Category: FD News

Formula DRIFT Announces Partnership with Network A to Launch First Digital and Mobile Channel Dedicated Exclusively to Drifting

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 6, 2016 – Formula DRIFT presented by BlackVue has announced a partnership with Network A (www.networka.com), the leading global action-sports channel, to launch the first digital and mobile channel dedicated exclusively to drifting. The Formula DRIFT channel will feature livestreams of all of the North American events as well as select events from Japan and around the world. It will also offer a full line-up of highlights, interviews, classics, and original programming featuring the greatest drift drivers and cars. The livestreams, video-on-demand, syndication, and social-platform video distribution will all be powered by the Sportsrocket media platform.

“We are very excited to join forces with Network A on this new initiative for fans of Formula DRIFT,” said vice president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT, Ryan Sage. “The partnership will usher in a new era of access and programming innovation for our sport.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Formula Drift to bring exclusive access to the most entertaining series in motorsports, said Brian Bedol, CEO of Sportsrocket, the parent company of Network A. “Network A audiences have asked us for more drift programming, and this was an opportunity to step up in a big way. Our Sportsrocket sports media platform allows us to provide big-league level services to emerging organizations like Formula DRIFT.”

The channel will officially launch later this spring, but will provide a preview through www.formulad.com and www.NetworkA.com for the launch of the 2016 season from the Streets of Long Beach, April 8 and 9.

For more information visit: www.formulad.com, www.NetworkA.com , and www.Sportsrocket.com . Find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Formula DRIFT Announces Blackvue Bonus Prize Money

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 5, 2016 – Formula DRIFT presented by BlackVue has announced that it will offer $25,000 additional dollars in prize money to the any driver that wins three specific events. Those events will be Long Beach, Evergreen Speedway and Wall Speedway.

“The new Blackvue relationship has allowed us to invest further in developing the series and this additional prize purse is one of the many things that people will see this year,” said Jim Liaw, President and Co-Founder of Formula DRIFT. “Blackvue will also be giving cameras to each podium winner this year.” Formula DRIFT Round 1, Long Beach kick-offs this weekend, April 8-9. The sell-out event showcases the world’s best drifters competing on the wall-to-wall course of the Long Beach Grand Prix street track. All festivities are open to the public and each day will also be broadcast live at www.formulad.com/live.

Tickets are now available for Round 1: Streets of Long Beach on April 8-9, including reserved seating, 2-day ticket packages, and VIP tickets. Tickets can be purchased through www.formuladrift.com, Ticketmaster outlets, and the Long Beach Convention Center box office.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. to Debut All-New Competition-Spec Ford Mustang RTR at Round One of Formula Drift: Streets of Long Beach

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On April 9th, 2016, World Champion drifter and Professional Fun-Haver, Vaughn Gittin Jr, will debut his new 2016 Competition-Spec Monster Energy Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR at the first round of the Formula Drift Championship in Long Beach, California.

Vaughn had this to say about the 2016 season, “I cannot wait to battle it out with the world’s best at Formula Drift with my brand new competition-spec 2016 Ford Mustang RTR. The new Ford Mustang is so much fun to drive in its stock form and with only 1 year of development in the new car, my team has really turned it up to 11 by making this the most exciting car I have ever been behind the wheel of. This Mustang RTR is a 900 horsepower, nine-second drag car that can turn left and right on a dime — who wouldn’t have fun behind the wheel of it?”

In late 2014, Ford started shipping the globally-available and new-from-the-ground-up Mustang. Aside from the fresh body, the Mustang received a new suspension configuration that includes Independent Rear Suspension (IRS). The introduction of the IRS in the 2016 Ford Mustang presented the team with some new positive engineering opportunities in comparison to the previous generation’s solid rear axle.
Power-wise, the Ford Mustang RTR is utilizing a 436 cubic-inch Ford Performance/Roush Yates Racing engine making over 900 horsepower. The team gained about 100 horsepower over previous years by simply switching to  VP Racing Fuels C85 product.
In addition to increasing horsepower and optimizing the all-new suspension to utilize the massive grip provided by Nitto NT05 Tires, shedding pounds was a big focus for the team to maximize performance. Utilizing light-weighting processes similar to what Ford is deploying in its production vehicles, the RTR Drift Team utilized composites as well as stronger and lighter alloys throughout the build allowing it to weigh in at under 3000lbs.
After just one year of development, a recent test at NCCAR was the first real opportunity for the team to open the car up and stretch its legs with long sweepers and technical sections. Following the test, Vaughn and the RTR Drift Team had huge smiles on their faces as it seemed all the long nights and hard work had paid off.
“I was a bit nervous about where we would end up initially,” says Vaughn, “as we have had over 10 years of development of the previous generation S197 Mustang and it was dialed. But following this final test, that nervousness has turned into confidence.”
April 9th marks the first round of the Formula Drift 2016 Championship in the streets of downtown Long Beach California. Vaughn and the RTR team are pumped to get back into competition mode with their eyes set on a podium finish.
“We know we are going to continue learning and adapting to what this new Mustang likes out on the track,” says Vaughn. “I feel very good about where we are after only 1 year of development and we just cannot wait to battle it out with the world’s best and leave it all on the track. We are Ready to Rock!”

If you can make it out to the Formula Drift event, swing by the RTR Drift Team booth to slap Vaughn a high-five and check out the car in person. If you can’t make it out, follow along on Vaughn’s social media (links below) or watch the Formula Drift live stream HERE.

Kyle Mohan Reveals New Formula Drift Fighter for 2016 Season

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Kyle Mohan Reveals New Formula Drift Fighter for 2016 Season

GT-Radial / Mazdatrix Mazda MX-5 to debut at Formula Drift Long Beach this weekend

April 5, 2016 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – The new Formula Drift season will bring a new vehicle for Formula Drift veteran Kyle Mohan, who will park his familiar Mazda RX-8 for a new car built on the Mazda MX-5 platform.

The KMR-built Mazda MX-5 is new but in some respects will be familiar to Mohan, as it is powered by a turbocharged, nitrous-fed three-rotor engine developed by Mazdatrix. Improvements to virtually every aspect of the drivetrain has resulted in more horsepower than the engine has produced before,

“I think ever since we first built the RX-8, we always considered what kind of car we would eventually replace it with,” said Mohan. “However as a small team, we always felt that we would be better off by continuing to improve the RX-8 instead of trying to build an entirely new car. But we made the decision last season to switch to the MX-5, and not only that, to build it to make the best use of our GT-Radial Champiro SX2 tire package. Considering how quick and nimble it felt in our first tests, I think we’ve accomplished that.”

Recent testing with the car left Mohan looking forward to competing with the car in the first Formula Drift event of the season this weekend on the Streets of Long Beach.  Mohan grew up and lives in Long Beach, and enjoys strong support for his team in the city.

“Testing the car at first was very different than the RX-8,” said Mohan. “But I felt extremely comfortable right away. After burning down my first set of GT-Radial tires I could really feel the potential that this car has. I have to give a lot of credit to our partners and our crew for giving us the resources to get this new car completed. There were a lot of long days and lost weekends to get ready to be here, and I hope to bring them a good finish this weekend. I’ll be honest – slinging our brand new car in between those concrete walls makes me a little nervous, but we did the exact same thing when we first came out with the RX-8 and there’s no event I enjoy more than Long Beach.”

Qualifying for this weekend’s Formula Drift season opener on the Streets of Long Beach will be streamed live on Friday, April 8 at 4:00 PM EST. On Saturday, April 28 the round of top-32 competition will be streamed starting at 2:00 PM EST with the round of top-16 starting at 6:30 PM EST. All the sessions will be streamed at Formulad.com

About Kyle Mohan Racing

Kyle Mohan competes in the Formula Drift Pro Championship in the no. 99 GT Radial / Mazdatrix Mazda MX-5. More information can be found at www.kylemohanracing.com.

Contact: Efrain Olivares | 818.254.7196 | [email protected]