Saito wins Goodyear Formula Drift Malaysia

Posted on December 20, 2010 12:27 AM

‘Lost the battle but won the war’ would be how Tengku Djan Ley must have felt at the conclusion of the Goodyear Formula DRIFT Malaysia 2010. Certainly hoping to repeat his 2009 victory, Tengku Djan – Malaysia’s top drifter - crashed out in the first elimination round as the second day of the event ran this morning.But while he had to sit out the rest of the day and watch Ser Ming Hui (Ah Fai) represent Malaysia and make it all the way to the final 8 contenders, there was joy at the prize-giving ceremony when he was announced as the overall winner of the Formula Drift Asian Championship. The ‘Prince of Drift’ had scored enough in the Singapore leg in April and in last month’s round in Thailand to take the title.


Winner Daigo Saito in his Toyota Aristo (also known as Lexus GS300)	Tengku Djan acknowledges cheers from the crowd for his victory

“It is a great feeling to have won the overall Asian Championship although it would have been better to finish with a win in Malaysia. The competition was of a very high quality and I owe this tremendous success to my team, sponsors and fans who gave 100% support to make this a reality,” said Tengku Djan,

The process of elimination saw favourites knocked out early, among the Daynom Templeman who had topped yesterday’s qualifying session. Being run in Malaysia – and in the heart of its capital city too – it was to be expected that the crowd gave the loudest cheers to the Malaysian drivers. Ser Ming Hui (Ah Fai) put in a spectacular and skillful drive in his Team Exotic Drift Nissan Silvia S13 to finish in the Top 8.


'Ah Fai' put in a great drive in his Nissan Silvia and got lots of cheers from the crowd. Even when he was knocked out of contention, they still gave him a round of applause for his fine effort

In the end, it was down to the final duel between Japanese Daigo Saito of TRC Racing in his Toyota Aristo (second generation of the Lexus GS300) and Thailand’s Kokae of Goodyear Racing in his 550-bhp Nissan Cefiro (first generation). Kokae, 34, had a very clean style and was a crowd favourite but Saito’s Aristo had just enough extra power to outrun Kokae’s car.

“I barely won every round and was very lucky to win today, but overall, I am very happy to win,” said 30-year old Saito who has been participating in such events since 2004.

Third place went to Ryuji Miki of Goodyear Sparks Motorsports who used a Nissan Silvia S15, followed by Rifat Sungkar of Prima XP Drift, also in a Nissan Silvia. Rifat also received another award for his spirited performance for the season.

The tight course running the length of Dataran Merdeka right past the clock tower placed high demands on drivers to keep full control of their cars as they drifted left and right and hit speeds up to 115 km/h. It was very clear that they were the best of the best from the way they slid sideways at arms-length from each other and took lightning-quick evasive action if a collision was imminent. Of course, there were still accidents that took off bumpers or bent suspension out of shape. But that’s part of drifting and for spectators, it was even more thrilling to be right next to the action.

“I am very pleased with the support and turnout this year, especially with 10 Goodyear drivers competing in this event – out of which two are podium-finishers. Our presence in drift, especially with this weekend’s course at Dataran Merdeka has enabled us to showcase the performance of our Ultra High-Performance tyres and Goodyear’s rich heritage in motorsports,” said Nasution Abdul Rahman, Managing Director, Goodyear Malaysia.

Ryuji Miki (Nissan Silvia) leads Daynom Templeman (Mazda RX7) through a turn in the early stages

These shots show the lightning-quick reflexes of the drivers in taking evasive action when a collision is imminent. Rhenadi Arinton goes into spin and Kokae is quick enough to flick his Cefiro away from Arniton's Silvia.


Body parts would separate as cars bumped into the concrete barriers but the drivers' car control was amazing when you see how tight and narrow the turns were and how close they slid round

Two views of a car going into a spin right in front of spectators.

A hard contact with the barriers ripped off the bumper of Wattanaporn's Silvia and spun the car around


'Ah Fai' (Ser Ming Hui) taking his Silvia right to the limit but his rear wheel later took a beating	Rifat Sungkar was the best of the Indonesian drivers, finishing 4th overall with his Nissan Silvia

Thailand's Kokae smokes Saito as they end their final duel with Saito scoring more points to win the event

Goodyear's blimp, seen at events around the world, was also floating around overhead at Dataran Merdeka

Day 1 of the event Read about last year's Goodyear Formula Drift Malaysia

Related article: Learning to drift Share this news with friends:

Looking for a secondhand car to go drifting? Check the MTM Database for advertisements, updated weekly so you don't call someone who sold off their cars months ago

Want go-faster or look-faster parts? MaxPower has lots of advertisements for accessories!

Stay updated on new articles at this website by using Twitter. No charge to register an account.

Want to make a career change? ... check out Job Finder for the latest vacancies!

The new Motorola Defy - read about it in Gadget Trader News

Did you know the Motor Trader website now has sections for Homes, Gadgets, Jobs and even Boats?

User Comments