It was under gray skies and threats of thunderstorms that took place the first day of Formula Drift Canada Challenge. Ten drivers from the American pro championship came to face off and do battle with our 10 local qualified drivers for the first Formula Drift event on Canadian soil. Fortunately, Mother Nature was left out of the debate, threatening us with black skies but with the rain missing us entirely.
The American drivers, most of who were on their first laps at Autodrome St. Eustache, quickly learned to know the circuit, demonstrating the power of their car and the extent of their talent.
However, as the day advanced, the local drivers, getting used to the speed and extremely aggressive lines of the American pilots, began to seriously compete with the American stars.
The first surprise of the day came when Dave Briggs, Canadian pilot Competing in FD, was forced to withdraw due to engine problems.
After two practice sessions, qualifying finally set in motion. Strong competitors in DMCC, Martin Langlois, Francis Tasse and Pat Cyr had difficulties during their two runs and were unfortunately not qualified for the top 16 competition tomorrow. Jonathan Guitard, dominant this DMCC season, also experienced some problems, but still managed to qualify 15th, just ahead of former DMCC champion and FD competitor Miro Ovcharik. Brad Carlton and Maxime Lemoine did just enough, locking in the thirteenth fourteenth position. Having broken his engine last week, Chelsea Denofa, FD driver, qualified in the twelfth position in a borrowed and very underpowered car. Kevin Morin, Alexandre Michaud and Tomy Boisvert-Bellemare all offered good performance, going for, respectively, the ninth, tenth and eleventh position. Formula Drift stars Forrest Wang, Dean Kearney, Robbie Nishida and Charles Ng qualified, for their part, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth. The surprise of the day, Alex Gosselin, highest among representatives of DMCC, had a great run and finished sixth. Marc Landreville, Quebec driver Competing in FD, couldn’t make his first qualifying run due to mechanical problems, but played it all-in on his second lap and got himself the third position. Daigo Saito, global drift superstar, put on a show in his second run also and established an excellent score of 85. Dominating and spectacular throughout the day, the Norwegian Kenny Moen continued in the same vein by establishing the biggest score of the day by qualifying first.
Tomorrow, Monday, September 1st, will be the second and final day of the Formula Drift Canada Challenge. The doors of the Autodrome St. Eustache open to the public at noon. The sun is planned to be out and we do hope you’ll be too!
