VIDEO: Daigo Saito vs JB Top 16 Battle @ FD Asia 2012 Round 1
Below is my on-board go pro video footage of my top 16 battle with Daigo Saito!
FD Malaysia: Qualifying
Day one of competition was another very big day and we are making the most of every minute!
One of the really entertaining parts of the day is the autograph session! It was insanely hot in the sun with race suit on too. Being fanned helped but nothing could stop the heat getting to you! Huge crowds surprise me yet again for the autograph session!
We were on track for qualifying and it is a challenging track, particularly with the drop off on the first corner!
After coming over the drop off, transitioning though the heavy bump, then you try to hold it out wide through the first section of the course.
At the end of day briefing, it was very funny thanks to Max Orido wildly cheering everyone as their qualifying position was read out, from the first drivers to the top qualifier, Tengku Djan.
I am also competing in Nations cup, although I had to fly the Singapore flag as they only had 2 drivers so I got the call up!
I qualified 13th so I’ll be up against Ivan lim who I teamed up with in the nations cup. If i make it through there, I’ll be up against Daigo Saito! I seem to be able to find him early in the battle tree quite often, but never fear, I will do my best!!
FD Malaysia: Friday – Tech inspection day!
So today’s main task was pretty simple, get the car to the tech inspection bay and find out if you had read the rule book correctly.
(Should be enough tires!)
We decided to register and get the tech inspection done as early as possible so if we needed to fix anything, we had time to sort it out.
While we waited in line another S15 rolled up looking great and sounding a bit different…
It was Jansen Tan’s S15 running an Aussie LS1 that they had just finished building in time for the event. The car looked great and although it hasn’t got the massive power that a lot of the other competitors have with their 2Js, it of course has plenty of torque! And sounds great too!
It was then time for our car to go through the tech inspection. And apart from a couple of minor things, we passed! But of course, we had to return once everything was spot on.
So went about organizing and installing the front brake light, bigger fire extinguisher and the SFI spec roll cage padding they requested. Once all this was done, we got the final inspection done. Upon closer inspection this time, Technical director and Technical manager Ben and Kevin found that there was an adjustment we needed to make to the roll cage. The tools are now organized to do this tomorrow morning, so we will quickly sort it out first thing and be ready for practice and qualifying!
Another part of today was to have the driver and car photos taken that will be used on the live broadcast on ESPN Star Sports. (Live broadcast will be of the top 16 on Sunday afternoon). Daniel sorted out the car shot, while I was waiting for my driver picture to be taken.
We also noticed this crazy thing getting it’s tech inspection! Fortunately for Daigo, there is no horsepower limit… so he passed!
This car has only just been put together with final touches including wheel alignment and so on still being sorted ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying.
Another car I really like the setup of is Robbie Nishida’s JZX100. It’s really quite simple, but has plenty of power and will work well with the uneven surface here at Speed City. Robbie will certainly be a tough competitor this year. Last year he was only able to compete in a very basic SR20 180sx, so look out now everyone, Robbie’s got some power!
Now this car is certainly one that the locals will be cheering on, it’s the 2010 FD Asia Champion’s S13.5 built specifically for this series! Malaysian Tengku Djan is one of the most successful South East Asian drifters and after taking 2011 off from FD Asia, he will be fired up and ready to win!
The last official part of the day was the first drivers meeting to explain the schedule and general ground rules for the weekend. Tomorrow morning we will have another meeting to discuss exactly what the judges will want to see during qualifying.
After another very hot and busy day, we went back to the hotel were greeted with this awesome sunset across the lake.
Then it was time for some crazy hot Thai food! Followed by a very different, but very nice dessert!
So tomorrow is a super important day. It’s time for practice and the all important qualifying! So wish me luck, and I will do my best to keep you updated when I have any news on my facebook page Josh ‘JB’ Boettcher.
I plan to update you with some great news tomorrow! Stay Sideways!
FD Malaysia: Press Conference and Media Ride Day!
Today we got up nice and early so we could be at the track with plenty of time to double check the S15 and make sure everything was in order ahead of the media rides. After another great Malaysian breakfast, we made our way to the track. When we arrived, we were not expecting this!
Luckily this was not the tent our car was under, as we don’t have a car cover for the S15. But only 2 tents further up the line, there it was. Looking lke nothing had happened!
Now the car that was exposed to the elements last night wasn’t just any drift car, it was Orido’s RS-R Supra! So one quick phone call and moments later a rental car arrived full of the Japanese RS-R team! They quickly checked for any damage…
And once they found it was all ok, they moved everything to a more secure, less torn up tent area.
Then we checked over the S15 and took it for a quick drive through the pit area and decided it was ready to go!
We parked the S15 amongst quite an amazing line-up including Saito’s 250C (he spent about an hour fitting his smaller sponsor stickers all around the car) and Robbie Nishida’s all new Chaser. Now this is not the old Weds car I thought it was, but a spare JZX100 chassis Saito had that Robbie built up especially for FD Asia!
Then we were setup a little more presentably with the other cars that were to take part in the media ride session later.
The press coferences at these FD Asia events continue to surprise me with the number of people in attendance and the interest all of the media takes in the whole event!
I was asked a quesion again this time… I hope my answer made sense!
Afterwards it was time for some photo opportunities, inside and outside.
Then it was time to take some media personel for rides! This was not on the full track (which looks very fast!) but just a desgnated section of the track for the media rides. I don’t have pictures of this, but I will hopefully have some sort of footage of this tomorrow some time!
After a hard and hot days drifting, we were quite excited when Duncan from GT Radial Malaysia mentioned that dinner would be at ‘Malaysia’s best Satay!’. The satay mixed with Malaysia’s obligatory chilli bowl was amazing of course!
So tomorrow it’s time to see if the S15 will pass the more strict Formula Drift specifications. So let’s hope I’ve read the rulebook right!
(A quick pic of Saito showing Orido under the bonnet of his latest weapon!) 
I’ll be back tomorrow!! Stay Sideways!
Welcome to Malaysia! FD Asia Round 1 prep!
Well we made it to beautiful, hot and humid Kuala Lumpur today and we’ve been busy! After arriving, the first thing I wanted to do was get hold of the S15 and check everything was in order. With that as our main goal, when we found out it wasn’t at the track yet we found ourselves busy elsewhere while we waited. Our good friend from GT Radial Malaysia picked us up from the airport and helped us get everywhere we needed to go. First up we had a Malaysian breakfast at ‘Old Town White Coffee’…
Once we finished, we went back to Duncan’s office and came accross this awesome VW Sirocco at the workshop next door.
Then we decided to and check in, but via the track to see if there was any progress on my car’s arrival…
There was none yet, but we were greeted with this menacing sight!
Mr Daigo Saito’s new Lexus IS250C (the C means 2 door convertable) is even more staggering than last year’s Altezza, and in my opinion more than his current FD USA SC430 as well!
I mean who has seen another full on IS250 pro drift car? Let alone a 250C!
Now, there was only 3 cars there, but there were 3 of Japan’s finest 2JZ weapons! Including Mr Manubu Orido’s beautiful RS-R Supra being removed from the container and Robbie Nishida’s ride, the old Weds Chaser!
Eventually, after checking in here…
We had some lunch with Duncan, then finally went and checked out the S15! It’s always a bit nerve racking opening the container after your pride and joy just crossed the ocean, but all was well!
Tomorrow morning, I have been invited to be a part of the official FD Malaysia 2012 press conference! Can’t wait! And then straight after that, it’s time to fire up the S15 and take some unsuspecting media representitives for a ride on the super fast ‘Speed City’ circuit!
Until tomorrow… Stay Sideways!
The S15 is on a boat! Now it’s time to get this Sil80 ready for BATTLE!
Last week, the GT Radial S15 left Australia and is now on it’s way to Malaysia for round 1 of the 2012 Formula Drift Asia series! This year we will be competing in all four rounds of the series and we’ll be taking the S15 to all of them! I am so excited to be able to have this opportunity thanks to GT Radial Tires!
Since the S15 is going to be busy all throughout South East Asia for the majority of the year, we’re building a new car for the Repco Pro Drift Series and any other events we attend here in Australia. So we found this simple Nissan S13 Sil80 locally and quickly got it ready for Round 1 of the Repco Pro Drift Series.
