Formula Drift – Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Irwindale, CA. The 2009 Formula Drift season has been by far, the most difficult year of professional drifting for Daijiro Yoshihara. From sorting a slew of problems in the beginning of the season to the shake-up experienced by testing the mortality of a drift car to rebuilding a competition worthy drift car in a mere 6 days, the challenges faced this year was appalling. Such tests of life truly determine whether one is comprised of the inner workings of what it takes to be a champion. Needless to say, Dai has more than survived this torturous year and was able to finish 6th at the Formula D Season Finale at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, earning him the 11th spot in the overall standings.
The few days of testing prior to this event available to Dai with Team Falken and KW Suspension certainly paid off as he was able to lay down a very solid 81.8 point qualifying run; good enough to land him in 6th spot to tandem against, teammate, Ross Petty. The combination of SPD Metalwork’s car setup and Dai’s raw driving skill resulted in superior angle, and ultimately the win over Ross.
Once again faced against a teammate in Top 16 competition, Dai had to line up next to the formidable Darren McNamara (DMac). Dai is set to lead first and charges out of the gate hard taking the high line on the big bank close enough to the wall to nearly shave the paint off his rear bumper. DMac maintains a close gap, but suffers with a much shallower angle, giving the advantage of this battle to Dai. Dai follows closely behind on the second run squeezing the best out of DMac. DMac finally makes a small mistake of hitting his wing against the inner bank, slowing him down enough to allow Dai to completely close the gap and cross the finish line door to door.
Make sure that Dai receives no easy tandem battles in this round, the drifting gods has Dai lined up against Tanner Foust and his V8 powered Scion TC. It was practically impossible for Dai to see through the impermeable smoke screen set by Tanner, who receives the advantage after the initial run. Dai comes out hard through the starting line, but Tanner chases even harder, mirroring Dai’s every move. Tanner’s exceptional run grants him passage to the next round with Dai finished for the event at 6th place.
While 11th overall is not typically worthy of a celebration by Dai’s standards, it is quite respectable considering all the hindrances that was sprinkled throughout the season. An ample amount of learning was done this year, not only about drifting, but also about life in general. This long year of grueling development concludes with all indicators pointing straight up for 2010.
“I didn’t have the type of season that I expected to have this year but with a new car build, it’s a learning process everyone has to go through,” Dai explained. “I am just very happy and grateful that I had the chance to be with an amazing team. A million thanks to my fans and friends for all the support. And I thank all my sponsors especially Falken Tire, Discount Tire, and SPD…without them, none of this would be possible! ARIGATO!!”
