With Knapik having a huge advantage, Wingfield led with Knapik in tight proximity through the first turn. Wingfield then parked it towards the end of turn one which caused Knapik to straighten out. The battle continued with Knapik maintaining fair proximity. Knapik’s straightening and so-so proximity were deemed to be not his fault due to Wingfield’s unfollowable lead run giving Knapik the win.
Number one qualifier John Schaffer finally got to drive in the 4th battle of the Great 8 against the Corvette of Shawn Olin. In the first run Schaffer had a great confident-looking lead run, but Olin was in the zone! He had less angle than Schaffer, but had excellent proximity at times.
Olin’s lead was solid, but Schaffer’s follow was judged better as he was able to match the lead car’s angle better with more constant proximity. Schaffer took the win, though Olin gets the MotoIQ Purple Heart for effort.
Final 4
The first battle of the Final Four had an anti-climatic start. John Schaffer led in the battle against JR Faber. Schaffer snapped an axle off the line and had to concede after he could not fix the car during his 5 minute competition time out.
Next up, Micah Diaz faced off against Adam Knapik. Diaz led the first run solidly while Knapik had a great follow run. With Knapik in the lead, both drivers again had good consistent runs. With both drivers very close in points, the battle was deemed a one more time.
The two drivers immediately went into their one more time battle with Diaz taking the lead first. Both drivers got good starts off the line, but Knapik lost some ground after turn two. To catch up, Knapik surged hard into turn 3 and ran a shallow line with shallow angle. He almost straightened up in an effort to close the distance. Diaz had a good lead with smooth lines filling all zones – truly in full control.
