,
The Judges had called for a One More Time battle in the third place consolation run. The first runs weren't enough to determine if either driver was the winner. This would spell trouble for Robbie as he would once again take it into the wall and lose against Forrest Wang. Finally, after many years in Formula Drift and dropping back down to ProAm, Forrest Wang has made the podium at Formula Drift Round 7 in Irwindale!
Irwindale had decided to swallow one more car whole for the night. After putting up a stellar lead run against Daigo Saito, McQuarrie's follow run would end his night. In talking at the press conference afterwards, Tyler indicated that Daigo had slowed down from previous lead runs, causing Tyler to slow down in a different way than he normally did. This isn't the first time this has been said about Daigo. Rhys Millen said the same thing in 2012 when he followed Daigo and ended up in the same position as Tyler.
Nothing can be done now as Daigo Saito is awarded the win for Round 7 of the Formula Drift Championship! Tyler McQuarrie would finish second and Forrest Wang would take third.
Mike Essa takes home the 2013 Formula Drift Pro Championship presented by GoPro! Even with his Top 16 exit and Chris Forsberg making it to the Great 8, Essa still had enough points in hand to hang on and with the championship.
Points for the Top 3 in the Formula Drift Rankings:
Mike Essa: 555.50
Chris Forsberg: 538.00 (-17.50)
Daigo Saito: 510.50 (-45.00)
Manufacturer's Championship:
Lexus: 975.50
Lexus: 975.50
Nissan: 912.50
Ford: 906.00
Tire Manufacturer's Championship
Hankook: 1055.50
Falken: 1008.00
Achillles: 973.23
2013 has been a fun, frustrating, exciting, and controversial year for the Formula Drift Pro Championship. Even for me as a journalist, it has been a very fun and interesting year. 2014 doesn't start in January anymore for these guys, it starts the night of Round 7 and we'll be here to cover it as well. There are new builds, cars that will get a refresh, and, if the rumors are true, a season refresh. SEMA is the time when everything is confirmed or denied so keep your browsers here on MotoIQ for the latest news on the 2014 season of the Formula Drift Pro Championship!
