Dai Yoshihara Fights for Points at the 2021 Formula DRIFT Seattle Round

Round 5 of the 2021 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship was back to familiar territory at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA following two previous rounds at new venues. With a torrid season leaving Dai languishing in the bottom half of the Championship points table, he was hoping for a better result in the Pacific Northwest.

Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t start well for the driver of the Turn 14 Distribution / Falken Tire / ENEOS Oil Subaru BRZ. A spin on his qualifying run resulted in a zero score, forcing Dai to run a second time in the new-for-2021 Knockout Qualifying Format. The eight poorest qualifiers are required to run again to secure a place in the Top 32 competition heats, but the best they can hope for is 26th position (the top of the bottom 8). With a decent second run, Dai secured 27th position and showed what he’s capable of.

Paired against Travis Reeder (USA) In the Top 32 on Saturday, Dai would need to come out fighting to progress through to the Final and things looked promising after the first run.

With Travis leading in the Travis Reeder Motorsports / Link ECU BMW M3, he had a shallow line in Outer Zone 2. And while Travis completed the run without any major mistakes, Dai kept good proximity throughout the run and put the pressure on Travis to run faultlessly on the second run.

With the roles reversed and Dai in the lead, he set a good pace into the banking but carried too much speed and overshot Outer Zone 2. Running slightly off the course, Travis did enough in the chase position to take the win and advance to the next round.

For Dai, it was another difficult weekend in the Turn 14 Distribution / Falken Tire / ENEOS Oil Subaru BRZ. Placed 29th overall and sitting 27th in the points table, he needs to do something remarkable to salvage the 2021 season. However, the 2011 FD PRO Champion is capable of greatness and you can never keep a good man down. So Dai, his team, sponsors and fans are all looking forward to the next round for the comeback to begin!

Next Round

Round 6 of the 2021 Formula DRIFT PRO Championship takes place a World Wide Technology Raceway near St Louis, MO on August 27-28. Visit formulad.com for event information, tickets and to access the free-to-view event livestream