Round 6: Locked and Loaded Results

News

August 23, 2009

For Immediate Release

August 22, 2009

Formula DRIFT Round 6: Locked and Loaded Results;
Stephan Verdier Takes His First Victory and the Championship Comes Down to the Finals

Long Beach, Calif. – August 22, 2009 – Formula DRIFT returned to Infineon Raceway for Round 6: Locked and Loaded joining the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend. Stephan Verdier in the Cooper Tires / Crawford Performance Subaru STI takes his first victory in Formula DRIFT competition.

“This is a dream come true,” said Stephan Verdier, winner of Round 6: Locked and Loaded. “My first victory after 3 years of competition and it is also the first victory for a Subaru and for Cooper Tires. Today I’m number 1 and it’s a great feeling.”

Round 6: Locked and Loaded was the first event in Formula DRIFT history to share the same weekend with IndyCar for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Fans were treated to both drifting and open wheel racing action for an exciting combination of motorsports that kept everyone entertained.

Current Formula DRIFT champion Tanner Foust in the Rockstar Energy Drink / Hankook Scion Racing TC battled against Hankook teammate Ryuji Miki in the APEXi / Hankook Mazda RX-7 for third place and after 2 hard fought One More Time battles Miki finds the podium once again. The final round had Ken Gushi in the RS*R / Scion Racing TC and Stephan Verdier battle for the top spot. On the first run of the final battle, Ken Gushi ended his run with a blown motor forcing him to take a bow and give Verdier the victory.

“This event proved that drifting can co-exist with other motorsports and provide quality entertainment for all fans and we are very proud to be a part of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma weekend,” said Ryan Sage, vice president of marketing and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “With only 1 event remaining in the season it will come down to the wire and we will be crowning a new champion.”

Formula DRIFT returns to the “House of Drift” at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on October 15-16 for Round 7: Judgment Day for the season finale. Reserved tickets are available now via the Formula DRIFT website at: www.formuladrift.com

Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2009 Point Standings

1. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z 470 Points
2. Tuerck, Ryan Gardella Racing / Mobil 1Pontiac Solstice 414 Points
3. Gittin, Vaughn Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang GT 401.50 Points
4. Hubinette, Samuel NuFormz Dodge Viper 399.25 Points
5. McQuarrie, Tyler Falken Nissan 350Z 396 Points
6. Foust, Tanner Rockstar / Hankook Scion Racing tC 373 Points
7. McNamara, Darren Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky 370.50 Points
8. Verdier, Stephan Cooper Tire / Crawford Performance Subaru STI 364 Points
9. Nishida, Robbie Hankook Tires / Dynamic Autosports Nissan 350Z 362.25 Points
10. Pawlak, Justin Bergenholtz Racing / Nitto Mazda RX-8 354 Points
11. Miki, Ryuji APEXi / Hankook Mazda RX-7 341.75 Points
12. Gushi, Ken RS*R Scion Racing TC 333.50 Points
13. Brakohiapa, Tony Cooper Tire Ford Mustang 331 Points
14. Petty, Ross Garage Boso / Falken Nissan S15 329 Points
15. Aono, Taka Technosquare Toyota AE86 Corolla 321.25 Points
16. Mordaunt, Patrick PM Racing Nissan S13 317.25 Points

Round 6: Locked and Loaded Event Results
1. Verdier, Stephan Cooper Tire / Crawford Performance Subaru STI Winner
2. Gushi, Ken RS*R Scion Racing TC 2nd Place
3. Miki, Ryuji APEXi / Hankook Mazda RX-7 3rd Place

Tires.com Triple Crown Bonus Point Standings after 2 of 3 events
1. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z 205 Points
2. McNamara, Darren Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky 150 Points
3. Tuerck, Ryan Gardella Racing / Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice 149 Points

Round 6: Locked and Loaded TOP 4 to Finals LIVE

News

August 22, 2009

Round 1 of Top 4: Ken Gushi vs. Tanner Foust. Battle of the Scion TCs. Ken leads and Tanner chases and stays close through the run. Run 2. Tanner leads and Ken gives chase and goes wheel to wheel with the champ through the teardrop and to the end of the run. Ken Gushi moves on to the Finals!

Round 2 of Top 4: Ryuji Miki vs. Stephan Verdier. Ryuji leads and Verdier gives chase and goes wide and off-course with 1 tire into the teardrop. Run 2. Verdier leads and Miki gives chase tapping Verdier’s bumper in the teardrop and makes a correction towards the end of the run. Verdier moves on to the Finals.

Consolation Round for 3rd Place: Tanner Foust vs. Ryuji Miki. Miki leads and Foust chases and Foust overshoots wide and goes off-course into the teardrop. Run 2. Foust leads and Miki chases him down and keeps it close. One More Time.

Round 2 in OMT. Miki leads and Foust keeps on his rear bumper through the run. Run 2. Foust leads and Miki is right on him in the first entry and keeps it on him through the run. One More Time.

2nd OMT battle. Miki leads and Tanner gives chase. Tanner goes hot and hits Miki’s side door. Both cars come to a hault. Foust leads and Miki chases down Tanner and stays on his door and ends the run.

Finals: Ken Gushi vs. Stephan Verdier. Ken leads and straightens out and car looks to be damaged and he runs off course. Verdier wins as Ken’s car will not be able to compete.

Round 6: Locked and Loaded Great 8 LIVE

News

August 22, 2009

We are here at Infineon Raceway for the Great 8.

Run 1: Katuhiro Ueo vs. Ken Gushi. Ueo leads and Ken goes door to door with him on entry. Ueo slows and Ken makes contact in the teardrop, both cars stop. 5 mins called. Run 2. Gushi leads and Ueo chases, but straightens out in the teardrop. OMT is called.

Run 1 in OMT. Ueo leads and goes wide on his really early drift entry and Ken gives chase and sticks to him. Run 2. Ken leads and Ueo chases sticking to Ken’s door through the run. Close battle. Ken moves on to the Final 4.

Round 2. Rhys Millen vs. Tanner Foust. Rhys leads and Tanner chases sticking to his door from the entry through to the teardrop. Rhys pulls slightly away towards the end of the run. Run 2. Tanner leads and Rhys gives chase and shadows him through the teardrop and Tanner pulls slightly away in the same fashion as Rhys did in the previous run. Tanner Foust moves on to the Final 4.

Round 3. Ryuji Miki vs. Sam Hubinette. Ryuji leads and Sam chases him down to the teardrop. Ryuji ends the run with a slight gap between the 2 cars. Run 2. Sam leads and Ryuji gives chase and sticks to the Viper’s door through the teardrop to the end of the run. Ryuji Miki moves on to the Final 4.

Round 4. Stephan Verdier vs. Vaughn Gittin. Vaughn leads and Stephan chases sticking closely through the teardrop and to the end of the run. Run 2. Stephan leads and Vaughn chases, but Vaughn goes wide and makes a correction in the teardrop. Stephan Verdier moves on.

Final 4 to the Finals in the next blog post. Stay tuned for the Finale of Round 6!

Round 6: Locked and Loaded TOP 16 LIVE

News

August 22, 2009

Round 1: Ueo vs. McNamara – Ueo leads and McNamara goes hot and contact is made, but both continue and finish the run. Run 2 McNamara leads and Ueo catches up in the teardrop and sticks to his bumper for the rest of the run. Ueo moves on to the Great 8.

Round 2: Ken Gushi vs. Dai Yoshihara. Ken leads and Dai catches him in the teardrop, but Ken breaks free and creates a gap to the end of the run. Run 2. Dai leads and Ken gives chase, both initiate at same time and Ken sticks to Dai’s door. Dai straightens out! Ken advances.

Round 3: Rhys Millen vs. Kenji Yamanaka. Rhys leads and Kenji has a wider line, but can’t catch up to Rhys. Run 2. Kenji leads and Rhys chases and sticks to the bumper of Kenji like glue through the entire run. Rhys advances.

Round 4: Alex Pfeiffer vs. Tanner Foust. Alex leads and Tanner chases right to Alex’s door and sticks with him through the entire run. Amazing run. Run 2. Tanner leads and Alex returns the favor by sticking to his door through the teardrop. Great tandem action! Tanner gets the win and moves on to the Great 8.

Round 5: Ryuji Miki vs. Kyle Mohan. Ryuji leads and Kyle chases both have wide lines through to the teardrop. Run 2. Kyle leads and both enter the teardrop, Kyle goes a bit wide. Ryuji Miki moves on to the Great 8.

Round 6: Samuel Hubinette vs. Yasu Kondo. Yasu leads and Sam gives chase to the much slower Corolla and sticks to his rear bumper. Run 2. Sam leads and Yasu chases and catches up at the teardrop and stays with him through the run. One More Time!

Run 1 in OMT. Yasu leads and Sam chases and sticks to the rear bumper of the Corolla. Run 2. Sam leads but Kondo goes a bit wide and never really catches Sam in the run. Sam advances

Round 7: Chris Forsberg vs. Stephan Verdier. Chris leads and Stephan chases and shadows Chris throughout the course right on his door and rear bumper. Great run! Run 2. Stephan leads and Chris catches up and returns the favor by sticking to Stephan’s door and follow to the end of the run. Stephan Verdier advances.

Round 8: Vaughn Gittin vs. Justin Pawlak. Gittin leads and JTP gives chase. JTP goes hot and spins out on the first turn. Run 2. JTP leads and goes feint drift and Gittin follows. Gittin keeps it close and goes a little wide, but its not enough and Gittin moves on.

Great 8 LIVE in next blog post. Stay tuned!