It'll never happen to me

I think this photo sort of speaks for itself. For those of you that don't know what this was from, Felipe Massa, a factory Ferrari Formula 1 driver, was recently struck by a stray suspension piece (a spring) during qualifying at the Hungaroring. He was traveling at 150mph. After being struck, he started to lose consciousness but not before applying some pressure to the brakes moments before he crashed into a tire barrier.

This is why I think people who question regulations on safety equipment are morons. Lots of people I run into (unfortunately because I happen to associate with dirty drift people) consistently complain about mandatory SA approved helmets, roll bars, nomex suits, side impact bars, and everything else that could potentially save your life or prevent serious injury. Felipe's incident should convince you that every piece of safety equipment you can use is well worth it. Put up with some discomfort and high cost to give yourself a chance in case something terrible does happen. Remember that most safety equipment isn't there to protect you from common happenings (you don't get hit in the face at 150mph by a spring, do you?), but there to prevent you from uncommon happenings. In cases like these, its always better to have it and never need it, then need it and not have it.

Mind you also, that Felipe Massa is wearing the most advanced, state of the art safety equipment yet it still can't totally prevent catastrophes. If this can happen to him, imagine what would have happened to you if you were wearing your lame helmet?

Formula D Las Vegas, 2009

I've been to every round of Formula D Las Vegas. Its an excuse to make a quick trip out of California and enjoy a nice weekend in sweltering heat, expensive strippers, and $4 steak dinners. This year was sans the expensive strippers, but it was certainly full of other exciting happenings.

First and foremost is the news that my friend Alex Pfeiffer is now driving for Tanaka racing in their insane Chevrolet Corvette. Alex tried out for them about a week ago and they immediately offered him the drive. I like many other people have been dying to see him get back in the driver's seat instead of forcing me to drink beer and watch Condorman every weekend. I think I may get a break because this bastard will be setting up the suspension on the car for the upcoming round. Anyhow, for his first time out in the car, he managed to qualify for the second day and even put up a good fight against Sam Hubinette in the Viper. All in all, not a bad first showing.


Another one of my friends who was driving this weekend was Joon, the great Korean hope. Since John Yim is retired and since I'm nowhere near being a professional (anything) Joon single handily carries the flag for all Korean drifters. This particular weekend was semi sweet for him. He qualified well, and even advanced to the round of best 16, where he eventually had to do battle with Tanner Foust. In the head of battle, Joon crashed on entry but after seeing his car in the pits afterwards, the damage didn't look too bad. I hope he can get it right in time for Washington!


Taka didn't have the best weekend either. On Friday practice, he broke an oil cooler and was forced to find a replacement on short notice (who the hell breaks an oil cooler?) but eventually made it back out. He ran quite well, and qualified somewhere around 16th or 17th. He met Ryan Turek in the first round of tandem, and unfortunately fell victim to the increasingly threatening Mobil 1 Solstice. Regardless, the fans still love him and were we see a girl getting Taka to sign her TRD shirt, where she also has Tommy Suell's signature.


Seeing Orido at a Formula D event was quite a surprise. He's one of the D1 celebrities whom I love to see even if he's not driving. The rumor was, he attended the event with the president of Japan's "other" drift series, MSC. If you're not familiar with MSC, I'd recommend going to youtube immediately and watching what they have to offer. I can only guess that their presence there means a possibility of an MSC/Formula D event in the near future. One can really only hope for such awesomeness.

The other cool part about Orido coming for this round, is that he played spotter for Ryuji Miki. It comes as no surprise then, that Ryuji Miki advanced to the finals and ended up finishing second overall that night. It goes to show you that with the right motivation and right coaching, chances of victory are far greater. Having somebody like Orido in your corner helps immensely. Surround yourself with winners and you'll start seeing results.

I also am happy that the man loves Bud Light.


While talking to Pfeiffer I also met this cute girl who has a similar taste in fashion as me!

Another year, another FD vegas trip. I didn't get to do the regular Vegas stuff this time around, so I guess I'll just have to wait till SEMA for debachery.

All photos courtesy of Wes Hamachi!
hamachiboysracing@yahoo.com

Japan ups the ante

Half time entertainment is something I'd think we do the best in the USA. Apparently not in drifting.