Formula Drift Hype: Vaughn Gittin Jr Wins Round 4 In New Jersey. Fan Favorite Driver Exits Series.

Formula Drift in New Jersey is referred to as “The Gauntlet” and this past weekend it certainly lived up to that name.  The round was hard on cars, drivers, and judges but it was eventually Vaughn Gittin Jr who emerged victorious.  Vaughn’s win not only got him back on top of the points standings but it also cemented his place in Formula Drift for having more wins than any other driver in the series history.  While things were all fun and Champaign for Vaughn, there was a ton of internet drama and controversy for another driver.

In the Top 16 Chris Forsberg went up against fan favorite Forrest Wang.  During Forrest’s lead run his car slowed down while he was hunting some serious angle.  The problem is, his car slowed down so much that Forsberg ended up colliding with Wang.  Per Formula Drift rules whenever there is a collision during a battle the judges will re-watch the run and the driver that is determined to be at fault will be penalized for that particular run.  The judges deliberated and determined that the collision was Forrest’s fault because he killed too much of his speed too suddenly which caused Forsberg to hit him.  Forsberg was given the win (he also went on to get second place in the round) to the ire of a significant group of fans.  The internet seemed to blow up with vitriol towards Chris Forsberg and the Formula Drift judges.

If that weren’t dramatic enough, the next morning Forrest Wang announced on his facebook page that New Jersey would be his last round of Formula Drift competition.  Now, Forrest does not say that his decision is connected to what happened in his battle with Forsberg but one has to question the timing of this announcement.

If his decision to leave is connected to what happened then it may be time for Formula Drift to take a harder look at what happened and see if there are any changes that need to be made for the sake of the series.  We’ll try to keep up with this story as it develops.

In the meantime we want to know what you think.  Do you think Forrest Wang is leaving the series out of frustration?  Do you agree with the call the judges made in his battle against Chris Forsberg?  Now that Vaughn Gittin is back on top of the standings do you think he can hang on and get another championship?  Let us know in the comments or tweet to us at @MotorworldHype.

Here is the official podium results for the round:

1st: Vaughn Gittin Jr.
2nd: Chris Forsberg
3rd: Alex Heilbrunn