Good morning from what I’m starting to believe is the ironically named
“Sunshine State”. Round 3 of Formula Drift season kicked off with rain
throughout the first practice sessions before tapering off for a dry qualifying
in the evening. Chelsea laid down a strong qualifying run securing P2 for
today’s competition and extended RTR’s streak of having a driver qualify top 2
in each round so far this season. James would qualify 10th and Adam 17th. Adam
will be the first RTR driver out battling Matt Field in the top 32 with Chelsea
facing Oleksii Holovnia and James vs Robert Thorne to round out the Top 32
battles.

It was an action-packed Saturday at Formula Drift Orlando that would see
Chelsea leave victorious! In his Top 32 battle Chelsea took a hard hit while
advancing but prompting the team to work through the halftime break, assuring
he’d have the best car to advance. A routine Top 16 win versus Chris Forsberg
would setup one of the most anticipated matchups of the season in the Great 8,
Chelsea versus James. The all RTR battle would live up to the hype with both
drivers on the door of one another and the fans on their feet watching Chelsea
get the win. Misfortune would again strike Chelsea in the final four with
Kazuya Taguchi running into him on his lead run forcing the team to use the
full 10 minutes allotted plus their five-minute timeout making repairs to
Chelsea’s car sending him out with just seconds remaining on the clock. He
would complete the remainder of his battle with Taguchi and move onto the
finals against Fredric Aasbo. One lead and one chase with Aasbo was all it
would take for the judges to declare a winner ending Chelsea’s wild weekend on
the top of the box!

The drama wasn’t limited to Chelsea’s run to the top, but Adam would
have some of his own with a close Top 32 battle versus Matt Field. The judges
would give it to Matt, but following a successful protest they would award Adam
an OMT setting up another shot at the points leader going into the event.
Unfortunately, Matt would best Adam in a hard-fought battle.

Chelsea leaves Orlando 2nd in overall points with James in 4th
with the midway point in the season coming up in just a few weeks in New
Jersey.

Chelsea, James and Vaughn head to Michigan this weekend for some fun at
GRIDLIFE Midwest.