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Did I forget to say that I’m competing in the final round of Formula D? Oops! Well I am. Yellow Thing is back… the cage has a new forward section now, we’re using a new tire setup, the LSD was pulled apart and made a little more like a 1.5 way, and there’s a new final gear in the car to make shifting a little more work, but easier to stay in the power band. It’s funny… the car seems a lot crazier than it is. Chris and Tony came by to look at the car on Sunday and they couldn’t believe that it still has all of the sound deadening material. Yeah, the cage is bolt in, the doors still have all of the orignal insides… the chassis is totally untouched. It’s not seam welded anywhere on the car. It’s pretty much a street car! But that means it’s heavy :( But I guess I like it that way… it kind of represents me as a driver. The underdog.

Last Sunday I took the car out for a practice at Irwindale Speedway hosted by Drift Buffet. Haha, I know, huh? I haven’t driven the car since last January or February I think, and I haven’t competed since before that… needless to say it’s been a long time, and I’m really excited to get involved again.

For me, it’s just to have a blast driving with my friends again, but man… I’d love it if I could totally do good. It’s up to me I guess. Everybody has been driving their cars getting used to them all year in competition mode. On top of that, they have gotten noticeably faster and better at tandem. I’ve… driven my 215hp sileighty at Just Drift and Drit Day? Hahaha. Big difference.

At least last Sunday gave me a chance to get a feel for the car again. The good thing is that I know what I have to do, and I wasn’t scared at the pace I was going. That means I can go A LOT faster and a lot crazier.

We have another practice session this Thursday and then I have prequalifying on Friday along with all of the other non-seeded drivers. I have a good feeling about making it to Saturday’s big event. Let’s see how far I can get!

I can’t wait!

Last weekend was a lot of fun @ Sonoma. I know I didn’t get to drive, but it was quite an experience being there as a supportive role instead of a driving role. Now that it’s all over, I’m so glad I was there for Nadine. It was her first major competition, and she totally needed my emotional support as well as coaching. I remembered the times when I felt like I needed help with the course, advice on what I was doing wrong, and just to hear “don’t worry, you’re doing good.” I was able to give that to Nadine, and I was glad. She did well… for a mid to high 3rd gear course designed to go straight into the judging booth k-rails, and having only 3 practice runs, I thought she did pretty good.

During practice she was trying to go too fast… combine that with her nervousness, the pressure, the fact that she tapped the wall during practice, and you can understand how she was feeling. I told her to take a deep breath and relax. Tone down her approach and forget about all the pressures. She did end up toning down her approach a lot, and she was able to pull it off.

In the end, I’m proud of her for standing up to the challenge of competing in a professional drifting series up against people who have been doing it for many years longer than her. And I’m proud of her for breaking through the mental wall she had in front of her, and actually initiating, following through, and finishing the course at least once.

It was nice being able to sit around and looking at everybody thinking about everything too much, trying too hard, and making it totally harder on themselves then it had to be. I’m going to take my experience with me to my next competition… it will be nice to compete again knowing what attitude I should have in order to drive my best.