Formula Drift Round 5 Recap

Submitted by rontastic on Tue, 2010-08-24 17:01

Even in the sweltering desert of Las Vegas, Team Need for Speed was still able to bring more heat to the 5th Round of the Formula Drift series.

Coming into the 5th Round, Team Need for Speed Drifters Matt Powers and Mad Mike Whiddett had been continually improving and getting stronger each round, but had yet to break through past the Top 32 and into the Top 16. Well, it seemed only fitting then for them to role into Las Vegas to see if their luck would change.

Round 5, dubbed 'After Dark', was definitely an intense weekend in more ways than one. The temperature in the desert was so intense that the event started in the afternoon and went into the late night/early morning on both days. The custom built track in the huge open lot of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of the fastest in the series, with drivers coming into their runs at speeds as high as 100mph.

Both Matt and Mike were getting great practice runs in before finally getting ready for their Top 32 qualifying runs.

On Friday night when it was finally time for qualifiers, Mad Mike gave one of his best runs of the season, and eventually ended up ranked 9th going into the Round of 32 on Saturday. During his run he surprised the night-time crowd with with his Hot Pursuit inspired cop lights that were decked out on the BadBul. Matt Powers also gave an impressive run and went into the next round ranked 23rd.

For Saturday's head-to-head round of 32, Mad Mike was paired up against Irish drifter James Deane. Mad Mike was the favorite going into the match, but as we've seen at Formula Drift time and again, anything can happen.

Fortunately, Mad Mike went all out in his two runs against James and ultimately got the decision from the judges. The win gave Mike his, and Team Need for Speed's, first appearance in the Top 16 this season! Unfortunately for Matt Powers, he went up against tougher competition in Justin Pawlak, one of his drifting idols, and bowed out after the round of 32.

This was the first time that Mad Mike was a part of the 16 car driver introductions and he relished every moment of it. When his name was called, he quickly jumped up top of his BadBul RX-8 and pumped his fists with pride. Definitely an awesome moment for Mike and the whole team here at Team Need for Speed.

Mad Mike faced stiff competition in the #2 overall points leader Dai Yoshihara, and eventually got knocked out. However, that didn't put a damper on his great showing and another awesome weekend from Team Need for Speed.

Stay tuned here at NeedforSpeed.com for more coverage from Round 5 Las Vegas. To check out more pics from the event, head over to our flickr album.