Achilles Motorsports Wins Formula Drift US 2012
Entering the last round of the 2012 Formula Drift season the Achilles Motorsports team was within striking distance for the championship. It was all hands on deck in Irwindale, CA as everyone involved in the team’s inaugural season was at their best and prepared for the task at hand. With the possibility of a championship hanging in the balance, nothing could be left to chance. And it wasn’t! With almost a full season under their belts, the Achilles Motorsports team was hitting on all cylinders.The “House of Drift”, also known as Irwindale Speedway, has a reputation for chewing up cars as its high speed banks and wall set-up tend to be hard for drivers to adjust to. Achilles drivers Daigo Saito and Robbie Nishida were definitely going to have their hands full, but the crew from Bridges Racing and Design Craft Engineering would ensure they had the best machinery and course set-up going into qualifying.
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The way things worked out for the final battle of the night could not have been scripted any better. Every single fan at Irwindale Speedway was on pins and needles anticipating what was to be the championship run of the night. The number 2 and 3 drivers in the points standing would be facing off to decide who would call themselves the 2012 Champion – Rhys the FD veteran vs. Daigo the US rookie.
Rhys led on the first run and the two drivers were in mirror like drifts through the entire course. On the next run the unthinkable happened! As the two drift machines exited the high Irwindale banks and entered the high speed switch back they were still very close to each other, but as they entered the tight section of the track Rhys fell out of drift, tapped the wall, and took himself out of the competition. Which meant Daigo Saito and Achilles Motorsports were the 2012 Season Champions!
This would only leave the battle for first place of the Irwindale event left to decide. The battle would pair up Daigo against Justin Pawlak. JTP had a strong consistent night, but pushed his car too hard trying to dethrone Daigo. He hit the wall hard and left a clear road to the podium for Daigo Saito and Achilles Motorsports.
Achilles Motorsports would like to thank every single sponsor, contributor and fan for their dedication and support of our team in our inaugural Formula Drift season. We could not have written a better story if we had the chance and are thankful to have had the opportunity to share our experience with such a great group of people. This championship has truly been a team effort and could not have been realized without everyone involved.
We will now enjoy our championship for a couple weeks and will then immediately start working on our game plan to defend our title. Be on the lookout for Achilles Motorsports in 2013!