Singapore, 12 June 2011 – Daigo Saito of Team Spark Motorsports joined the pantheon of champions, becoming only the third driver to take the much-coveted crown of the fourth edition of VIP Formula Drift Singapore 2011 Presented by Achilles Radial at the F1 Pit Building today.
It was a double victory for the team, with the Japanese champion and third-place winner Ken Gushi (USA) propelling Team Spark Motorsports’s charge to take home the inaugural Team Championship trophy with 183 points. Singapore is the first formula drift championship in the world to introduce the award for the best team performance.
Following two days of intense competition and volatile weather, Daigo showed consistency and the highest level of precision and car control, conquering the challenging track. Going neck-to-neck with Thai Saranon Pornpatanarak of Team M150 in the final face-off, the Japanese set the tone in the first tandem battle, chasing Saranon and staying mere inches from the Thai – drawing a huge round of applause from the crowd. In the second run, Daigo sped ahead to create an impossible gap for Saranon to match his competitor’s move, securing his first victory in Singapore with aplomb.
Recounting the competition, Daigo said, “Happy for the win as it is the first leg of the series, and I am happy to have gotten off to such a great start. It is amazing to be racing on an F1 circuit and the crowd really got behind Formula Drift. It was an encouraging victory, considering that none of them have competed in Singapore before. I am planning on keeping up my performance for the whole series this year with the Spark Motorsport team.”