The Formula Drift season wrapped up this last weekend with Round 8 at Irwindale Speedway with Konig® sponsored driver Patrick Mordaunt finishing strong with a good result in the final round.
Going into Round of 32, Patrick was paired up against Vaughn Gittin, Jr., one of the 3 drivers coming into the final round with a shot at the overall championship. Gittin came out with a strong lead run but Patrick followed with an equally strong run on his lead, resulting in a One More Time call from the judges. On the second match, Patrick had a strong follow and an excellent lead run but Vaughn also put down two good runs, leading to a second One More Time call. You could tell both drivers really wanted the victory and the tension was high going into the third match. Gittin came out strong on his lead run but Patrick stayed close on the big bank. On the second half of the bank, Gittin scraped the wall, ending his run. Patrick was able to avoid the collision and got the victory in one of the toughest battles of the weekend.
The round of 16 match up was another tough draw, with Patrick matched against points leader Chris Forsberg. Forsberg started off with a strong lead run with Patrick closing the gap towards the finish. Patrick then put down an strong lead, staying high on the inner bank at outer zone 2. Forsberg was a little too aggressive on the inner bank and hit the wall. Patrick completed an outstanding lead run to get the victory.
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Patrick had yet another strong draw with a Top 8 match against perennial contender Justin Pawlak. The first run featured a strong lead from Pawlak with Patrick putting in a good chase run. Patrick continued his trend of the weekend with another excellent lead run, and Pawlak was unable to follow, spinning out at inner clip one. Patrick was moving on the Final 4.
The day’s trend of very strong competition continued with Patrick set to go against top qualifier Dai Yoshihara, who had been on fire all weekend. Yoshihara put down a strong lead with Patrick staying close around the course. Patrick put down another in his series of strong lead runs but Yoshihara had better proximity on his chase run, giving Yoshihara the victory.
