Fomula D Texas – ISC Suspension
A few weeks ago Allen with ISC Suspension had the opportunity to embed himself with Jeremy Lowe’s Formula D Team. For people who don’t know, Jeremy is sponsored by ISC Suspension and the only driver in Formula D currently running the coilovers. ISC Suspension is trying to become more involved in Formula D here in the USA, but ISC Suspension itself has roots from Formula D Malaysia with many drivers that have run the coilovers on their cars before. New to the US game, but not new to the sport! Below is a wrap up of Allen’s experience in Texas…
I arrived in Texas about an hour or two ahead of Jeremy and his team. Jeremy was driving from Florida to Texas with the teams Chevy pickup and their race trailer. I spent some time catching up on the ISC website and waited patiently for Jeremy and his group to get there.
Once in the truck I could tell they we’re all exhausted, they had been driving for 2 days straight and looked beat. We headed to the hotel for the gang to wash up before grabbing Dinner, and thankfully there was a Texas Roadhouse RIGHT next to the hotel that we were staying at. We feasted, and Jeremy, Brett, and I headed in for bed… meanwhile Jeremy’s father Mike went out for a beer. People that don’t know Mike probably wouldn’t find this that interesting, but if you have ever met Mike Lowe it plays right into his personality.
The next morning came by way to fast. The team and I grabbed a quick breakfast at IHOP and headed to the Texas Motor Speedway. Jeremy and his crew took the truck and trailer and began setting up for the next few days while I headed into my meeting for Media Hard Pass holders.
The media meeting was what you would expect, it went over the rules of what you can and cannot do and gave us all guidelines for where to shoot from. Right after I headed over to where the Pro drivers were doing Open practice and took a few shots.
Everyone was looking good, and extremely fast. The last Formula D event I had been to was in Texas and I was in the stands, this was my first chance to really get up close to the action. Jeremy had told me that the course was high speed but I wasn’t prepared for how fast it actually was.
The Lowe team prepped Jeremy car for practice and then qualifying for Pro 2. The car looked good, and sounded even better. Jeremy was cool and confident; very exciting to see. The last round of Formula D he managed to qualifying in first place but a nasty hit to a wall had broken his suspension setup and caused him to have trouble continuing. Nevertheless the team pulled together and Jeremy ended up in third place for overall standings.
Jeremy’s practice runs show just the type of driver he is, he’s careful but confident, cool but fiery with passion. Jeremy put down a few solid practice runs and got the car to the point he needed it. While going into his qualifying run Jeremy noticed the clutch felt odd, and when he managed to get to the starting the line the clutch went flat. Jeremy pumped the clutch up and was able to launch it but couldn’t clutch kick going into the track. He was able to use the handbrake though, and managed to lay down a qualifying run. 13th place wasn’t pretty but he had made it!
Mike went to work fast that night fixing the clutch, and by the end of the night the car was ready to go again. We headed out for a late dinner of Tacos and headed in to get some rest.
This was the big day for Jeremy! While most people were starting to trickle in to watch Pro qualifying and practice Jeremy was at work prepping himself for the battles coming ahead. After a lot of preparation and drivers meetings the sun was setting fast and the roar of engine could be heard as the Pro 2 drivers prepared to battle. Jeremy’s first battle was against Dan “Rapper” Savage who was currently sitting in 1st place. Jeremy was amped to get into the battle with his RX-7 vs a V8 powered RX-8.
Jeremy and Dan had a wonderful battle with lots of smoke and great drifts, and in the end Jeremy came out on top.
Video can be found here: http://youtu.be/LSSENMp4DSw?list=UUASEUcCx-5gy8fAxdf6x-XQ
Next up was Jeremy’s battle against Dan’s teammate Evans. He and Jeremy both made a few mistakes bringing it into a one more time scenario. Round 2 brought on the same time and they went into a third round, in this round Jeremy noticed a slight change in power that caused his car to run a little sluggish and in the end Evans came out on top. All three battles were great and the crowd was going wild! It was a great night, and even though Jeremy came in 7th he sat only 4.5 points behind Savage for 2nd place.
My last day at Formula D was wild, and also the most relaxing. I had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the battles with Jeremy and his crew before they got into Top 16. Jeremy’s team is one of the best things about his racing. They are all so kind and work so well together. Brent is an incredible spotter and close friend. Mike, Jeremy’s dad is so intelligent and knows so much about the Rotary engine. Jeremy’s girlfriend Katie is also so supportive and such a valued member of the team who keep them going. All in all my time there was amazing and I had a blast. Below are some of the shots I got of the other drivers, including Pat Goodin, Frederik Aasbo, and more.
Special thanks to Jeremy, Brent, Mike, and Katie for having me… I really appreciate it and wish I could join you for the final battle! I will be watching from home though! Good luck!
-Allen
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