**This is the official recap written by and courtesy of the Mertzanis Racing team from Formula Drift Round 5: “Throwdown” at Evergreen Speedway, Monroe, Washington July 20-21**
With some rain hovering around Evergreen Speedway, qualifying in Seattle was going to be a tough challenge. Dennis managed to line up for run 1 before the rain came down, and he rode the bank wall, scoring a huge 80 for his run. He came in through the speed traps at 79.5mph (Speed 1 trap point – 65mph minimum for score) and 38mph (Speed 2 trap point – 35mph minimum for score) and landed one of his best performances in his career.
His second qualifying run with the surface being wet was not an improvement due to the harsh driving conditions laid out by the unpredictable Washington weather. His second run fell short at 65, but still put him in a great position for the main event.
The main event Saturday served up a whole new round of conditions and temperature meaning the team had to make some serious and quick changes. The KW Clubsport suspension had to be moved into different settings along with some alignment changes on our SPL Suspension parts. At last, a quick tire pressure change on the Kenda Tires and the car was ready for a Top 32 round against Daijiro Yoshihara.
The morning practice after these adjustments saw Dennis riding the bank wall so deep he was ripping sponsor banners off the bank walls and leaving them scattered around Evergreen Speedway. He even had some great tandem runs with drivers such as former champion Rhys Millen in his 2013 Hyundai Genesis.
The Top 32 tandem battle put Dennis up against the reigning champion in his Discount Tire S13 for one insane battle. In the following run, Dennis managed to go deeper than the champion coming around the bank, but held onto his car at full lock, no problem. He put together a great run leaving a huge opportunity for victory with his lead run.
Dennis once again went in deep into the bank and came flying into the power alley at full lock and throttle, getting ready for the tight turns to finish the course. All was looking fantastic as his earlier adjustments made the car look like it was going to be a victorious battle.
Tons of smoke was pouring out of the Fuelculture S13.4 as the Kenda Tires screamed through the power alley. Right at this point, Dennis Mertzanis was unable to rotate back with the car and wound up putting it into the k-rail, ending his tandem run early and resulting in damage to his front suspension. This ended the weekend a little early, but the Mertzanis Racing team is ready for Las Vegas now that everything has been replaced from the Seattle battle damage.
Images courtesy of Wrecked Magazine
