LAP 1   Millen leads and enters at `03.7 mph. Dai has a correction and the boss is solid

LAP 2  Dai leads and Millen is on him through 1, 2 and 3, but Yoshihara spins, Millen Wins!

Heat 2 Hubinette vs. Yoshihara

LAP 1 Hubinette leads and forces the V10 Viper into the entry turn at 101.9 mph. But Dai is hard on the ebrake and stays close through the entire lap. A very close lap

LAP 2 Yioshihara leads and he is sooo hot intio the first turn. Sam tries to stay close, but he bounces off the wall and come to a halt. Yoshihara will go into the Championship finalagains his boss, Rhys Millen Hubinette goes to the consolation round vs. Tanner Foust.

Heat 1 Millen vs. Foust

LAP 1 Millen will lead his good friend. Millen is very hot into the first turn. Foust cant match the speed but he does draw up on the exit of turn 2. Very clod, too close for th eLove Blog to call

LAP 2 Foust leads and his car control is unmatched. Millen loves speed and he struggles to stay with Foust. Millen gets the 2-1 victory and goes to the Championship final

Heat 4 Youshihara vs. Ueo

LAP 1 Yoshihara will lead and he snaps his initiation but Dai isnt fooled and he matches the move. Dai sits on the fender of Ueo through the entire lap.

LAP 2 Ueo corrects big coming out of turn 2, then Dai nearly spins off the final clipping zone. The most thrilling tandem of he day. The crowd screams for a ONE MORE TIME and they sway the judges. Andy Yen calls it for Ueo, but Ken Takahashi and Ernie Fixmer call for he OMT

Both teams are changing tires before they contest the OMT

OMT LAP 1 Ueo leads but Dai hangs on, still Ueo runs a more aggressive line and better angle on that run. Yoshihara elects to take a more conservative line

OMT LPA 2 Dai leads and he turns the horses loose in that V8 Pontiac. He goes in at 96 mph, Ueo drops off, but closes in turn 1 and almost touches.  Ueo has a big correction at turn 3.  Ysohihara moves on on a 2-1 score, he other vote is for a OMT

Heat 3 Hubinette vs, Forsberg

LAP 1 Hubinette leads and he blsts out of the start area, but Forsberg sits at the line as Hubinette makes his run solo. Apparently, it was driver error. Forsberg will take the zero but contedst the second lap

LAP 2 Forsberg has to hope Hubinette makes a huge mistake that would force a OMT. Hubinette gets the call, but one judge wanted a ONE MORE TIME. The other two go for Hubinette and the crazy Swde moves on to the Final Four

Heat 2 Foust vs Whiddet

LAP 1 Foust leads and establishes a big lead into turn 1. Mad Mike scrapes the wall, hard in turn 2.

LAP 2 Whiddet leads and is way too hot entering turn 1, he explodes into the plastic barriers, bounces back into the course, completes the lap sheddingpieces of car in Fousts face, but its a done deal for Whiddet. Foust moves on

Heat 1 Millen vs. Gittin

LAP 1 Millen leads and goeds 103 mph into the first turn, Gittin holds on but loses the rear end into the wall and double taps it, coming to rest against the outer wall. Thats it for Gittin Jr as Millen completes the lap. Millen moves onto the Final Four

Heat 8 Aasbo v. Ueo

LAP 1 Aasbo will lead this all international heat. Aasbo initiates very early and with about a 10 car lead. Ueo can’t answer. Aasbo completes the lap with style, Ueo hangs on

LAP 2 Ueo will lead but he has not shown the sped of Aasbo so far. Ueo establishes a three car lead but Aasbo closes in turn 1 and 2. Aasbo gets door handle to door handle a the final clipping point . The judges se mistakes in bot drivers and vogte ONE MORE TIME

OMT LAP 1 Aasbo leads and initiates very eaqrly. He rides the wall all through turn 1 adn two, Ueo tries to fight back but this one has to go to Aasbo.

OMT LAP 2  Ueo has his owrk cut out for him on his lead lap. Ueo’s entry is not particularly fast and while he is solid, ther just inst any chance he made up the difference from the first lap. Aasbo moves into the Great Eight

Both drives elect to take fresh tires before contesting thetwo lap OMT. We are in a five minute time out

Heat 7 Diajiro Yoshihara vs, Leighton Fine.

LAP 1 Dai leads and makes a phenomenal entry and is dominant through the lap

LAP 2 Fine leads and is solid but no spectacular and it would take spectacular to beat back Youshihars’s first lap. Judges agreee, unanimous for Youshihara

Heat 5 Forsber vs. Nishida

LAP 1 Forsberg leads but Nishida initiates first and get very close to Forsberg and stays there through the entire lap, drawing alongside, but bangs the final clipping point cone. His crew is takingstock of some damage from the contact with the cone

LAP 2 Nishida leads and gets a great lead and is dominant until he doubnle taps the barrier at turn 3 and spins. Nishida’s entry was 103 mph. Forsberg managed to avoid the spinning Nishida. Judges call it unanimously for Forsberg on Nishisa’s spin.

Heat 5 Hubinette vs. Djan.

LAP 1 Hubinette leads and enters at 103 mph, fastest of the day. Djan was actually going faster, but had to enter more shallow and that cuazsed him to give up the preferred line

LAP 2 Djan leas and taps the plastic barriers on entry. Hubinette gives the Malaysian Prince plenty of room. Djan entered at 101 mph that time. Crowd wants a ONE MORE TIME, and they get it!

We are in a five minute time out. Djan is checking his toe in after having tapped the plastic barriers, Hubinette is taking fresh tires.

OMT LAP 1 Hubinette will lead and he has speed and the preferred line as Djan is very shallow all the way through turns 1 and 2.

OMT LAP 2 Djan leads and this time he has the preferred line and angle. Hubinette goes shallow through turn 2. this one is tough. Each dominated their leadinglap in the extra set. Unanimous for Samuel Hubinette

Heat 4 Ruiterman vs. Whiddet

LAP 1 Ruiterman leads and Mad Mike closes in the four rotor RX 7. Ruiterman is solid on the preferred line and Whiddet makes a correftion in turn 2

LAP 2 Mad Mike leads in the screaming Mazda and bangs he rev limiter all the through he course. Ruiteman gives him space, doesnt challenge him, believing he has the advantage. But the judges wasn’t a OMT unanimously

OMT LAP 1 Ruiterman leads but Whiddet clses, too fast, he presses Ruiterman into the wall. The car is thrashed on the drivers side. Meanwhile Mad Mike soins at turn 3. The question will be, who initiatied the contact. But it may be a mute point as it looks unlikely Ruiterman will be able to continue. Awaiting word from the steward and judges

The chief stweard makes the call, judges concur. Whiddet moves on to the great 8. The judges say Ruiterman was already destind to hit the wall, so Mad Mike was not at fault. Ruiterman would not have been able to coninue anyway.

Heat 3 Foust vs. McNamara

LAP 1 McNamara leads and although he has at least a 200 hp advantage over Foust, Foust hangs onto the Saturn Sky’s bumper. 98.8 mph entry for DMAC. Grat line by both in turn 1.

LAP 2 Foust, the repeat Formula Drift Champion lads in his Rockstar 350z … Foust enters fast and strong, DMAc tries to hang on but spins in turn 1. Foust moves on as DMAC drives slowly around to exit the course. Foust moves on

Heat 2 Sherman vs. Gittin Jr

LAP 1 Gittin Jr leads and is dominant from entry to the final clipping point. Sherman hung on, but was unable to close on the signature Falken Tires Ford Racing Mustang

LAP 2 Sherman will lead in his Nissan 240SX under Retacks sponsorship, on Bridgestone rubber. Great entrance by both and Gittin give Sherman some room. Wild Bill is on his game but will the second run be enough to overcome Gittin’s advantage in the first round. It was enough to live on for two more las… ONE MORE TIME

Both cars will change tires to contest the two lap OMT. Teams report the surface here at the port to be very abrasive and most get just two to three laps on a rear set of tires.

Formula Drift regulars have notices the judging is different. No more numeric values between runs. The judegs rate the entire two lap performance of each driver to arrive at their chosen winner. Each votes individually, not collaboratively. So after the second run, its thumbs up or down, or a ONE MORE TIME

OMT LAP 1 Gittin Jr leads and makes another rocket entry in his 650 hp Mustang. Again, from the front, he dominates.

Sherman lost a power steering belt on that lap and has called for a five minute time out. Driving a drift car without powersteering would require great strength and control.

Sherman’s one man crew works feverishly to change the belt within the five minute timeout. Meanshile, Gittin Jr taks fresh tires.

OMT LAP 2 Sherman leads and enters at 99 mph, holds a great line. Gittin Jr moves on unanimously

Heat 1, Millen vs. Verdier

LAP 1 Millen leads and enters the first turn at 102 mph! Verdier is caught out and trails the Pontiac Solstice sponsored by Red Bull

LAP 2 Verdier leads in his Subaru STi but lacks the speed of Millen’s Penny Rocket. Millen is on Verdier like a glove. Verdier enterd at 98 mph. Verdier ran as a “B” team, out of Rhys M illen Racing” this year and credits Millen with his huge improvemt in 2008. Unanimous, Mille moves on

ROUND 1

Heat 16 K Ueo vs. Justin Pawlak

LAP 1 Ueo leads with the obvious speed advantage but Pawlak is aggressive and corrects on the ebrake entry. Ueo though pretty much controls the show

LAP 2 JTP leads in a car heavily damaged in a crash in qualfying yesterday, and he is fast and actually pull slightly ahead. Judge want a ONE MORE TIME

OMT LAP 1  Ueo leads and dominates through the entire lap.

OMT LAP 2  Pawlak leads but Ueo stays right on his bumper.  Clear advantage to UEO, he moves on, unanimously

Heat 15 Frederick Aasbo vs. Tim Marshall

LAP 1 Aasbo leads and gains a spacial advangage but both drives are inconsistent.

LAP 2 Marshall rides the door of Assbo through the entire first turn. Remarkable car control by Marshall. Judges say Aasbo moves on, unanimous decision

Heat 14 Kyle Mohan vs. Leighton Fine

LAP1 Mohan leads but has a huge correction in t1 but Fine corrects in turn three, Mohan corrects again at the final clipping point, then crangs the barrier after the finish. A very sloppy run by both. No scores are given between runs at this event, but the general thought is a double zero for the run

Mohan’s Mazdatrix RX7 is parked at the barrier at the exit of the course. The car is loaded on a flatbed and it’s unclear if Mohan will be able to continue. For the time being, the break is charged to the track. Once clear of the course, Mohan will be able to call for a five minute mechanical timeout

Mohan has initiated a five minute mechanical. The right front and rear wheels were broken in the collision with the concrete barrier. It’s not known yet if there is more serious damage

By The Live Blog’s clock, Kyle Mohan has less than a minute to appear at the start to contest the second lap of his battle vs. Leighton Fine

LAP2 Fine will lead as Mohan we are told, will make it to the line. Though the five minute period has expired, Mohan’s cafr can be seen at staging with about 10 people standing around it. Fine is at the line, waiting for Mohan.

LAP2 Mohan is ot the line, Fine leads and pussl easily away from Mohan. Mohan’s RX 7 is very late initiating and not making speed. No contest.. Fine moves on

Heat 13 Daijiro Yoshihara vs. Robbie Bolger

LAP 1 Dai leads in the Pontiac GTO and he is very fast into turn 1putting some distance between himself and Bolger.

LAP 2 Bolder leads but Yoshihara initiates first going into t1. Dai has to correct as he almost drives into Folger midway through the corner. Dai pulls alongside at turn 3 and the judges like his aggressiveness. Yoishihara moveson unanimouslhy

The wild fires plaguing southern California have certainly had their effect here. The winds are light and variable, sometimes blowing clean ocean air in off the coast, but at other times, the wind blows the smoke from the fires over the course. At times, ash falls. looking a bit like light snow

The format calls for a one hour break following the first round and The Live Blog will ake that same break to get the latest information from the drivers. So we will be dark for about 45 minutes at the end of this first round. There are four more battles to come in round 1

We are in a break while Grunewald’s Corvette is cleared from the course

heat 12 Conrad Grunewald vs. Robbie Nishida

LAP 1 Grunewald leads and is very fast, too fast, he goes through the plastic barriers and contacts the tire barriers hard, very much as Justin Pawlak did yesterday during qualifying. Nishida will move on as the Nitto Ties.Tanaka Racing Corvete is damaged from the contact. Conrad is ok, out of the car and saluting he crowd

Heat 11 Chris Forsberg vs. Garry Whiter

The event is on hold while the track crew clears jame Deane’s car and checks on fluids. An interesting note: James Deane is just 17 years old and last Thursday, Formula Drift organized the opportunity for the drivers to do a parade down the city streets of Long Beach. james participated, though he has never driven on the street and in fact, doenst have a drivers license!

LAP ! Forsberg leads and Whiter is right on his tail. Forsberg rides the entire trun 1 wall and Whiter neraly passes on the outside of turn 2

LAP 2 Whiter has a huge speed advantage a the entry at 94 mph, Forsberg is unabvle to close the distance. This one may be very close. The judges want a One More Time

OMT LAP 1 Forsberg leads and takes a long, wide entry and rides the outside wall, Whiter shadows the 350z roadster through the etire course. tought to call an advangtage, bu Forsberg had a nearl y perfect line

OMT LAP 2 Whiter will lead and he has given Forsberg all he can handle, and possibly more, this lap should tell though for this event there is no limit on the number of OMTs. Whiter leads and Forsberg hangs on, but Whiter corrects at the exit of turn 2. Judges say Forsberg with two votes, judge Ken Takahashi wanted another OMT, but the other votes call it for Forsberg

Heat 10

James Deane vs Tengku Djan

LAP 1 Deane leads and the two are very equally matched but the judges picked up a slight correction from Djan.

LAP 2 Djan leads and gets a two car advantage at the entry which Deane cannot seem to match though Dean’s 240SxNissan now is powered by and R34 Skyline motor. Judges are unanimous, ONE MORE TIME

The two drivers will exercise their right to a five minute time out for mechanical issues, in this case, to change tires. The surface here is very abrasive and most the competitors have been getting three to four laps per set of tires

OMT LAP 1 Deane leads and draws a great line around the long turn 1. Djan was not as deep in angle and cannot keep pace with the 17 year old Deane at the second and third clipping points

OMT LAP 2 Djan leads and Deane is too hot into turn 1. Deane is venting steam as he pushes Djan into the wall, then Deane blows fluids out the hood, and hits the wall. Djan gets the unanimous decision as Deane’s cafr is carted off the track

Heat 9 Samuel Hubinette vs, Ryuji Miki

LAP 1 Hubinette leads in the V10 Viper. Miki enters soft and with little angle

LAP 2 Miki leads and though he is fast, Hubinette’s obvious horsepower advantage keeps the Viper hard on Miki’s flank. Unanimous decision, Hubinette moves on

Heat 8 Paul Vlasblom vs Mad Mike Whiddet

LAP 1 Vlasblom in he BMW station wagon was the surprise number 3 qualifer yesterday. Whiddet was working a water pump problem. Vlasblom leads and makes serious smoke

LAP w Whiddet leads and his speed advangtage is evident in the four rotor Rx7. Vlasblom makes a big correction in turn 1. MadMike gets two votes, and thats enough to move on

Heat 7 Carl Ruiterman vs Luke Fink

Fink will not contest the round, driving a borrowed car, thenengine is blown so Ruiterman takes a solo run and moves on

Heat 6 Tanner Foust vs Remmo Niezen

LAP 1 Foust leads, has the faster entry, the preferred outside line and far greater angle

LAP 2 Niezen leads but simply cannot mnatch the speed or angle of he two time Formula Drift champion. not za unanimous decision, but Foust moves on

Heat 5 Darren McNamara vs. Ben Broke-Smith

LAP 1 DMAC leads and the horsepower advantage of the V8 sky is evident.

LAP 2 Broke-Smith leads but his car is no match for the Sky. DMAC climbs almost on the bumper in turn1 and then scrapes the wall perfectly. Unanimous decision, DMA moves on
Heat 4 Vaughn Gittin Jr vs. Marco Santos
LAP 1 Gittin leads and powers away from Santos leaving him in a huge wake of white smoke.

LAP 2 Santos leads but Gittin Jr is all over the Canadian. Gittin even moves onto the outside of Santos at the final clipping point.. Unanimojus from the judges, Gittin Jr moves on

LAP 2 Sherman leads and Takatori has a huge correction and doesnt recover. Sherman moves on!

Heat 3 Michihiro Takatori vs. Bill Sherman
LAP 1 Takatori should lead, but the car did not appear at introductions. Takatori does appear at the line and leads with authority though Sherman hangs in like a terrier. Takatori has much more angle, but Sherman stays very tight.

Heat 2 Eric O’Sullivan v. Stephan Verider
LAP ! O’Sullivan leads.. fast entry and O’Sullivan smacks the wall midway through the first turn. He drives off uninjured, but he car is damaged beyond repair. Verdier will move on to meet Millen in round 2

Heat 1 Millen v. Gushi…
Rhys Millen will make a single pass on his own as Gushi’s SciontC simply has not worked all weekend, so Millen will move on automatically

Michihiro Takatori seriously bent his Super Autobachs R34 Skyline during this morning’s practice session. The crew is working he problem and Takatori is due on-track for the third heat of round 1 vs. Bill Sherman

So if the refresh is a little sow, please bear with us as Yahoo will be working thoughout the day to provide all the bandwidth we need

Rhys Millen, appropriately driving the Red Bull sponsored Pontiac Solstice GXP will start from the #1 qualifying spot. Ken Gushi, who’s RSR/XM Radio Scion tC will be matched up against Millen, Gushi in the 32nd and last qualifying spot, not having turned a wheel so far this weekend.

Sixteen