09.01
Willows, CA - 20 drivers came out to Thunderhill yesterday for Round 4 of our inaugural ProAm Series, where the season winner would be decided. Of those drivers, only Julian Jacobs, Luke Lonberger, Andy Gillespie, and Ryan Kado had a shot of taking the grand prize of a 2011 Formula DRIFT pro license.
Jacobs had engine troubles during his battle with Josh Sher in the Top 16, so he lost the license first. Lonberger developed rod knock in his brand new LS3, but the judges called a One More Time for his Top 16 battle with Lex King, so he abandoned the car on the track, commandeered a bicycle, and rode back to the grid so he could continue the battle in teammate Fabian Fernandez’s car. Lonberger prevailed, laying down the sickest run of the day. Unfortunately, Lonberger had to face Fernandez in the Top 8 so he couldn’t use Fernandez’s car. Lonberger jumped in Tomasz Olech’s SR-powered Corolla, but as he had never drifted a Corolla before, he flung it a little too hard into the first turn and sent the car spinning off the track, giving Fernandez the win. As Lonberger was the highest qualified out of the four Top 8 losers, he secured 5th Place for the day, but lost his chance to win the license.
Andy Gillespie had a little trouble maintaining drifts in his battle with Rob Webber, and after a One More Time, Webber ended Gillespie’s push for the license. Veteran ProAm driver Tomasz Olech made his first appearance of the series, and climbed all the way to the Finals to face off with Ryan Kado, who was the only driver left who could win the license. At one point in the battle, Kado was following Olech within inches, and Olech stuck his hand out the window, signaling Kado to “Bring it.” Kado brought it all right, and took his place as winner of Round 4, the series with 403 points, and the Formula DRIFT license.
Olech finished second for the day, and since he only came to one round of the series, he earned the honor of the lowest-ranking veteran, in 20th position.
Fernandez finished third for the day, making his first appearance on the podium this season.
For the series overall, Lonberger finished second with 372 points, Gillespie finished third with 343 points, Jacobs finished fourth with 313 points, and Webber finished fifth with 278 points. Fernandez was given the Wild Card spot for his dedication and improvement over the season and his relatively high finish in 7th position. All five of these drivers receive invitations to ProAm Nationals later this year, where they will have one last chance to battle for a 2011 pro license.
As the highest ranking rookie, Rob Webber earned the honor of Rookie of the Year.
Don’t miss out on the series awards, which will presented on the Formula DRIFT podium at Sonoma on September 11th!
Here are all the results of the season:
