**** GUEST BLOG – BY Nate Hamilton ****
Photos by: Corey Denomy / Video by: Corey Denomy / Enjuku Racing
Day 1
Driver – Nate Hamilton #144
Event – Season opener of the Premiere Pro1 Class of Formula Drift – Round 1
Location – Long Beach, California
– 7am. This is the first day of action, our team finishes breakfast, then meets at our trailer to get things started. Generally, mornings consist of setting up camp, overlooking the car. While the team double checks everything, us drivers get caught up to speed at our morning drivers meetings.
– 9am. Once the event is given the green light we will start burning tires. Drivers are allowed one 3 hour practice. The focus for me here is getting comfortable and being consistent. In the 3 hours of practice, we ran 8 laps.
– 1pm. Qualifying starts now! We have two opportunities to make the show. I ran into a mechanical failure on my first lap, putting all the pressure on my second lap. Having experience with this situation in the past, I knew to take it easy and make a lap happen with a safe run. I received a 75/100 landing me in 22nd position going into our main event.
DAY 2
Qualified: 22nd
Top 32 Battle: Hamilton vs Field
– 7am. Back to work!
– 9am. Open Practice – This is where our team is focused on my line and car setup. Am I driving the correct line? How can I better my runs? How’s the pace vs the other guys in the class? Are we consistent? These are the questions we ask often to elevate our results.
– 11am. TOP32 battle – Hamilton vs Field
This was my first Pro1 battle after moving up from the Pro2 class, I was set to battle Matt Field as he qualified 11th and I qualified 22nd.
With some corrections and mistakes on my end, it was clear Matt had the advantage. This doesn’t mean I was going to take it easy on my lead run.
As Matt was following, I did my best to put on a great show for the fans. Bouncing off the first wall running the line wide caused me to get out of rhythm.
Matt Field would take the win. I know I will meet him again and look forward to the learning experience that was, Round 1 of Formula Drift.
– 2pm. After we battle and get the results, we immediately look forward to the next opportunity to gain points and position in the series. As round one comes to a close I will sit in 22nd position.
– 7pm. Rigs loaded and we are rolling out of the venue. As I sit in the truck I remember.. I would not be able to make this program happen without a great group of friends, family, and sponsors. Thanks to Enjuku Racing for providing an awesome team to work with. BC Racing / Hankook Tires for stepping up, Vibrant / Konig / Competition Clutch and everyone else pushing to make this opportunity the best it can be!
Next Formula D event: Our Round 2 will kick off in my current hometown, Orlando FL. Until next time, Thanks for reading!
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Nate runs 17×9 et 25 Konig Hypergrams in the front and 18×9.5 et 25 Konig Hypergram wheels in the rear on his Turbo LSX swapped 240sx. Nate is a Konig Wheels sponsored driver and drives under Enjuku Racing competing in Formula Drift.
