2009 Formula Drift Dominates
Long Beach, California April 11, 2009 Motorsports entrepreneurs may have developed
some temporary relief from the constant drone of global recession news and more
taxes with the “Streets Of Long Beach” that kicks off the 2009 professional
championship drifting season.
Formula Drift is a high skill, high powered motorsport that provides thrilling moments of traditional motorsports action of spectacular power slides of 200 to 600 horsepower cars, side by side action around a closed course driven with pinpoint accuracy, precise engine power, brake, suspension control while maneuvering with elegant skills that are judged on driving execution and style. The rapidly growing crowds not only love all the action and driving skills demonstrations but adore and respect the professional drivers and teams at every event. In fact, many want to participate in the amateur drifting events and perhaps work their way up the new talent section of Pro-Am series being developed by the series.
Formula Drift is entering its sixth season with seven events nationwide. This exciting sport is rapidly growing and attracting new competitors, new teams, new vehicles, more sponsors, different activities and more enthusiasts globally.
Formula Drift 2009 implemented the Top 32 Tandem Competition format that pits the Top 32 drivers in a round by round elimination with each driver advancing to the next round. Each round’s head to head battles will be determined by the drivers’ qualifying score. The higher qualifying score will receive a higher position, with the highest qualifier receiving the #1 spot and lowest qualifier receiving the #32 spot. The battles and tandem competitions will continue until the finale until an overall winner is determined.
“From our experience hosting the Red Bull Drifting World Championship in 2008, the 32 car tandem format seemed to be the most exciting,” states Jim Liaw, President and co-founder of Formula Drift. “As ambassadors for the sport, it is our responsibility to push the sport’s limits and keep it as exciting for the fans as possible and we feel this new format will give the fans more action during a Formula Drift event.”
The new format provides fans with more tandem competition throughout the event day, something fans want to see more of. The larger bracket will allow for more diverse match ups of drivers that may have never competed against each other.
Tanner Foust, Formula Drift 2007 and 2008 champion said “Drivers will have to strategize and plan effectively to make it further into the competition.” “As a driver we will have to expect the unexpected not knowing the skills of the other driver. For the fans there will be more action and excitement with the Top 32.”
In another new inaugural event, Ryan Sage, VP Marketing and co-founder of Formula Drift said “The new JTuned Auto Gallery Car Show Series is a great way for us to bring to life what JTuned has created and is made possible through our live events.” The JTuned Gallery hosts categories for all Japanese makes as well as a Ruckus category at selected events which will allow more people to participate in automotive culture, style and functioning of Japanese tuned vehicles coupled with industry insights and photography. Over 60 modified drifting cars were on display for close inspection by an appreciative crowd.
Hard charging Mopar sponsored, Shaun Carlson led NuFormz Racing development and support squad and two time FD Champion driver (2004-2006) Sam “Crazy Swede” Hubinette returned for the 2009 season with at least two surprises. The Dodge Viper SRT10 is still running strong but the new Mopar Drift Dodge Challenger is being dialed in for competition soon with 800 hp and its sights on the 2009 FD championship. Sam’s nine career FD wins still stand as a series high especially coupled with a strong performance today Also, Sam premiered his new drifting DVD “Drift Ya Later” at one of Long Beach’s premiere eating establishments Smooth’s Sports Grille on Pine Avenue. A full review of this exciting DVD will be made in the near future.
Other new driver and vehicle 2009 developments include Tanner Foust moved to a NASCAR powered Scion tC from his previous Nissan 350Z. Vaughn Gittin, Jr’s Mustang has time shifted to 2010 visually and performance wise after a very busy winter of Ford sponsored work at product introductions, car shows, development
time, spokesman duties and other classified projects. The car looked and sounded great at the
track. Rhys Millen (FD 2005 Champion,
2008 Red Bull Drifting World Champions 1st place) changed from the
Pontiac Solstice to a new larger platform based on a Hyundai Genesis Coupe with
a strong V6 engine. Finally, Ryan Tuerck
ran a lightweight Pontiac Solstice prepared by Gardella Racing with surprising
results that we’ll learn about shortly.
The drifting street course takes place on the Long Beach Grand Prix race circuit between turns 9 and 12 which tests both vehicle and driver capabilities. The 32 car head to head competition worked well on Friday and Saturday with excellent battles and head turning crashes.
Friday’s solo qualification runs from
47 cars yielded favorable results for some of the most experienced drivers and
best prepared vehicles for the 32 available slots. Out of 100 possible points the top qualifiers
achieved the following results. Chris
Forsberg scored 93.1 points for 1st place qualifier in his
Nissan350Z roadster, Darren McNamara of Ireland had 88.2 points for 2nd
in his Saturn Sky and Tanner Foust’s new NASCAR powered Scion tC achieved 87.4 points for 3rd. Kazu Hayashida of Japan Nissan S15 car was 4th
at 87.2 and
Perhaps “flying under most observers’
radar” on Friday’s qualifications was a younger driver from
Saturday’s final race competition dawned sunny and cool while remaining near perfect race conditions all day. Attendance was much higher than normal throughout the circuit including the two new bleachers that were utilized. The pits and vendor areas were also packed with fans having a good time while checking out the gear and girls.
For aspiring drifters, the final
competition day would provide surprises, numerous OMT’s (“one more time”---
rematches of the same drivers/cars when the judges aren’t sure who won the
round) and proof some dreams come true if you work hard and keep focused.
Highlights and surprises of Saturday’s competition included Rhys Millen (2008 Red Bull Drifting winner) going out in round 32 with a new car and perhaps sorting out some performance and handling issues. Also, in a Lexus IS350, Dai Yoshihara No 11 qualifier and 4th finisher of 2008 FD was taken out in the same round by rookie Jeff Jones driving a Nissan S13.
In the final Top 3 competition, Tanner Foust, defending two time champion drove his new Scion tC to 3rd place with only a few days of development. He was thankful for the numerous OMT’s to build up some competitive track time with his competition.
The final competition was between
Sam Hubinette (two time FD series winner) in the powerful Viper V10 and Ryan
Tuerck a younger driver from
Further review of Ryan’s development shows he was building his own motors in 2005. At age 24, he landed some sponsors in 2006 and finished 15th in 2007. He then rose to 6th in 2008 while continuing to gain experience and skills to compete with more experienced drifters. Saturday’s round 32 victory over Calvin Wan was done in 2 standard runs while a OMT run in round 16 was required to beat the big red Tanaka Corvette that crashed spectacularly into the Turn 10 tire wall during competition. Ryan then defeated #18 Ford Mustang in the 8th round and then had to prevail over Tanner Foust driving the new Scion tC before facing Sam and the big Viper in the finals.
It is now late Saturday afternoon with the sun and heat building at trackside. The large remaining crowd and press had witnessed some surprising battles and the tension was building. In the end, Ryan Tuerck had two excellent runs. Sam had run strong all day and most thought he would prevail in the finals but he appeared to have clipped 2 cones. Sam said small circumstances change the desired results but to finish second early in the series adds valuable points you carry with you for the season.
Ryan’s reaction to his first Formula Drift Pro win was total excitement and joy. Working so hard all those years make it so special since it is the first professional drifting event he has ever won.
Perhaps there is a “Field Of Dreams” for all drifters as the sport continues to develop and evolve. This is a great start to a potentially great drifting season.
For more information on drifting go to www.formuladrift.com
For more information on the Long Beach Toyota Grand Prix in which drifting demonstrations are featured go to http//:www.gplb.com
Video interview with Vaughn Gittin Jr and his 2010 Mustang
Vaughn at Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale AZ 2009
– Vaughn Gittin Jr.
–27
–6’ 2”
– 210
– JR, Major or Captain Clutch kick
– 25
– Annapolis, Maryland
– Team Falken Tire, Drift Alliance
– Ian Stewart, Dean Steele, Kevin Jones
–
Falken Tire/Ford Racing 2008 Mustang GT, 5.0L DOHC Ford Modular V8, 4
spd trans, EXEDY Twin Disc Clutch, TEIN EDFC Adjustable Suspension,
Wilwood brakes, HRE Wheels
.
