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The first pair up was supposed to be Mike Essa and Daigo Saito, but since Essa had broke in Top 32 Daigo was given a bye-run. So, the first official pair up in Top 16 were Odi Bakchis and Chris Forsberg. With pressure mounting and the protest rejected, a lot was riding on Forsberg's shoulders now that he needed a second place finish to win the championship. It didn't seem to deter him as he was able to defeat Odi after having to face him in a One More Time battle.
Finally, after many years of trying to make it in Formula Drift, Dean Kearney was able to advance into the Great 8 by defeating Ken Gushi. Dean's tires seemed to have held up much better in this face-off and his car was looking much better than in previous rounds.
What a change for Robbie Nishida in 2013! Not only has his confidence seemed to have really shot back, but the Achilles Radial SC400 really looked good during the entire year. This was bad news for anyone who he faced the season and Dean Kearney's fellow Irishman, Darren McNamara, was no different. Darren's 2013 season ended in the Top 16, but with just over a season and a half in the Falken Tires Silvia, D-Mac still has time on his side.
While Vaughn's season was high up until Seattle, Ryan Kado's season was mostly low. A fire in Texas and going from Turbo to naturally aspirated, 2013 just wasn't as fun as in years past. Car trouble would once again sideline Ryan and allow Vaughn to move on to the Great 8. Ryan still has many years left in him and hopefully 2014 will see a return to fun times at the Kado camp. Hopefully, Formula Drift will quit hogging the good food the Kados' are known for, too. I'm kidding Formula Drift, sort of.
While taking down a banner made him $50.00 richer from the bounty Ross Fairfield put up for the OMG Drift drivers, it didn't make up for the clipping point against Forrest Wang. Wang would move on to the Great 8 and his first in many years of Formula Drift competition. When the XDC was still around, it helped to prove that Wang had tons of talent inside him and he was proving it again on this night.
One of the two best battles of Irwindale happened in the Top 16 between Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck. It came down to two One More Time battles to finally decide who would advance to the Great 8. At first it seemed that Ryan would have the advantage when Fredric tapped the upper bank wall and messed up his line. Then Tuerck had too much gap against Aasbo and it was ruled that both drivers did not show their best.
Both drivers would then battle each other so evenly that the Judges needed a final One More Time to determine a winner. While the blinking, electroluminecent Retaks decals were awesome in their own right and something we haven't seen since Rhys Millen's Solstice, it wouldn't be enough and Fredric Aasbo would move on to the Great 8.
