Sunday, June 12, 2011 6:31 PM :: 970 Views
Singapore’s Jason Tan was the sole local qualifier for today’s round-of-32 competition. (Photo: SSC)
The VIP Formula Drift Singapore 2011 kicked off in spectacular fashion, with Malaysian Tan Tat Wei from team Goodyear Malaysia leading the pack in yesterday’s qualifying session.
His compatriots, Ivan Lau Tew Chung from LTM Bridgestone and Ee Yoong Cherng from GT Radial Drift Team were placed second and third respectively. Both showed great amount of skills on what deemed to be a tricky and difficult circuit. Tan had the best run of the day scoring 73.7 points to top the standings with a stunningly fluid run that showed great amounts of car control. Singapore’s Jason Tan was the sole qualifier in yesterday’s showdown.
Tan will be hoping to carry this good form and lead a charge into the final round. Commenting on his run Tan said, “Having competed in last year’s event I feel I had an advantage as I know the track well and it is similar to the one from last year. I will do my best, it helps that I have a bye into the next round which is good for me, but I will be up against some tough drivers. So I will do what I can and hope for the best.”
The drivers overcame challenging wet conditions after a brief downpour late yesterday morning, and the drying track added another dimension to qualifying. But the roar of thumping engines and the smell of burning tyres thrilled fans at the F1 Pit Building as 44 drivers were whittled down to 31* for today’s competition. With top drivers such as Daynom David Templeman, Ken Gushi, Saranon Pornpatanarak, Kiki Sak Nana and of course Daigo Saito still in contention, today will definitely be an exciting day of racing.
Today’s competition will see the 31 drivers battle it out in the main competition from 11:30am to 1pm, followed by the Round-of-16 at 2.30pm. The final four drivers from that round will then contest the podium places and the Formula Drift Singapore 2011 Championship. Besides the champion’s title, drivers will also be competing to win the first ever Team Championship title - Singapore will be the first in the world of Formula Drift to crown the inaugural Team Championship, a new points system rewarding teams for their performance.
List of Qualified Drivers (*Only 31 drivers had points enough to qualify for today’s round of 32 )
Driver: Car #: Speed 1: Speed 2: Score: Rank:
40 TTW (Tan Tat Wei) 5 111 0 73.7 1
33 IVAN LAU YEW CHUNG 59 116 0 72.9 2
30 Yoong (Ee Yoong Cherng) 33 113 0 72.8 3
41 Slim (Daynom David Templeman) 101 115 0 72.4 4
24 Ken Gushi 32 112 0 66.9 5
44 Non (Saranon Pornpatanarak) 150 116 0 64.4 6
25 Mai (Chaiwat Panthayangkool) 888 118 0 62.8 7
28 Oat Opt (Kulachart Rhuvatana) 22 119 0 61.7 8
38 Ah Fai (Ser Ming Hui) 34 116 0 61.7 9
43 Emmanuel Adwitya Amandio 7 114 0 58.9 10
39 Rowdy (Rhenadi Arinton) 27 121 0 58 11
42 Kohkae (Terdthoon Ruayjaroensap) 77 115 0 57.8 12
5 JB (Joshua Edwin Ian Boettcher) 36 124 0 55.5 13
37 Kiki Sak Nana 2 101 0 55.3 14
36 Pop (Jatuphon Manpatarapong) 99 119 0 53.7 15
34 Daigo Saito 96 134 0 52.5 16
18 Bullzai (Muhammad Zaiham Hamdan)666 103 0 51.8 17
20 Michael Gan Weng Yip 68 115 0 51.5 18
27 Mick (Nattapol Tiawphaibul) 29 102 0 51.4 19
29 Charles Ng 89 114 0 50.7 20
10 Ariff (ARIFF JOHANIS BIN AHMAD) 18 115 0 49.6 21
17 Ju (Somchai Aroonrung) 3 115 0 49.2 22
23 Robbie Nishida 26 103 0 49.2 23
2 ARMANDO (MUHAMMAD RULLI ARMANDO) 300 107 0 48.7 24
3 Dean (Raden Muhammad Bachtiar Akbar) 108 114 0 48.5 25
1 M. Hermawan (Muhamad Hermawan) 301 114 0 44.9 26
26 Tong (Nakarin Tawachpakdi) (Tong RedBull) 23 100 0 42.4 27
16 Pond (Daychapon Toyingcharoen) 42 101 0 41 28
35 Jo (WATTANAPORN PHUNGPEARN) 868 119 0 39.5 29
19 Zee (Lim Zee King) 233 94 0 31.8 30
12 JASON TAN MIN HONG 9 96 0 26.2 31