After a one month break from the last event, drivers/teams had been anticipating the final event on the Formula D schedule. Small margins separated the drivers vying for the championship, there was no room for error as everything was on the line.

The KW sponsored drivers were fresh off their setup day from the week before. Their goals were shared amongst each other as they  aimed for a podium finish at the last event. Justin Pawlak driving the Bergenholtz RX8 set the tone of the day during qualifying as he lit the track on fire with his 96.8 point score to capture the #1 qualifying position. Daijiro Yoshihara driving the Discount Tire Nissan 240SX captured 6^th spot and Robbie Nishida driving the Hankook Tire 350Z rounded off the top 10. Eric O’Sullivan qualified 13^th, Rhys Millen  – 17^th and Calvin Wan 32^nd.

With all 6 KW sponsored drivers KW chances for the podium faired pretty well. Going from the Top 32 in to Top 16 Tandem battle, we saw Justin Pawlak advance against Calvin Wan,  Robbie Nishida defeat Katsuhiro Ueo and Daijiro Yoshihara win against Ross Petty. Unfortunately, Pawlak was eliminated going into the Great 8, but Yoshihara and Nishida kept KW’s hopes alive. The Great 8 tandem battles produced some of the most dramatic showdowns of the night as the crowds cheered for “One more time” battles amongst the drivers numerous times.  Unfortunately for Yoshihara and Nishida it was not to be, as they where eliminated. We applause the efforts of the KW sponsored drivers and all the drivers of the series for their dedication to the sport of drifting.

KW suspensions would like to congratulate Ryan Tuerck for his 1^st place podium finish and Chris Forsberg for capaturing the series Championship. Great work guys!

Thanks to www.urbanracer.com for providing pictures.

Qualifying results – Oct 16/2009
1 J. Pawlak 13 96.8
2 R. Tuerck 44 88.5
3 T. Foust 1 87.5
4 T. Suell 777 86.1
5 K. Mohan 99 84.6
6 D. Yoshihara 9 81.8
7 C. Forsberg 64 80.8
8 J. Maeng 51 80.6
9 S. Hubinette 77 80.1
10 R. Nishida 31 78.3
11 D. McNamara 8 77.6
12 V. Gittin 25 76.3
13 E. O’Sullivan 35 74.9
14 M. Essa 101 73.9
15 K. Gushi 5 73.7
16 T. McQuarrie 17 73.4
17 R. Millen 6 71.5
18 T. Aono 86 68.3
19 K. Hayashida 33 66.7
20 M. Powers 11 66.5
21 A. Pfeiffer 88 65.1
22 K. Yamanaka 7 64.2
23 K. Ueo 15 63.3
24 F. Aasbo 21 62.2
25 C. Parkhouse 562 60.1
26 D. VanDenBrink 19 59.6
27 R. Petty 808 59.1
28 J. LeJeune 333 57.6
29 Y. Kondo 52 57.3
30 T. Brakohiapa 18 55.4
31 M. Waldin 24 54.6
32 C. Wan 3 54

Formula D Final,  Results – Oct 17^th, 2009 Irwindale, CA
1. Tuerck, Ryan Gardella Racing / Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice
2. McQuarrie, Tyler Falken Nissan 350Z
3. Foust, Tanner Rockstar / Hankook Scion Racing tC

Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2009 Point Standings
1. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z 527 Points
2. Tuerck, Ryan Gardella Racing / Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice 521 Points
3. McQuarrie, Tyler Falken Nissan 350Z 485 Points
4. Hubinette, Samuel NuFormz Dodge Viper 462.25 Points
5. Gittin, Vaughn Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang GT 451.50 Points
6. Foust, Tanner Rockstar / Hankook Scion Racing tC 447.50 Points
7. McNamara, Darren Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky 426.50 Points
8. Nishida, Robbie Hankook Tires / Dynamic Autosports Nissan 350Z 425.25 Points
9. Pawlak, Justin Bergenholtz Racing / Nitto Mazda RX-8 416 Points
10. Gushi, Ken RS*R Scion Racing TC 388.50 Points
11. Yoshihara, Daijiro Discount Tire / America’s Tire / Falken Nissan 240 381 Points
12. Brakohiapa, Tony Cooper Tire Ford Mustang 379.25 Points
13. Petty, Ross Garage Boso / Falken Nissan S15 377.25 Points
14. Aono, Taka Technosquare Toyota AE86 Corolla 369.75 Points
15. Verdier, Stephan Cooper Tire / Crawford Performance Subaru STI 364 Points
16. Miki, Ryuji APEXi / Hankook Mazda RX-7 341.75 Points