Drifters from the Midwest got a chance to shake off the winter rust thanks to ClubFR’s first event of the season. The April 15th event was the inaugural event of the new Midwest Cup 5-event series. The Midwest Cup was created in association with Formula D Pro Am to determine who will compete at the Formula D Pro Am Nationals and from that competition who will be eligible to compete in the Formula D Pro Series. This first event was held at a new venue for ClubFR, the Autobahn Country Club, a new road race facility just south of Chicago.
Several regulars to ClubFR events were still putting the finishing touches on their cars and were unable to drive on this occasion. Two other regulars; Ryan Clemens and David Hruska served as judges for the event. Ryan is known for having been awarded a Formula D Pro License after competing at the Formula D Pro Am Nationals in Laughlin last year. David is known as the crazy driver of the now retired Origin AE86.
The combination of several breaks, missing competitors and non-regulation rollcages saw the Top 8 Tandem reduced to Top 4. ClubFR president Rob Riter took on Simba Nyemba for the Touge Factory battle. Rob spun uncharacteristically which gave an otherwise evenly matched round to Simba. Next up was the white coupe duel, with Brian Peter taking on yours truly, Keith Schoeler. After one round it was deemed too close to call and given the infamous “one more time.� The second round gave the advantage to Brian Peter for his very consistent driving.
The match was set for the final with Brian Peter vs Simba Nyemba. With Simba leading first, both drivers drove a tight line and maintained a close following distance. Brian led next and Simba quickly encountered bogging issues, giving the clear advantage and win to Brian Peter.
Over 300 spectators and 40 drivers showed up for the beautiful spring day and everyone is looking forward to a full schedule of drifting this summer thanks to ClubFR. Next up; Round 2 of the Midwest Cup will be held at the challenging USA Int’l Raceway in Shawano, WI, May 6th.
Club FR Thanks Event Sponsors:
Touge Factory, Central Motorwerks, HyperTek Area 51, Turbo240, Drift Line USA, Kougaku Racing, HQ Kustoms, Collision Decision, Synergy Tuning, Kaizophoto
I just checked out this track this week, since I now live within 1 hour of it. Its a great facility!
Comment by Drift Patrol — April 25, 2007 #