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berniesrevolution · 6 years

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On the list of America’s irrational fears, Palestine is near the top. This is no small feat for a “country” with no actual territory and a population about the size of South Carolina. Despite its lack of an air force, navy, or any real army to speak of, Palestine has long been considered an existential threat to Israel, a nuclear-armed power with one of the most powerful militaries in the world and the full backing of the United States. Since there’s no military or economic justification for this threat, a more nebulous one had to be invented. Thus, Palestinians are depicted in the media as hot-blooded terrorists, driven by the twin passions of fanatical Islam and a seething hatred for Western culture. So engrained is this belief that the op-ed page of the New York Times can “grapple with questions of [Palestinian] rights” by advocating openly for apartheid, forced expulsion, or worse.

This worldview demands an Olympian feat of mental gymnastics. It can only be maintained so long as most Americans have no firsthand contact with Palestine or Palestinian people. Even the smallest act of cultural exchange is enough to make us start questioning the panic-laced myths we’ve been taught since birth.

Of course, the best way to discover the truth about Palestine is to visit the country yourself, though most Americans don’t have the free time or financial resources to do so (this is not a coincidence). This means that those of us who are fortunate enough to visit have a responsibility to share what we’ve seen and heard, without lapsing into pre-fabricated narratives, even “sympathetic” ones. We can’t fight untruth by telling untruths from the opposite perspective. What we can do, however, is report what we saw and heard in Palestine. We can try to provide a snapshot of daily life and let people come to their own conclusions.

With this in mind, here’s what I learned during a recent trip to the Holy Land…

The Palestinian doorman of the Palm Hostel in Jerusalem is a large and friendly man who insists his name is Mike. My fiancée and I are skeptical, as we’d expected something a bit more Arabic. We ask him what his friends call him.

“Just Mike,” he says, and taps an L&M cigarette against the wooden desk. He’s sitting in a dark alcove with rough stone floors, nestled halfway up the staircase that leads from the fruit market to the Palm’s small arched doorway. A pleasant, musty oldness floats in the air. You could imagine Indiana Jones staying here, if he’d lost tenure and gone broke for some reason. To Westerners like us, it seems too exotic to have a doorman named Mike.

Before we can ask him again, though, Mike pounces with a question of his own. “You’re from the States, right?” He speaks English with a thick accent and slow but almost flawless diction, an odd combination that is causing my fiancée some visible confusion, which seems amusing to Mike. I tell him that we’re from Minnesota, a small and boring place in the center-north of the USA. His grin gets bigger, which makes me self-conscious, so I also explain that Minnesota has no mountains or sea, and the winters are very cold.

“Yeah, I know,” says Mike. “I lived in El Paso for thirty years. Border cop, K9 unit. It was a nice place. Had a couple kids there.” Now it’s my turn to gawk, and I start to race through all the possible scams he might be trying to pull. Mike seems to guess what I’m thinking. “Really. I even learned some Spanish.” He scrunches his brow in mock concentration and clamps a hairy hand over his forehead. “Hola. ¿Como estás?Una cerveza, por favor.” He opens his eyes and laughs. “Welcome to Jerusalem, guys. Damascus Gate is that way. Enjoy.”

I don’t know why I’m so surprised he knows a handful of Taco Bellisms, or why this convinces me of his honesty. However, now it’s impossible to walk away. We have too many questions. The first one: Why’d he return to Jerusalem? Mike looks down at his cigarette, smoldering into a fine grey tail of ash. He flicks it against a stone and a bright red ember blazes to life.

“This is my home. I had to.”

Later, as we sip sweet Turkish coffee outside a rug shop in the Old City, it occurs to me that Mike was the first Palestinian person I’d ever spoken with face-to-face. His life story seemed unusual, but I have no idea what’s “usual” when it comes to Palestinian lives. I’d never thought about them before, to be honest. The world has an infinite number of stories, and the days are not as long as I’d like. It’s not like I’d chosen to ignore Palestine. I just hadn’t chosen to be interested in it.

Which was odd, because Palestine has been all over the news since I was a kid. There isn’t a single specific story I recall, just a murky soup of words and phrases, like “fragile peace talks” and “two-state solution” and “violent demonstrations.” They all swirl together, settling under the stock image of a bombed-out warzone as the headlines mumbled something about Hamas or Hezbollah or the Palestinian Authority. I remember reading about rockets and settlements, refugees and suicide bombers, non-binding resolutions and vetoed Security Council decisions. Not a single detail had stuck. I could feign awareness of some important-sounding events—the Balfour Declaration, the Oslo Accords, the Camp David Summit—but I couldn’t say what decade they happened, or who was involved, or what was decided.

For years, I’d been under the impression that I knew enough about Palestine to be uninterested in what was happening there. This isn’t to say I felt any particular animosity toward the Palestinians. But it’s impossible to fight for every cause, no matter how righteous, if only for reasons of time. Every minute you spend feeding the hungry is a minute you’re not visiting the sick. Life is a zero sum game more often than we’d like to believe.

As we headed toward the Via Dolorosa, the road that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion, I began to feel uneasy. The Israeli police (indistinguishable from soldiers except for the patches on their uniforms) who stood guard at every corner still smiled at us, and they were still apologetic when they forbade us from walking down streets that were “for Muslims only, unfortunately.” Their English was excellent. Many of them were women. They were young and diverse and photogenic, a recruiter’s dream team. But all I could see were their bulletproof vests and submachine guns. Above every ancient stone arch bristled a nest of surveillance cameras. Only a few hours ago, I’d been able to block all that from my sight, leaving me free to enjoy the giddy sensation of strolling through the holiest city on earth.

The road ended at the Lion’s Gate. Just as we approached it, a battered Toyota came rattling through. It screeched to a halt and a squad of Israeli police surrounded the car. All four doors opened and out stepped a Palestinian family. The driver was a young man in his 20s, with short black hair cut in the style of Ronaldo, the famous Real Madrid footballer. When the police told him to turn around and face the wall, he did so without a word. It was obvious this was a daily ritual. The policeman who frisked him looked as bored as it’s possible to look when patting down another man’s genitals. Soon it was over, and the family got back in their car. One of the policemen pulled out his phone and started texting.

If I’d made a video of the search (which I didn’t) and showed it to you with the volume off, you probably wouldn’t find it very interesting. The Israeli police didn’t hurt the man, and he barely made eye contact with them. There were no outrageous racial slurs or savage beatings. The only thing you’d see is a group of people in camouflage battle gear standing around a small white sedan, with a middle-aged woman and a couple of young girls off to the right. Unless you have hawk-like eyesight and an exceptional knowledge of obscure uniform insignias, I doubt you’d be able to tell “which side” any of the participants might be on. All you could say for sure is that the police wanted to search the family’s bodies and belongings, and the family looked very unhappy about it, but the police had guns and cameras, and that settled things. It’s interesting what conclusions different people might draw from a scene like that.

Later that night, after we get back to the Palm, I tell Mike about what we saw. He asks what we’d thought. “It was fucked up,” we say.

Mike sighs. “You should see Bethlehem.”

Jerusalem is so close to Bethlehem that you barely have time to wonder why all the billboards that advertise luxury condos use English instead of Arabic as the second language before you arrive at the wall.

The wall is the most hideous structure I’ve ever seen. It’s a huge, groaning monument to death. Tall grey rectangles bite into the earth like iron teeth, horribly bare, cold, sterile, a towering monstrosity. The wall makes the air taste like poison.

We’re in the car of Mike’s cousin Harun, who is Palestinian, but his car has Israeli plates so we aren’t searched at the checkpoint. We inch past the concrete barriers and armored trucks. Harun holds his identity pass out the window, a soldier waves us through, and a few seconds later we’re in Bethlehem, a short drive from where Jesus Christ was born. It feels like entering prison. I don’t say prison in the sense of an ugly and depressing place you’d prefer not to visit. I say prison in the literal sense: a fortified enclosure where human beings are kept against their will by heavily armed guards who will shoot them if they try to leave. This is what modern life is like in Bethlehem, birthplace of our Lord and Savior.

Looking at the wall from the Israeli side breaks your heart because of its naked ugliness. On the Palestinian side, the unending slabs of concrete have been decorated with slogans, signs, and graffiti, which break your heart for different reasons. One of the hardest parts is reading the sumud series. These are short stories written on plain white posters, plastered to the wall about 10 feet up. Each story comes from a Palestinian woman or girl, and most are written in English, because the only people who read these stories are tourists.

One in particular catches my eye, by a woman named Antoinette:

All my life was in Jerusalem! I was there daily: I worked there at a school as a volunteer and all my friends live there. I used to belong to the Anglican Church in Jerusalem and was a volunteer there. I arranged the flowers and was active with the other women. I rented a flat but I was not allowed to stay because I do not have a Jerusalem ID card. Now I cannot go to Jerusalem: the wall separates me from my church, from my life. We are imprisoned here in Bethlehem. All my relationships with Jerusalem are dead. I am a dying woman.

The flowers are what gets me, because my mother also arranges flowers at church. Hers is an Eastern Orthodox congregation in Minneapolis, about 20 minutes by car from my childhood home. That’s about the same distance between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, although there aren’t any military checkpoints or armored cars patrolling the Minnesotan highways. Until today, I would’ve been unable to imagine what that would even look like. The situation here is so unlike anything I’ve ever encountered in real life that all I can think is, “it’s like a bad war movie.” For the Palestinian people who’ve been living under an increasingly brutal military occupation for the last 70 years, an entire lifetime, I can’t begin to guess at the depths of their helpless anger. What did Antoinette think, the first time the soldiers refused to let her pass? What did she say? What would my mother say? There wouldn’t be a goddamned thing she could do, or I could do, or my father or my sisters, or anyone else. We’d all just have to live with it, the soldiers groping us, beating us, mocking us. No wonder Antoinette gave up hope. In her place, would I be any different? We walk in silence for a long time.

We end up in a refugee camp called Aida, where more than 6,000 people live in an area roughly the size of a Super Target. Here, the air is literally poison. Israeli soldiers have fired so much tear gas into the tiny area that 100 percent of residents now suffer from its effects. If they were using the tear gas against, say, ISIS soldiers instead of Palestinian civilians, this would be a war crime, since “asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases” are banned by the Geneva Protocol. However, such practices are deemed to be acceptable in peacetime, since there’s no chance an unarmed civilian population would be able to retaliate with toxic agents of their own. Without the threat of escalation, chemical warfare is just crowd control.

Before we continue, there are three things you should know about Aida. The first is that there’s no clear dividing line between Aida and Bethlehem, so an unwary pedestrian can easily wander into the refugee camp without realizing it. The second thing is that it doesn’t look like a refugee camp, at least if you’re expecting a refugee camp to be full of emergency trailers, flimsy tents, and flaming barrels of trash. The third thing is that the kids who live there have terrible taste in soccer teams.

We meet the first group as soon as we enter the camp. There are five of them, all teenage boys. One of them is wearing a knockoff Yankees hat. They’re staring at us, and at once I’m very aware of my camera bag’s bulkiness and the blondeness of my fiancée’s hair. A loudspeaker crackles with the cry of the muzzein, and it’s only then that I realize how deeply we Americans have been conditioned to associate the Arabic language with violence and death. The boys exchange a quick burst of words, raising my blood pressure even higher, and cross the street toward us.

“Hello… what’s your name?” The kid who speaks first is tall and stocky, wearing the same black track jacket and blue jeans favored by 95 percent of the world’s male adolescents. He’s also sporting the Ronaldo haircut, as are several of his friends. Two of the kids start to pull out cigarettes, so I pull out my cigarettes faster and offer the pack to them. Is this a bad, irresponsible thing to do? Sure, and if you’re worried about the long-term health of these kids’ lungs, you should call the American manufacturers who supply Israel with the chemical weapons that are used to poison the air they breathe every day.

I tell the kid my name is Nick, and he shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Shadi.” He’s carrying a rolled-up book, as are his friends, so I ask if he’s going to school. “Yeah bro, exams. We have three this week.” His friends laugh, and then engage in a quick tussle for the right of explaining that they’re heading to their math exam now, which is a boring and difficult subject, and I agree that it is, although at least you never have to use most of it after you finish school, a sentiment that earns me daps from Shadi and his friends, and we stand there giggling and smoking on the street corner of the refugee camp, though for a few moments we could be anywhere in the world.

My fiancée and I, both teachers by trade, start to pepper the kids with questions. Shadi says that he has one year left at the nearby high school, which is run by the UN refugee agency that was just stripped of half its funding by Trump. After he finishes, he plans to study at Bethlehem University. The other guys nod with approval, and speak of similar hopes. I ask them who their favorite footballer is, and they all say Ronaldo, at which I spit in disbelief, because everyone knows that Ronaldo sucks and Messi is much better, visca el Barça! Shadi and his friends break into huge grins, since few elements of brotherhood are more universal than talking shit about sports. Seconds later we’re howling with laughter as Shadi’s buddy makes insulting pantomimes about Messi’s diminutive size. A small part of my brain is loudly and repeatedly insisting that everything about this moment of life is batshit lunacy, that there’s no reason why I should be standing in a Palestinian refugee camp, yards away from buildings my country helped bomb into rubble, with my pretty fiancée and expensive camera, talking in English slang with a group of boys whose lungs are scarred with chemicals made in the USA, the exact kind of reckless young ruffians whose slingshots and stones are such a terrifying threat to the fearsome Israeli military, and the craziest thing of all is that here in the refugee camp, surrounded by derelict cars and rusty barbed wire and 6,000 displaced Palestinians, we are not in danger, at least not from whom you’d think. Here, in the refugee camp, we can joke around with people who speak our language and know our cultural references and actively seek to help us navigate their neighborhood. None of this is to say that Aida is a safe, comfortable, or morally defensible place to put human beings, but only that the people who live there treated us with such overwhelming kindness and decency that I have never been more ashamed at what my country does in my name. I tell Shadi and his friends to take the rest of my cigarettes, but they smile and decline.

“We, uh, have to go now,” says Shadi, as his friends start to walk up the street. “Do you have Facebook?” We do, because everyone does, and as we exchange information, I wish him good luck on his math exam. “No way, bro, I suck at math,” he says. We both laugh, and I pat him on the back.

“Fuck math. But hey, you’re gonna do great, Shadi.”

“Thanks bro. Fuck math.”

I hope he gets every question correct on his exam. I hope he goes to university and wins a scholarship to Oxford. I hope he invents some insanely popular widget and it makes him a billion dollars and he never has to breathe tear gas again.

We continue walking through Aida camp. The buildings are square, ugly, and drab, but the walls are decorated with colorful paintings of fish and butterflies and meadows (along with a somewhat darker array of scenes from the Israeli military occupation). We meet a group of cousins, aged four to 10, all girls, who ask if we can speak English. When we offer them a bag of candy, they take one piece each, and run away yelping when a man limps out the front door of their house. “Thank you,” he says, his face a mask of grave civility. Cars, all bearing green-and-white Palestinian plates instead of the blue-and-yellow Israeli ones, slow down so their drivers can shout “Hello!” We meet another group of kids, boys this time, who grab fistfuls of candy and make playful attempts to unfasten my wristwatch. We make a hasty retreat from this group. The streets are scorched in spots where tear gas canisters exploded. Narrow strips of pockmarked pavement lead us down steep hills and into winding alleys, and soon we’re lost.

This is how we meet Ahmed. He’s a tall man, about 40 years old, with a small black mustache and arms as thin as a stork’s legs. A yellow sofa leans against the concrete wall of the three-storey apartment building where he lives. Ahmed is sitting there with an elderly couple. He asks if we’d like a cup of tea, and although we’ve been warned about the old “come inside for a cup of tea” scam, we accept his offer. The elderly couple greets us in Arabic, and I try not to notice the large plastic bag of orange liquid peeking out from beneath the old man’s shirt.

While we climb the stairs to Ahmed’s apartment, he tells us that the old people are his parents. “They live here,” he says, pointing to the door on the first floor, “because they don’t walk very good. My mother has problems with her legs, my father is sick from the water.” He traces the pipes with his finger, and we see they’re coated in a thick reddish crust. “Here is the home of my big son,” he says when we reach the second floor. “He has a new baby.” We congratulate him on becoming a grandfather. “And I have a new baby, too! Come, I show you!” One more flight of stairs, and we arrive at Ahmed’s apartment.

It looks remarkably similar to a hundred other apartments we’ve visited. Framed photos of various family members hang on the living room walls, which are painted the same not-quite-white as most living room walls. There’s a beautiful red rug and a small TV. A woman is sitting on the sofa, nursing a baby as she folds socks. “My wife,” says Ahmed.

She speaks a little English too, and says that her name is Nada. She has a pale round face and long black hair. Her eyes are soft, kind, and completely exhausted. Yet if she’s annoyed or embarrassed by our presence, she doesn’t show it. She just hands the baby to Ahmed and goes to make the tea.

“I’m sorry for my house,” says Ahmed, cradling his son like a loaf of bread with legs. “We try to be clean, but…” There’s not so much as a slipper out of place, but I know what he means. “We rent this flat. And my son, and my parents. All rent. Before we have a farm, animals, olive trees, but now, we rent.” I ask about his job. He smiles and shakes his head. “I want a job,” he says, “I love to work. With my hands, with my mind. I love to work. But here, haven’t jobs.” For a second he looks like he’s going to continue this line of thinking, but he stops himself. “I help my wife, that is my job.” Ahmed laughs and passes his baby to my fiancée. “And he, he helps in the home?” She demurs while I protest in mock indignation. I do the dishes every morning before she even wakes up! Still laughing, Ahmed rubs his shins, and again it’s easy to forget we’re sitting in a refugee camp in Jesus’ hometown.

Then the baby wheezes. It’s a dry, scratchy wheeze. Ahmed squirms in his seat, looking embarrassed. The baby begins to cough. My fiancée rubs his back as the coughing turns wet and violent. Machine gun explosions blast from his tiny lungs. As an asthmatic, I recognize the sound of serious sickness. The baby writhes in my fiancée’s lap, struggling to breathe. He’s gasping and it’s getting worse fast. At moments like these, personal experience tells me that a nebulizer can be the difference between life and death. I don’t insult Ahmed by asking if he has one, because it’s clear that he doesn’t. All I can do is rub the boy’s chest with my finger, a stupid and useless massage. He kicks and stretches as if trying to wiggle away from the unseen demon that’s strangling him.

Nada hurries back with the tea. “I’m sorry,” she says, picking up the baby. She coos to him in Arabic and rubs his back, both of which are comforting but neither of which can relax the inflamed tissues of her infant’s lungs. “My baby…” Unable to find the words in English, she looks to her husband.

Ahmed rubs his cheek. “When she is pregnant, one night the soldiers come. They say the children throw stones. They always throw stones. So the soldiers shoot gas in all the houses. In the windows, over there.” His voice gets quieter. “And she is very sick. When the baby is born, he is sick too.” I ask him if it’s possible to find medicine. “Sometimes yes,” says Ahmed, “but very, very expensive.” For the first time, there’s a note of frustration in his voice. “Everything is expensive here. You see this,” and he picks up a pack of diapers, “it cost me thirty shekels. 10 dollars, almost. And the baby needs so many things. It is impossible to buy. I haven’t money for meat, how can I buy medicine?” He points to a plastic bag with four small pitas. “This is our food. One bread for my two sons, and two breads for my wife. She must make milk for our baby.” When I ask him what he eats, he holds up his cup of tea.

Somehow Nada has soothed the baby out of danger. His breathing is almost normal again, just a quiet raspy crackle. She’s still staring at him, her big brown eyes wide with worry. I don’t know how many times she’s done this before. I don’t know how many times are left before her luck runs out.

Somehow she’s keeping her baby alive with nothing but the sheer force of her love. I ask to use the toilet so I don’t have to cry in front of her.

(Continue Reading)

#politics #the left #current affairs #foreign policy #long article #long reads #worth it #Israeli Occupation #freepalestine #apartheid

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shieldarmoring · 2 years

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Shield Armoring are one of the topmost armored vehicle companies known for designing & producing Bulletproof toyota fortuner in India. Visit : https://shieldarmoring.com

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dynamic-defense-solutions · 2 years

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High Protection Bulletproof Armored Glass Company in Pakistan

High Protection Bulletproof Glass Company, Bullet Resistant Glass Price available for Armoured Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series, Land Cruiser 300 Series, TLC300, Armored Hilux Vigo & Revo Pickup Truck, Armored Toyota Fortuner SUV, Armored Prado, Armored Corolla Sedan, Bulletproof Windscreen, Armored Door Glass, Complete Ballistic Glass Set. Stock Available for sale in Pakistan. WhatsApp:…

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nailaache · 2 years

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2024 Toyota 4Runner Spy Photos Redesign

2024 Toyota 4Runner – 2024 Toyota 4Runner Spy Photos is a free car image for you. It is exciting to learn more about the 2024 Toyota 4Runner, given that it was created as one of the most beloved and also charming SUV ever created. That is not denied. 2024 Toyota 4Runner Spy Photos can be downloaded to your computer by right-clicking on the image. If you like this picture, don’t forget to leave a comment below.

2024 Toyota 4Runner

It’s hard to deny that the Toyota 4Runner is still one of the most charming co-owners on the road. She’s capable, she’s bulletproof – and, most importantly, she just looks cool. The problem is that it is the fifth generation – which entered production in 2009. It gets less than 20 mpg on the highway, and its five-speed automatic transmission offers half the number of gears the new Ford Bronco makes. It’s time for Toyota to give us an upgrade for the 4Runner; Fortunately, we should arrive soon.

https://toyotacarsmodels.com/2024-toyota-4runner-2/

#2024 toyota 4runner redesign #2024 toyota 4runner limited #2024 toyota 4runner price

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usedcarmania · 3 years

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All You Need To Know About Pre-owned Toyota Fortuners

Since its launch, the Toyota Fortuner has been a well-selling premium SUV. To this day, it remains a popular choice in the R400K category. The main points that attribute to that fact are the commanding design and the Toyota brand’s reliability. It stands on par with some of the newer models like the Honda CR-V. In short, it is a vehicle that is expected to offer bulletproof reliability. In reality, it does.

So does buying a used Toyota Fortuner for sale make sense? Considering that it is one of the vest SUVs in its class, it makes complete sense. So here we will offer some guidelines when you are planning to buy a used Toyota Fortuner. But first, let us take a look at the main variants of the vehicle.

Toyota Fortuner- Variants and Features

When the Fortuner was launched, it came with a 3.0-litre diesel motor and manual transmission. In January 2012, a version with 4-speed automatic transmission was launched. This was upgraded to a 5-speed transmission in 2013.

The current market model was launched in December 2016, which came with a redesigned cabin and chassis. A petrol variant was also added in the same year. In 2017, a Sportivo model with a sporty touch was launched. In September 2019, a special Celebration edition was introduced.

The Fortuner comes with a 2755 cc diesel engine and a 2694 cc petrol engine. The diesel variant starts at around Rs. 32.5 lakhs and the petrol variant at close to 30 lakhs.

Here are some of the key pros of the Toyota Fortuner

An imposing street present

Excellent build quality that leads to a long life

Both diesel and petrol engines are capable performers.

A spacious and practical cabin

The off-road performance is impressive.

Full range of safety kits and plenty of other features

What is the best used Toyota Fortuner model?

It is best to choose a Fortuner model that was released post-January 2012. These models came with some updates that improved the overall performance. Also, the front-end design was made more attractive. You can expect an odometer reading of 70,000 km or more from a Fortuner around eight years old.

However, considering the car’s overall reliability, this is a good deal that offers excellent value. We will advise you not to pick a used Fortuner that is over eight years old. You will not get a good resale value for such a vehicle.

In case you are looking to buy the latest model that was released in 2016, keep in mind that Fortuners have a strong resale value. Even at that price, the Fortuner will offer the right bang for your buck. If you are an off-road enthusiast, you can also look for a used 4×4 Fortuner.

Without a doubt, the Toyota Fortuner is one of the best SUVs you can pick from the used car market.

Info sourced from https://www.cars24.com/

#TOYOTA #bakkie #toyota fortuner

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indianauto · 4 years

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Ever since it first entered the Indian market in 2009, the Toyota Fortuner has dominated the Rs 30 – 40 lakh SUV segment. In its over a decade of being on sale, it has become the no-brainer choice in its respective category and sales remain consistently high. Owners love Toyota’s bulletproof reliability, domineering road presence, feature-loaded variants, and powerful engine choices

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shellarmored · 4 years

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#ARMORED #landcruiserprado Technical Details : https://shellarmoredvehicles.com/vehicle/armored-toyota-prado/ #bulletproof #ToyotaFortuner Technical Details : https://shellarmoredvehicles.com/vehicle/armored-toyota-fortuner/

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sciencespies · 5 years

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Theory reveals the nature of silicon carbide crystals defects

https://sciencespies.com/physics/theory-reveals-the-nature-of-silicon-carbide-crystals-defects/

Theory reveals the nature of silicon carbide crystals defects

by The Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences

Silicon carbide crystal model with edge dislocations introduced in places marked in red. A single crystallographic plane is presented at the bottom. The places where electric charges can ‘leak’ to neighboring layers are marked in yellow. Credit: IFJ PAN

Imperfections of crystal structure, especially edge dislocations of an elongated nature, deeply modify basic properties of the entire material and, in consequence, drastically limit its applications. Using silicon carbide as an example, physicists from Cracow and Warsaw have shown that even such computationally demanding defects can be successfully examined with atomic accuracy by means of a cleverly constructed, small in size, model.

Mathematics loves perfection. Unfortunately, perfection does not love physical reality. Theoreticians modelling crystals have long tried to include defects in real crystalline structures and predict their impact on the physical properties of materials. The models, based on the results of various experiments, have described changes in the basic properties of a material without explaining the real causes and effects of the occurring phenomena.

A new model of silicon carbide (SiC), built by physicists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Cracow, has allowed them to demonstrate that it is now possible to study crystals ab initio with such complex defects as edge dislocations and to explain their characteristics by processes occurring on an atomic scale. This spectacular result, recently presented at the Multiscale Phenomena in Molecular Matter 2019 conference in Cracow, was achieved by the IFJ PAN physicists in cooperation with the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Institute of High Pressure Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, both located in Warsaw.

“We tried to find the mechanisms responsible at the atomic level for lowering the breakdown voltage in silicon carbide crystals. Our ab initio calculations lead to a qualitative understanding of the problem and contribute to explaining the details of this phenomenon,” says Dr. Jan Lazewski, professor at the IFJ PAN.

Ab initio calculations have now a long history related to Nobel Prize for Walter Kohn and John Pople in 1998 (however to linear crystal defect simulations they have only recently been introduced). This term is used to describe calculations carried out using quantum mechanics equations, supported only by knowledge about the structure of the atom and the symmetry of crystals. There is no direct information from experiments in such models, which means that they can also be used to analyse materials that have never been studied or even synthesized before. Because of relatively substantial complication of the issue, so far ab initio calculations worked, at most, in the case of point defects, related to vacancies (missing atoms or holes in the crystal structure) as well as admixtures introduced into the crystal.

It was not without reason that the Cracow researchers used silicon carbide. The properties of this semiconductor are so interesting that in the past it was even considered a successor to silicon. Its band gap (the barrier the charge has to overcome to get from the valence band to the conduction band and conduct current) is almost three times greater than in silicon, the permissible conduction current density—twice as great, the ability to dissipate heat—more than three times greater, and the cutoff frequency of crystal operation as many as six times greater. In addition, silicon carbide systems can operate at temperatures up to 650 degrees Celsius, while silicon systems already begin to have problems at 120 degrees Celsius. SiC also has a high melting point, it is hard, resistant to acid and radiation. Its disadvantages include above all the price: whilst two-inch silicon wafers cost only a few dollars, the value of similar silicon carbide wafers runs into thousands. Low quality silicon carbide crystals are a popular abrasive material, also used in bulletproof vests and in the brake discs of the world’s most expensive cars, such as Lamborghini or Bugatti. High quality crystals are used to produce mirrors for telescopes and in high voltage devices with high resistance to temperature.

At the atomic level, silicon carbide crystals are composed of many flat layers arranged one on top of each other. Each layer resembles a honeycomb: it consists of hexagonal cells in which the silicon carbide molecules are located vertically in the corners. Each two adjacent layers can be combined in three ways. The multilayer ‘sandwiches’ with different layouts create so-called polytypes, of which there exist more than 250 in the case of silicon carbide. The group from IFJ PAN used the 4H-SiC polymorph.

“When modelling such structures, one of the main problems is computational complexity. A model of pure crystal, devoid of admixtures or dislocations, is characterized by high symmetry and can be calculated even in a few minutes. In order to carry out a calculation for a material with dislocation, we need months working on a high power computer,” emphasizes Dr. Pawel Jochym, professor at the IFJ PAN.

The problems with edge dislocations result from the scale of their influence on the crystal structure of the material. As an illustration, they can be compared to the problem of disguising a gap in a row of tiles on a floor. The gap can be ‘camouflaged’ by moving the tiles of adjacent rows, but the defect will always remain visible. Edge dislocations resulting from the lack of whole lengths or regions of atoms/molecules in individual crystal layers act similarly, affecting the positions of atoms and molecules in many adjacent layers. And since the dislocations can extend over long distances, in practice the disturbances caused by them include the entire crystal.

The most interesting phenomena take place in the dislocation core, i.e. in the vicinity of the edge of the damaged layer of the crystal network. In order to eliminate long-range effects caused by a single dislocation, and thus significantly reduce the number of atoms under consideration, a trick was employed: a second dislocation of the opposite effect was introduced. In this way, the impact of the first dislocation over longer distances was compensated for.

The SiC crystal model consisted of about 400 atoms. The simulations showed that in the layers of crystals, along the edge of the core of the defect, ‘tunnels’ appear in the form of channels with reduced charge density. They lower the potential barrier locally and cause electric charges to ‘leak’ from the valence band. In addition, in the forbidden gap, which in the insulator guarantees a lack of electrical conductivity, conditions appear which reduce its width and effectiveness in limiting the flow of charge. It was shown that these states originate from atoms located in the dislocation core.

“The situation can be compared to a deep, steep ravine that a squirrel is trying to cross. If the bottom of the ravine is empty, the squirrel will not get to the other side. However, if there are a number of trees at the bottom that are high enough, the squirrel can jump over their tops to the other side of the ravine. In the crystal we modelled, the squirrels are the electrical charges, the valence band is one edge of the ravine, the conduction band is the other, and the trees are the aforementioned states associated with the atoms of the dislocation core,” says Prof. Lazewski.

Now that the mechanisms responsible for lowering the threshold of the energy barrier have become known at the atomic level, there is a huge scope for experimentation. The proposed mechanism will have to be verified in order to be able to use it to limit the negative influence of the tested defects. Fortunately, there are already technical possibilities for this.

“The future will verify whether our ideas will be confirmed in their entirety. However, we are confident about the fate of our model and the presented approach to simulating edge dislocations. We already know that the ab initio model has proved its worth in confrontation with certain experimental data,” concludes Prof. Jochym.

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abedumlao · 8 years

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nailaache · 2 years

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2024 Toyota 4Runner Hybrid Review

2024 Toyota 4Runner Hybrid – The upcoming 2024 Toyota 4Runner will be redesigned because its current design is considered obsolete. Being fifth generation and outdated performance (an outdated 4.0 liter V6 unit with a 5 speed gearbox), the current 4Runner is seen as in dire need of a redesigned job. Let’s hope Toyota is smart enough with their upcoming updates.

2024 Toyota 4Runner Hybrid

It’s hard to deny that the Toyota 4Runner Hybrid remains one of the most charming SUVs on the road. He is capable, he is bulletproof and perhaps most importantly and he just looks cool. The trouble is that the fifth generation that which went into production back in 2009, is outdated. It gets less than 20 mpg on the highway, and its five-speed automatic offers half as many gears as the new Ford Bronco. It’s time for Toyota to give us an update for the 4Runner; fortunately, one of them should arrive very soon.

https://toyotacarsmodels.com/2024-toyota-4runner-hybrid/

#2024 toyota 4runner redesign #2024 toyota 4runner trd pro #2024 toyota 4runner limited

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usedcarmania · 4 years

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Toyota Fortuner For Sale: Buying Used

The Toyota Fortuner for sale has been India’s largest selling premium SUV since its launch way back in August 2009. The demand was through the roof and the company had to shut new bookings twice in the first two years itself. Even today, it remains the most popular SUV in its price bracket, outselling all its rivals combined together.

Into its second generation, the Fortuner today has a starting price of From R566 800.

It rubs shoulders with other full-sized SUVs like the Honda CR-V and the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. Available in both fuel types, this 7-seater is one aspirational model for most SUV car owners. This is primarily due to its strong brand recall, muscular and intimidating design and Toyota’s legendary reliability.

Profile of the typical Used Toyota Fortuner buyer A used Toyota Fortuner is often searched by those who have always wanted to own one but their limited budget kept this vehicle out of reach. Over the years, this SUV’s price has only gone up and this means it is out of reach for many. That said, the older generation model, sold till mid-2016 can be had for less than R400K, making it a very tempting option for anyone who has a budget for a smaller SUV like the Creta or the XUV500.

Given its bulletproof reliability and go-anywhere capabilities for the 4×4 model, a used Fortuner is also on the radar for those who are in the market for a used, dependable SUV. Those on a budget can still pick a 2012 model for as low as R250K post negotiations.

Key positives of the Toyota Fortuner The reliable nature of the Fortuner is a key strength. Just service it regularly and this thing will last for over 2 lakh kilometres without requiring any major expenses. Next is the sheer size and design that gives it a lot of road presence. If you want an ego massaging SUV, this is it!

The current model also comes with a modern and feature-loaded cabin and there are two engine options to pick from. Off-road enthusiasts will also talk endlessly about this vehicle’s capabilities off the road.

Another area where the Fortuner shines is in its re-sale value. The original model sold for about R450K on-road and if you want one (2009-2011 model year), you will still need to pay about half of that, even for a 7-8-year-old vehicle! The ideal used Toyota Fortuner SUV you can buy

The models sold post-Jan’12 are the best deals in our opinion. These came with minor updates including a better front-end design. However, given that most Fortuners are driven a lot, the common odometer reading for such a 6-7 year old Fortuner will be 50,000 to 70,000 km.

Buying older and newer used Toyota Fortuner SUVs Para 7&8: Older and newer cars. People buy used cars that are almost new as well as quite old. So someone who considers a hatchback at 50k kms may decide to go for sedan at 75k kms. So we need to cover all common ages that can be found in the used car market for that specific car.

Newer versions are also available in the market but command a higher price. That said, these will definitely have a lower odometer reading and in most cases, will still be under company warranty.

Used Fortuner SUV: Real-world Fuel Economy The Fortuner is a heavy vehicle and expecting high fuel efficiency figures will be unfair. That said, thanks to low-end punch (short gearing), you can expect over 10 kmpl in city runs if you end up using higher gears. The current-gen model is slightly less efficient with the automatic delivering 8-9 kmpl for city runs – again if the higher gears are used.

Out on the highways however, the Fortuner delivers 13-14 kmpl at speeds of 90-100 km/h.

The petrol Fortuner is even thirstier: owners have reported as low as 6-7kmpl for city runs with about 10-11 kmpl on open roads.

Maintenance and Service Tips for a Used Toyota Fortuner

For a premium vehicle like the Fortuner, given that regular servicing isn’t too expensive, we say stick to an authorized workshop. Even more so if the car is under warranty.

Article sourced from: https://www.cartoq.com/

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usdrift · 6 years

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JAMES DEANE IS CROWNED 2018 FORMULA DRIFT PRO CHAMPION IN THRILLING SEASON FINALE

As Formula DRIFT returned to Los Angeles for the season finale, drivers, teams, fans and the series organizers were delighted to be back at Irwindale Speedway – the House of Drift. With only the Auto Cup decided at the previous round when Toyota amassed enough points to claim the title, there’s was everything to play. By Saturday evening we would all know the names of the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Champion as well as the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Champion, Rookie of the Year and the Tire Cup winner.

In what has been one of the closest season’s in Formula DRIFT history, it was as if Hollywood had scripted the most exciting event possible for the fans. There was drama in qualifying, unexpected lightning storms and title chasers watching from the sidelines as the action unfolded. This was, without doubt, the most exciting Formula DRIFT weekend ever witnessed in the series’ 15-year history.

PRO QUALIFYING With so much on the line, qualifying for the final round of the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship was guaranteed to be intense. The 2017 FD championJames Deane (Ireland) had a 40-point lead and his Worthouse / Falken Tire Nissan Silvia S15 had been virtually bulletproof all season. However, second place Fredric Aasbo (Norway), the 2016 FD champion driving the Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire Toyota Corolla, wasn’t going down without a fight.

Qualifying started relatively slowly until 2013 FD champion Michael Essa (USA) took to the track in his Essa Autosport / Achilles Radial BMW M3. He committed early to the course and stayed on the power throughout, earning 93 points from the judges and cheers from the knowledgeable crowd.

Essa would soon be eclipsed by Ryan Tuerck (USA) in the Ryan Tuerck Racing / Gumout / Black Magic / Nexen Tire Toyota 86 who scored 96 points with what appeared to be a perfect run. At least, that’s what everybody thought until Piotr Wiecek (Poland) in the second Worthouse / Falken Tire Nissan Silvia S15 put in a text book run and scored 98 points. With the tension escalating, Aasbo pulled up to the start line. He had a clean run but didn’t attack the course with the same vigor. He was awarded 94 points and would soon regret his conservative approach when Deane put up another 98-point run to drop the Norwegian to fourth.

In the second qualifying runs, rookie Federico Sceriffo (Italy) in the FFF Drifting Department Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Drift Spec “Fiorella” would stray offline and collide with the wall as he attempted to transition onto the banking. The impact was hard enough to damage the rear suspension and break a wheel. Fortunately, his first run was good enough to ensure he qualified 24th.

The top 15 drivers would all score 90 points or above as the 2018 championship continued to be one of the closest ever. Essa improved his score to 95, matched by Chris Forsberg (USA) in the NOS Energy Drink Nissan 370Z on Nexen Tires. Aasbo also improved to 96 points but 2011 FD ChampionDaijiro Yoshihara (Japan) in the Turn 14 Distribution / Falken Tire Subaru BRZ put in a phenomenal drive to score 97 points. It put Dai in third position behind Wiecek, who would concede to Deane after the Irishman set the stadium ablaze with an almost perfect 99-point score on the final run of the day. And with that he put the series organizers on notice to start engraving his name on the championship trophy.

Seeming to increase Deane’s advantage was the number of drivers who failed to qualify. With Ryan Litterall (USA), Kyle Mohan (USA) and rookie Kevin Lawrence (USA) being excluded, the top five qualifiers got bye rounds in the Top 32 heats. This made Aasbo’s hill even steeper to climb as it ensured Deane would get into the Sweet 16 at the very least, receiving additional points even if he failed to continue – a scenario few could imagine.

PRO HEATS The rain that impacted the Pro 2 championship runoff the night before greeted the Pro teams and spectators on Saturday morning. The forecast suggested it would move away before the main event but the schedule was reshuffled to help the track officials dry the racing surface before competition began.

The Top 32 would be the appetizer for the entrée to follow and saw some early retirements. Matt Field (USA) in the Wish / Borla / Falken Tire Chevrolet Corvette, for example, took a five-minute Technical Timeout before his first run against Forrest Wang (USA) in the Vapetasia / Achilles Radial / NRG Innovations Nissan S15. Field would take the start but retire early as a result of mechanical gremlins, handing the victory to Wang.

The 2009, 2014 and 2016 FD Champion, Chris Forsberg (USA) in the NOS Energy Drink Nissan 370Z on Nexen Tires, would also experience technical difficulty. Engine problems had prompted the team to drill out the nitrous nozzles, injecting a greater but unknown quantity of nitrous oxide into his engine. He would publicly admit his mission to retain the original “Z” engine was over and he’d investigate a new powerplant for 2019. In the meantime, he pushed the car hard on the first run against Matt Coffman (USA) in the Coffman Racing / Thunderbolt Racing Fuel / Achilles Radial Nissan 240SX S13. The lack of power presented itself in the transitions and Forsberg took a Technical Timeout before the second run, in which he’d spin at the final clipping point to give Coffman the win.

Michael Essa set a blistering pace on his first run against fellow BMW driver Faruk Kugay (USA) in the Wreckless Racing E92 BMW. Kugay struggled to get close to Essa on the first run so left the start line on the second run with extra gusto. Unfortunately, he hit the wall at the top of the first banking, causing Essa to lift and follow Kugay into the wall, hitting the front corner and then the rear. Even with Essa on a flatbed, he was given the win because Kugay was adjudged to have created an “unchaseable lead.” In other words, his collision meant his run was incomplete and Essa’s reaction after the fact was inconsequential. However, it remained to be seen whether Essa’s BMW could be fixed in time for the Sweet 16 runoffs.

With all the attention focused on who would become the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Champion, six drivers were in their own battle for Rookie of the Year. The fight had come down to Matt Vankirk (USA) in the Driftmatic Nissan 240SX and Dirk Stratton (USA) driving the Lingenfelter Performance / Achilles Radial / Stratton Chevrolet Corvette C6.

In the Top 32, Vankirk would line up first against 2010 FD Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr in the Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR. Despite a valiant effort, Vankirk couldn’t match Gittin Jr’s experience and would go no further.

Stratton faced Jeff Jones (USA) in the Doc / Falken Tire Nissan 370Z. It was Stratton’s first time on the Irwindale Speedway track and he drove hard to give the judges a difficult decision. However, it went to Stratton who claimed Rookie of the Year by two points over Vankirk. Following the Top 32, Formula DRIFT traditionally takes a short break, allowing teams to address any damage incurred. The action recommences with US Air Force inductees being sworn in. The national anthem is played, and at Irwindale this was a recording of Kelsey Quayle’s beautiful rendition in honor of the Falken Tire team member who tragically lost her life a few days earlier. It was followed by a spectacular fireworks display before the cars returned to the track. With the Rookie title settled, the Pro championship could be decided in the Sweet 16 heats. Aasbo had a mathematical chance of clinching the 2018 title if he came in first place and Deane was knocked out of the Top 16 – something that hadn’t happened to Deane since FD Orlando 2017, which was ironically the year he won his first Formula DRIFT championship. Deane had been on fire in qualifying and expectations were high for him to win his Sweet 16 round and subsequently the title by beating Forrest Wang (USA) in the Vapetasia / Achilles Radial / NRG Innovations Nissan S15. However, Wang was reading from a different script. Both drivers were on maximum attack, with Wang getting great proximity to the champion-elect on the first run. On the second run, Deane struggled to initiate his drift into the first banking and lost ground to Wang. A collective gasp could be heard over the screaming engines below as the unthinkable unfolded.

It didn’t take long for the judges to award Wang the win and eliminate Deane. It would emerge he had a power steering issue, which explains the outcome and the huge upset. The result made the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship Aasbo’s to lose.

The tension was turned to 11 as Aasbo pulled up to the start line against Jhonnattan Castro (Dominican Republic) in the GPP Toyota Racing / Falken Tire Toyota 86. Both drivers gave it everything in a round that was almost too close to call. However, the judges gave the win to Aasbo by virtue of a single mistake by Castro. This was typical of the 2018 season – there were no easy rounds, every driver stepped up their game, producing incredible competition.

This was exemplified by the Sweet 16 matchup between third-placed Wiecek in Deane’s Worthouse sister car. Wiecek was coming off a win at the previous round in Texas and faced Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis (Lithuania) in the Falken Tires / Maxxoil / Drifz Wheels Nissan S14. He had qualified 15th but wasn’t about to be intimidated. Instead, he pushed Wiecek hard, with both drivers contacting the walls in their effort to dominate. It seemed too close to call but the crowd was expecting Wiecek to reach the final against Aasbo. However, the judge’s decision went to Odi after they reviewed the live drone footage and found the Pole had dropped back slightly on his chase run.

By this point people were fainting in the grandstands and grown men were crying but the action continued. Gittin Jr would narrowly beat Coffman despite being slow to initiate on his chase run, but the speed of his first meant he got the decision.

Yoshihara would have a dramatic round against Stratton, with the 2018 Rookie of the Year pushing hard and brushing the wall on the first run. This would knock him into Dai, damaging the BRZ. After a short break to check the car, Stratton would again hit the wall on his second run, allowing Yoshihara’s unflustered driving style to win the round.

In the Great 8, Wang beat Kenshiro Gushi (Japan) after his GPP Toyota Racing / Falken Tire Toyota 86 was forced to retire from the second run with mechanical issues. Aasbo would defeat Dean Kearney (Ireland) in the Oracle Lighting / Achilles Tire Dodge Viper after two runs where the Norwegian failed to put a tire wrong.

The intensity jumped up another notch when Gittin Jr faced Odi. The pair was incredibly close through the first banking, so close that Gittin Jr’s rear bumper was knocked off by Odi’s front bumper as they maneuvered for the first transition point. With bodywork flying, the Mustang’s bumper went under Odi’s front wheels, causing him to spin. Gittin Jr stumbled but was able to gather it up and continue. The pair went back at it on the second run but the Ford driver had done enough to win.

Earlier in the evening, Vaughn had announced, “This has been the worst season in my Formula DRIFT career,” but he was driving hard and intended to reverse his fortunes. Meanwhile Deane told the crowd, “It’s incredibly difficult to watch this from the sidelines but Fredric is driving so well. I think he deserves to be Champion if he can withstand all this pressure,” which is typical of the constantly understated Irishman.

In the final Great 8 heat, Yoshihara would be drawn against Chelsea Denofa (USA) in the BC Racing / Nitto Tire / Ford Performance Mustang RTR. This would be a hard scrap, with the judges calling for OMT as both drivers maintained excellent proximity. Unfortunately, Dai’s car continued to be battered by his opponents and on the fourth run he was unable to keep pace with Denofa, relinquishing the win.

Stepping up to the Final Four, Wang would meet Aasbo as the crowd was whipped into a frenzy. Wang drove hard but Aasbo was in control, making no mistakes and reaching the Final. It seemed impossible to believe at the start of the day, but who would he face?

His opponent would be in a Ford Mustang RTR, but would it be driven by 2010 FD Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr or teammate Chelsea Denofa? With identical machinery and neither driver wanting to take prisoners, the deafening V8 bellow was only broken by gasps as Denofa hit Gittin Jr’s rear bumper in the first transition. Both drivers were able to continue but it meant Chelsea would have to be faultless on the second run. Unable to squeeze out an advantage, the decision went to Gittin Jr and the Final was decided.

With his car under assault, Gittin Jr returned to the pits for hasty repairs to his Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR. The alternator was robbed from his teammate and rear bodywork was replaced. With the minutes ticking past, Aasbo had time to collect himself and head to the start line in his Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire Toyota Corolla.

When the lights blinked, the two champions didn’t disappoint. Aasbo’s smooth driving was perfectly matched by Gittin Jr’s aggression, leaving nothing between them. The judges called for “One More Time” to the delight of the capacity crowd who were on their feet. They ran two more times but still couldn’t be separated. The judges again needed them to run “One More Time” before they could reach a decision.

The fifth run was a repeat of the previous four, with both drivers fully committed and inseparable. By the sixth they were getting tired, adrenaline was running low and the cars were hot. Both brushed the wall on the second banking and had to correct. Gittin Jr was judged to have recovered better and took the call. The worst year of his career turned over a new leaf, he was the Formula DRIFT Irwindale winner.

And James Deane, who watched 30 rounds from the pit wall, was the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Champion. It was an incredible result that represented a miniscule four-point lead over Fredric Aasbo in one of the closest finishes in series history. He becomes only the second FD driver to win consecutive titles since Tanner Foust in 2007 and 2008.

“This has been the most ridiculous night of my life. It was so intense,” said a stunned Deane. “I had 100 percent faith in Fredric to go all the way. I have so much respect for what he did because this track is so hard to drive without any pressure, and he almost made it. I also have so much respect for Vaughn. He drove so well and was amazing to watch. I put years on my life by watching tonight but it was so entertaining. All the FD drivers have really upped their level and I can’t even imagine what next season will be like because the level is getting ridiculous.”

Following Deane’s trophy celebrations, FD Irwindale winner, Gittin Jr, addressed the crowd, “I’ve been doing this for 15 years because all the teams continue to push and make it a constant challenge. The fans are amazing and bring such great energy every time we’re on the track. I’m so grateful to all of them and the teams. I’m also extremely grateful to our team because there’s something humbling about our fall but we’ve made a lot of changes and continued to fight. This win represents how we keep fighting. I’m extremely proud of Chelsea who has added a lot to the team. And Fredric – we had some epic battles tonight. And congratulations to James and his entire team – I’m looking forward to battling with you next year.”

Fredric Aasbo looked back at a whirlwind season: “It’s been an incredible night. We’ve fought really hard all year. I’ve been through the entire spectrum in Formula DRIFT from being a nobody to a rookie, a contender, champion and now a veteran of the sports. But we went back to the drawing board last year and built a new car because we realized we needed to be better. I practiced on the frozen lakes at home and Steph [Papadakis] built an incredible car. Thanks to all our sponsors, and the team who made me go back out there and take on this badass (Deane), and to all the fans.”

In addition to the 2018 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship and Rookie of the Year, the evening also decided the 2018 Formula DRIFT Tire Cup, which was won by Falken Tire. They join Toyota, which took the 2018 Formula DRIFT Auto Cup at the previous round.

As the dust settled on the evening’s intense competition, we caught up with Formula DRIFT president, Jim Liaw to get his final thoughts for the season. “Tonight was bananas. You just couldn’t write this degree of drama and excitement into an event. The competitors were so intense and it came down to the final run of the final round in our 15th season. There was such great driving all weekend in both classes and it’s left everybody involved in the sport and all the fans looking forward to Long Beach 2019 when it all starts again!”

PRO 2 QUALIFYING There was only one story everybody was talking about after the final qualifying session of the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Championship: Points leader Travis Reeder (USA) failed to qualify in his Achilles Radial Nissan 240SX!

With a 40-point lead over second place Dylan Hughes (USA) in the Advance Auto Parts / Nexen Tire Nissan 240SX, Reeder had been favoriting to take the title coming off two consecutive wins at the previous rounds in St Louis and Texas. However, Reeder’s qualifying performance was deemed suboptimal by the series judges, who scored him 71 and 65 points for his first and second qualifying runs, respectively.

With 26 drivers competing at the Irwindale round of the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Championship but only 16 eligible for the heats, Reeder would finish in a lowly 22nd position and take himself out of contention.

“We struggled with car set up,” a disappointed Reeder explained. “I like to have lots of grip but the car was too tight for the banked track. With nine laps of practice we couldn’t take the grip out fast enough and I didn’t want to make a huge change and risk wrecking the car. I tried to drive through the problem and get the seat time but I’m bummed because this was the first time I’d ever failed to qualify for a drift event.”

He was almost followed into ignominy by Hughes, who qualified 15th, squeaking into the Top 16 but giving himself the best chance of winning the 2018 Pro 2 title.

Star of Irwindale qualification was Garrett Denton (USA) in the Koruworks / Nexen Tire Nissan S14. He finished on top by virtue of 94 points from the judges for his first run. He was followed by Crick Filippi (USA) driving the Fitzgerald Glider Kits / Nexen Tire USA Nissan S13 who scored 88 points. This was a sizable gap from Denton, giving him a psychological advantage, if nothing else.

Third place went to Brody Goble (Canada) in the Frankenstein Speed & Custom / Achilles Radial Nissan S14.75. He was followed by Sebastien Gauthier (Canada) in the Magicolor Carrossier / SSG Motorsport Nissan S14 in fourth, with Brandon Schmidt (USA) rounding out the top five qualifiers in his MastMotorsports / Achilles Radial Nissan S13

PRO 2 HEATS The Final round of the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Championship got off to an exciting start. With Travis Reeder watching from the grandstands, he would soon know if he’d be 2018 Pro 2 Champion or whether Dylan Hughes would take the crown.

Hughes simply needed to beat Crick Filippi in the Top 16 heats and it was all over for Reeder. But if Hughes failed to get through, Reeder would win. And in an astonishing twist to the story, Reeder had cannibalized his racecar to ensure Hughes could compete after a collision in practice left Hughes with a disabled Nissan.

The tension was palpable as the Top 16 heats got underway and it wasn’t long before Hughes and Filippi reached the start line. After their two runs, with both drivers pushing hard, the judges awarded the win to Filippi.

With Hughes out, Travis Reeder was the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Champion and it was a question of where would everybody else finish the year. Top qualifier Garrett Denton faced Trenton Beechum (USA) in his Roush Performance / Nexen Tire Ford Mustang in the Top 16. Making a single mistake on his second run, Denton was eliminated and Beechum progressed. In the Top 8 he would meet Troy Manners (USA) in the Neo Motorsport Nissan S14.5. Manners had beaten Ola Jaeger (Norway) in the Team Japan Auto / Nexen Tire Toyota Supra but would fall to Beechum after he failed to initiate on his second run.

His opponent in the Final 4 was Sebastien Gauthier (Canada) in the Magicolor Carrossier / SSG Motorsport Nissan S14. Gauthier had initially faced Adam Knapik (Poland) in the Knapik Racing / Achilles Radial Nissan S14. Knapik struggled to put together a good run – straightening on the first and failing to initiate on the second. Gauthier then faced Schmidt and the weather in the Top 8.

Despite daytime temperatures in the 80s, atropical storm had blown in from the Pacific Ocean and would play a major part in the proceedings. Formula DRIFT doesn’t stop for rain and after a short pause to clear the grandstands when lightning threatened spectator safety, the heats resumed on a very slippery track as the water sat on a thick layer of rubber.

On their first run, Schmidt ran off course, giving the advantage to Gauthier. This played to his favor when both drivers ran off course on the second run, struggling to find grip in the rain. Gauthier would then beat Beechum on an increasingly wet track to take his place in the Final.

His opponent would be fellow Canadian Riley Sexsmith driving the NV Auto / Achilles Radial 2JZ Subaru BRZ. Sexsmith took a protracted route to the Final, first meeting Jonathan Hurst (USA) in the Dynosty Infiniti G37 in the Top 16. On their second run, Hurst experienced car problems, colliding with Sexsmith who subsequently brushed the wall but did enough to move on to the Top 8 where he met Brody Goble (Canada) in the Frankenstein Speed & Custom / Achilles Radial Nissan S14.75. On a wet track, Goble had a torrid time. His first run was ruled incomplete and spin on the second put an end to his challenge.

Moving onto the Final 4, Sexsmith’s opponent, Filippi, required a five-minute technical timeout. Unable to make an effective repair, he retired and guaranteed himself third place by virtue of being the highest remaining qualifier.

In the Final, Sexsmith and Gauthier got off to a difficult start. Both Canadian drivers were judged incomplete on the first runs and the judges called for “One More Time.” On the fourth run, Sexsmith had a lurid slide on the treacherous surface and hit the wall. This put him out of the contention and handed the Irwindale win to Sebastien Gauthier in the Magicolor Carrossier / SSG Motorsport Nissan S14.

With the final places determined, Travis Reeder was the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Champion. He was a mere 18 points ahead of second place Dylan Hughes, with Irwindale winner Sebastien Gauthier jumping up to third. Ola Jaeger and Riley Sexsmith would round out the top five positions.

We caught up with Gauthier as he stepped off the podium: “I feel good, happy and excited to be number one,” the French-Canadian told us through a translator. “At the beginning of the season we were struggling. We went through four engines and two gearboxes but things slowly improved as the season progressed. With the rain today, there was a lot to overcome but we’re used to the weather in Canada and we’re happy to finish the season in third place after so many obstacles,” he said.

We also spoke to the 2018 Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Champion, Travis Reeder: “This reminded me of last year in Texas where I went into the round about 40 points ahead, got knocked out of the Top 16 and Kevin Lawrence came from behind to win the championship by two points. So, it feels good to have the cards fall in my favor this year,” Reeder said. “It’s great to win the championship but it’s a little bittersweet because my good friend Dylan Hughes could have also taken the title. He wrecked in practice so we put my car on jack stands and tore it apart to help him continue. The last thing I wanted was for him to lose and I was bummed when he was eliminated, but then I realized I’d won!” he laughed. “I’m ecstatic because we’ve had a great season with a great crew and it’s great to have my best friend finish second in the championship. This is the spirit of drifting and that’s why I love it.”

NEXT SEASON The schedule for the 2019 Formula DRIFT Black Magic Pro Championship and the Formula DRIFT Link ECU Pro 2 Championship are still being finalized. The series organizers will announce the new schedule at SEMA 2018 and post it to formulad.com – the place to find event details, ticket info, driver profiles and Livestream information

EDITOR’S NOTE Please use this link for event images: www.dropbox.com/sh/o3d7nu4mk6n9b9z/AAA0ei6VErqOEGuqqPoDOYpQa?dl=0

2018 FORMULA DRIFT PRO CHAMPIONSHIP

To view all the Pro Category finishers, click here: formulad.com/results/2018/irwindale/pro

To view the 2018 Pro Championship standings, click here: formulad.com/standings/2018/pro

To view all the Pro 2 Category finishers, click here: formulad.com/results/2018/irwindale/pro2

To view the 2018 Pro 2 Championship standings, click here: formulad.com/standings/2018/pro2

To view the 2018 Auto Cup standings, click here: formulad.com/standings/2018/pro

To view the 2018 Tire Cup standings, click here: formulad.com/standings/2018/pro

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