Ian Fournier, Top 8 Finish at Round 7 Formula Drift Irwindale, CA

In the sport of drifting, there is good days, and bad days.Sometimes, things just don't go your way and no matter how hard you try nothing seems to go right.On other days, things fall in to place and amazing things can happen.

Today was one of those good days for Drift Safari, as Ian Fournier made a Top 8 finish at Round 7 of the 2010 Formula Drift Championship in Irwindale, CA. Depsite some engine issues discovered in practice, Ian came out with some strong runs, qualifying 26th in the Top 32 with a score of 60.3, pairing him up against Sam Hubinette.

Sam's car suffered an unfortunate engine fire that left "The Crazy Swede" unable to compete, giving Ian a bye round into the Top 16. 

Ian's Top 16 battle versus James Dean was cut short when Dean,leading the first run, backed the rear end of his S15 into the wall hard. He was unable to get the substantial damage sorted out after calling for 5 minutes, advancing Ian to the "Great 8" 

"Great 8" round was Fournier versus Takatori. Takatori took the first run but Ian wasn't giving up without a fight. With some sick angle, and a sick motor running on 5 cylinders, Ian pulled out all the stops to take the second run, resulting in the judges calling "One more Time", but Takatori took the win to move on to Top 4.

Sometimes you are fortunate to get a bit of luck, but luck alone is never enough. With the support of his Drift Safari team members, sponsors, and friends in the NW drift community Ian was aligned for success by being prepared. Extreme hard work, devotion to the sport of drifting, desire to compete at the highest level possible, and pushing the limits of preparedness on limited resources are all required to be successful. All these things came together to allow Ian to showcase his natural ability of car control alongside the top drivers in North America today. As he continues to hone his skills on the big stage, Ian's performance today shows a mere glimpse of things to come from this talented rookie driver.

Congratulations Ian on your Top 8 Finish!!!