knock out rounds taking place today.
Leading the way of the 32 qualifiers is Tengku Djan, representing Bridgestone Malaysia, powering his Nissan 180SX to collect 88.7 points, putting him as the top qualifier. Behind Djan is Hanizam Hamzah, who took 81.2 points in his Nissan Cefiro A31.
Japanese driver Ryuji Miki of Team Goodyear took the third qualifying spot in his Toyota Supra. After Miki in the list of qualifiers, is a score of Malaysian drivers, namely Ariff Johanis, Ser Ming Hui, Ivan Lau, Tan Tat Wei, Nazrul Afifi, and Lim Joe Han.
The tenth highest finisher drove a Malaysian-made car, a Proton Waja R3, but he was no Malaysian – Indonesian Rifat Sungkar of Goodyear Indonesia with 67.2 points, just 0.1 behind Joe Han.
After what was a bright sunny morning, with the competitors warming up the track and their cars during the practice, a heavy downpour almost threatened to scuttle the organizers plans.
Though the qualifying session was ultimately delayed, action resumed nonetheless. Having suffocated spectators with smoke early on, the wet track meant that more water was splashed instead, although the action was no less sideways.
The slippery road surface made for challenging driving conditions, as drivers had to contend with finer margins of control – many ended up spinning out of control.
The action at the Goodyear Formula Drift resumes today. Click on the link to our forum below to follow our live coverage.
Pictures: H.C. Gui
