With the driver’s meeting over, qualifying soon began. The heat was on. Literally, it was 105 that day and I didn’t bring sunscreen. The smell of tires and race gas soon filled the air as the drivers settled in. RJ Contreras zeroed out his first run, losing the rear end as he came around the first clipping point.
Following RJ’s spin, Margaritis and Muss placed great runs. The Irwindale luck soon returned however, with Naor in its sights. Charging hard towards the first bank on his first qualifying run, the Evo failed to initiate, and had to cruise the first bank out, resulting in a zero. Not one to give up a chance for just that bit more practice, Naor finished off the rest of the course in style, as seen below.
Following Raz’s run was Muss in his E46 drift sedan. In typical Muss fashion, he rode the bank like nothing else, however lacked a bit of the Olympian chutzpah in the infield, costing him points. Afterwards was Purkhiser, missing a gear while coming out of the bank and straightening out, resulting in a 0 for her first run. Following Purkhiser was Mark Sanchez in his 4G63 S13.4, putting down a great, if slow run, the lack of speed costing him points.
Next off the line was Joseph Jansen in his stock appearing 370z. Despite the clear disadvantage to the more purpose-built cars, Jansen’s competed in all three rounds of The Drift League so far. I’ve personally noted it’s remarkably easy to get good shots of him due to how smooth he is in the corners. His run had a decent amount of angle, but his lack of power showed, the whole course ran a tad slow.
Alfa Ramirez was up next, pulling off a great run despite being shallow on the bank and in the infield. However, I don’t blame him for not being so sure on the bank after that previously detailed near miss with the wall.
