ORIGINALLY AIRED: 6/12/2005

Round 2 - Atlanta, GA

Episode #5007

Welcome to the second competitive event in the 2005 Formula Drift season at Road Atlanta in Atlanta, GA, where dozens of drivers would try, but only 16 could qualify for the tandem rounds. Since both pro and amateur drivers need to pass the qualifying round before they can go on to the top 16, some new faces made it in and some other familiar faces did not.

See photos from the event here.

Round 1 got off to an exciting start as drivers paired off and took to the track to decide who would go on. His Pontiac GTO finally fixed, last time's first place finisher Rhys Millen overtook Tony Angelo's Silvia S13 first off. Then, Wall's third place winner Casper Canul was defeated by Mike Peter's "Bubba Drift" El Camino and blamed it on Peters' slow automatic beast. Last time, top scorer Samuel Hubinette lost in the first round to underdog Robbie Nishida, but didn't let that happen twice when he overtook Ben Schwartz of Team Falken, who spun out in the first run and had engine trouble in the second. The first round also saw a duel between buddies, such as between Daijiro Yoshihara and Alex Pfeiffer, and a duel of youthful vigor against wizened experience as Ken Gushi beat out Seigo Yamamoto for a spot in the top eight.

Rhys Millen vs. Tony Angelo
Taka Aono vs. Chris Forsberg
Samuel Hubinette vs. Ben Schwartz
Casper Canul vs. Mike Peters
Vaughn Gittin Jr. vs. Kenji Yamanaka
Alex Pfieffer vs. Daijiro Yoshihara
Ken Gushi vs. Seigo Yamamoto
Calvin Wan vs. Rob Fleming

Round 2 saw more action and a bit more controversy as Samuel Hubinette faced off against Taka Aono in a set of matches that were so close, the judges asked them to do it again...and again, for a record three sets of runs. Finally, Aono had to forfeit because the engine on his AE86 Corolla was about to overheat from so many consecutive rounds. Team Falken's Calvin Wan beat 17-year-old Ken Gushi for a spot in the final four, Rhys Millen beat out Mike Peters, and Daijiro Yoshihara won over fellow Japanese driver Kenji Yamanaka.

Rhys Millen vs. Mike Peters
Samuel Hubinette vs. Taka Aono
Kenji Yamanaka vs. Daijiro Yoshihara 
Calvin Wan vs. Ken Gushi

Round 3 saw some of the best drifting of the season as friends and competitors Samuel Hubinette and Rhys Millen faced off against each other for a spot in the final, with Hubinette finally winning by decision. Calvin Wan challenged Daijiro Yoshihara but proved to be no match for Dai. Rhys Millen then battled Calvin Wan for third place, and won. In the final round, Daijiro was determined to beat Samuel Hubinette, but the "Crazy Swede" muscled his way into first place.

Rhys Millen vs. Samuel Hubinette
Calvin Wan vs. Daijiro Yoshihara

Battle for Third Place:

Calvin Wan vs. Rhys Millen

Final Battle:

Samuel Hubinette vs. Daijiro Yoshihara

Winner: Samuel Hubinette
Second Place: Daijiro Yoshihara
Third Place: Rhys Millen

For the full point totals and season totals, please visit this page.