FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 ATLANTA, GA – ROUND 1 | May 11th and 12th
“BREAKTHROUGH”
On Wednesday May 9, in the rolling hills of Braselton, Georgia, Kelsey’s 2018 PRO2 season of Formula Drift officially began by passing tech inspection for the new season. Held at Road Atlanta, the premiere drift venue in the country, the setting and weather were perfect for the next few days of competitive drifting and Round 1 for all the Pro2 drivers and teams. Team Drift Chick was ready to go and Kelsey was feeling good with the fixes made to the car’s steering working well.
After taking advantage of the awesome setting and scenery for some photo shoots with the new livery on the car, the crew got to work checking and making final adjustments to prepare the car for competition. Every fastener and wiring connection was checked to help make sure car reliability would not be a problem. With the Crew Chief declaring the car good to go, the team took the evening off, to rest up and be ready for Qualifying on Thursday.
Thursday kicked off with a short driver’s meeting. During this meeting, the Formula Drift judges explained the course layout as well as their expectations for the drivers. By the end of the session, the judges had clearly explained what was needed to attain a high score in the qualifying rounds.
Following the driver’s meeting, practice began. The drivers had a few hours to practice on the course while teams made needed adjustments to the cars in anticipation of qualifying runs. With the crew watching from their hot pit on the top of the hill, Kelsey put down a number of solid runs in practice with her spotter offering advice for improvement during each and every practice pass. With practice complete, it was on to qualifying. Each driver is given two passes to obtain their best qualifying score. In Kelsey first pass, she scored an 80. Pretty good overall, but the field included 30 talented drivers and Kelsey felt she could do better. On her second pass, she improved to a score of 84 which would be good enough to qualify ninth in the field of 16. Over all, the team was pleased with the first qualifying round of the season and looked forward to Tandem completion the following day.
On Friday, the crew again got to work and completed a thorough check of the car to make sure everything was ready for tandem competition later in the day. During this time, the car was also on display in the pits and Kelsey engaged with many fans stopping by to say hello.
Under the setting sun, a short tandem practice round began. After a few solid runs it was time for opening ceremonies. With a solid crowd of fans cheering them on, the drivers were introduced one by one. It was then game time.
In the round of 16, Kelsey was paired against the number 8 qualifier, Josh Robinson. Josh hails from Australia and is an awesome driver. In 2017, Kelsey competed head to head with Josh in the Orlando round, ultimately losing a close battel. Kelsey was determined to even the score. In the first pass, Josh led and Kelsey followed. Kelsey had a good follow run while Josh had some problems in the lead position. Going into Kelsey’s lead run, it appeared she had an advantage. In the second pass, Josh followed Kelsey. While Josh gave it his all, Kelsey put down a solid lead run. After a few moments to evaluate both passes, the judges awarded Kelsey the win. It was on to the Great 8!
In the Great 8 round, Kelsey was paired against Travis Reeder. Travis is a formidable driver and missed winning the 2017 season of Formula Drift Pro2 by just two points! But, Kelsey had been driving well, so an excellent battle was anticipated by all. Unfortunately for Kelsey, Travis’s car was a little quicker off the starting line and he created a gap ahead of Kelsey that gave him an advantage in his lead run. With Kelsey’s crew and spotter totally stressed, Kelsey calmly lined up for the second run. Kelsey took the lead position and put down her best lead run of the entire round. Unfortunately it was not quite enough and the win was awarded to her opponent.
Ultimately, Kelsey finished seventh in Round 1 of Formula Drift Pro2 competition, her best performance to date and a real “breakthrough”. Kelsey and the entire team were ecstatic and look forward to improving the performance of the car further in advance of Round 2. The next round will be held August 9 and 10 in St. Louis, Missouri when the team plans to build upon success.
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Kelsey is running Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.
