Bill Wood touches on comments by Rhys Millen and Sam Hubinette on their final battle at Formula D Chicago as well as issues facing Formula D as it grows in his June 14th, 2006 article on SPEEDtv.com:
“I think the fans who come to the sport have a personal identification with the drivers over and above what you see in NASCAR,� Millen said. That stretches credulity, but there’s some truth to what he implies. Fans appreciate the physics-defying car control exhibited by the front-line drifters, and they appreciate the growing professionalism from the teams. But when the defending champion is so frustrated with the event judging that he concedes victory to his square in the bull’s eye rival, you can see some massaging is needed. To their credit, Formula Drift officials addressed the judging issue during the off-season, bringing former drivers onto the bench to smooth out some verdicts. Rhys and Sam both admit the judging this year is more consistent and that’s all the drivers can ask for, consistency.
“It’s easier to understand what they’re looking for,� Hubinette told me. “I think there’s still room for some improvements regarding course layouts and making the clipping points more visible for the fans. In drifting, you really want to show your car-handling skill. We definitely told them, so hopefully they’ll get on that.�
But selling the judging to a mainstream motorsports population still appreciative of clocks and top speeds could be problematic. Those crowds will be there through the end of the year and beyond after the film runs its course. Whether or not those crowds can be translated into passionate fans and competitors remains to be seen.
Go to Speed Tv Drifting Article to read the full article.