As you have probably noticed, the ‘car season’ is all but over up here on the Canadian Prairies. The temperature has dropped and so have most of the leaves off the trees. That can only mean one thing, the 2012 SEMA Show is just around the corner. Today we will talk about that along with the weekend that was. Let’s begin……
The final round of the 2012 Formula Drift season took place at the ‘back from the dead’ Irwindale Speedway. The place was sold out before the gates even opened and the crowd was treated to what was probably the most entertaining finish one could wish for. The season championship was still up in the air once the Final 4 paired up and it took some crashing to determine the final point standings for the year. It was a great night of Drifting.
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When all the smoke cleared, FD Rookie sensation Daigo Saito took top spot on the podium with Justin Pawlak in second and Ryan Tuerck 3rd.
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The final season points standings show like this:
|
1
|
430
|
Daigo Saito |
548.50
|
|
2
|
25
|
Vaughn Gittin Jr |
529
|
|
3
|
67
|
Rhys Millen |
509.25
|
|
4
|
13
|
Justin Pawlak |
501
|
|
5
|
62
|
Ryan Tuerck |
465.50
|
|
6
|
151
|
Freddy Aasbo |
457.50
|
|
7
|
9
|
Dai Yoshihara |
426
|
|
8
|
21
|
Ken Gushi |
379.50
|
|
9
|
79
|
Conrad Grunewald |
359.75
|
|
10
|
665
|
Matt Powers |
358.50
|
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The Triple Crown championship trophy was accidentally awarded to Vaughn Gittin Jr during the awards ceremony on track Saturday night. The $10,000 cheque and trophy should have actually found it’s way into Justin Pawlak’s hands.
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Our Canadian friends Alex Lee and Ian Fournier both made the trip down to Irwindale for the final round of action. While Ian didn’t qualify, Alex Lee impressed qualifying 15th going into the Round of 32 competition.
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It sounds like Ian Fournier of Drift Safari won’t be returning to Formula Drift anytime soon. According to a Facebook post yesterday it looks like Ian is going to keep it more ‘fun’ next year.
Alex Lee on the other hand totally decimated his car and will be sporting a new chassis next year. A lighter chassis would probably help Alex out immensely in my opinion.
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We are a short two weeks away from what has become a yearly pilgrimage for the DODOlogic staff. We will once again load up a couple of vehicles and drive the 2000+ kilometers to the 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. As always we will be collecting content throughout the trip and we plan on sharing it during and after the convention on the website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In next weeks edition of the Rundown I will make sure to share everyone’s info so you can follow along.
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I was excited to learn a few weeks back that the Global RallyCross Championship will be holding a bonus round on the SEMA Show grounds on Tuesday evening after the show floor closes. Of course we will be there and we hope to get decent footage to share.
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The Korean Grand Prix took place yesterday and while Mark Webber Qualified pole he couldn’t hold off Sebastien Vettel from crossing the finish first. Vettel is on a bit of a role winning the last three races. With four races remaining will Vettel be able to hold on to his slim 6-point lead over Fernando Alonso? I guess we will just have to wait to find out.
2012 Korean Grand Prix Podium Results:
1. Vettel
2. Webber
3. Alonso