Tag: Falken

Dai Yoshihara – Long Beach Drift Report

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2010 Formula D – Long Beach Drift Report

With the trials and tribulations from the 2009 Formula D season resulting in far greater desires, Dai along with the great team at Falken Tire looked towards the 2010 season opener of Formula D hosted at the streets of Long Beach as a starving lion gazes at its prey from a distance. SPD Metal Works spent much of the off season refreshing Dai’s nostalgic S13 chassis with the many refinements required to aid in capturing that elusive Formula D championship title. In addition to all the mechanical enhancements, the project manager of Dai’s Nissan 240sx chose to outfit the vehicle with the rare and ultra stylish Rocket Bunny aero kit bathed in the red and white Discount Tire livery. With just a few short test sessions prior to engaging the course that threatens catastrophe with the smallest margin of error, anticipation and excitement levels were through completely through the roof.

The first couple runs on any street course is always unpredictable due to the amount of debris, oil, and other waste littered on the pavement by the automobiles that would normally drive on the streets. Fortunately, the practice session went over smoothly, requiring only a simple gear change prior to qualifying. Dai was able to hit a score of 78 points with his first run, placing him at a solid 12th overall. “The car felt great after the gear change and I feel confident for Top
32,” commented Dai after qualifying.

Feeling great and ready for battle, Dai was put against John Russakoff for Top 32 competition. Russakoff put up a great fight, and after a one more time, Dai went on with a victory. Dai’s Top 16 opponent, Tanner Foust, was much more formidable in his NASCAR V8 powered Scion tC. Dai followed the first run, and although Foust was not able to pull away at all, Dai made the minor mistake of coming in too shallow. He then led the second run where both men performed close to perfection. Due to the small infraction of having a slightly shallow angle in the first run, the victory was awarded to Tanner.

Immediately following the FD weekend, Dai and his team set off early in the morning for a practice day to sort out some minor mechanical problems and to fine tune the KW suspension. At the end of the test day, an exhausted but content Dai exclaimed, “The car keeps feeling better.” Although the battle of the Long Beach ended in a loss, it proved to be a great start for Dai to fulfill his revenge and be the Formula D champion of 2010.

Tyler McQuarrie Gives Lotus Long Beach Win

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SCCA Pro Racing

Tyler McQuarrie, of Walnut Creek, Calif., won the GTS class race of the Toyo Tires World Challenge at Long Beach Presented by Bondurant. Nick Esayian, of San Diego, Calif., was second.

McQuarrie, making his World Challenge debut, cruised to a 49.535-second flag-to-flag victory in his No. 19 LPL/DRS/Switcars/LCS/Dayco/M&T Lotus Exige S.

Starting on pole, McQuarrie got a jump on the field on the first lap, aided in part by the poor luck of Peter Cunningham in the No. 43 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Following contact with another car, Cunningham’s hood opened into the windshield of his Acura on lap one, forcing him into the pits that put him a lap down and ended any challenge the Series’ all-time wins leader could have given McQuarrie.

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“I had a great start and actually got by a couple of GT cars,” McQuarrie said. “I didn’t have a working radio in the race, so I didn’t actually realize who was behind me. I looked up at the screen on the second lap and saw one of the Acuras head to the pits with the hood up. I dialed it back just a little bit when I felt I could.”

McQuarrie also competed in last week’s Formula Drift event at Long Beach.

“I have to really thank the LPL and DRS team. They only got this car about five weeks ago and really did a fantastic job with it. To be able to run it here at Long Beach—to run both weekends, is really awesome. I think April in Long Beach is a little bit like May in Indy. It’s a special time and to win here is just awesome.”

Cunningham, the GTS points leader, finished sixth.

The GTS win was the first time a Lotus had won a race of any kind at Long Beach since Mario Andretti won the 1977 Formula One event in a John Player Lotus.

Acura/RealTime Racing’s Esayian finished a distant second to McQuarrie in the No. 34 Acura TSX for his third podium finish in as many races on the season. Michael Pettiford, of Louisville, Colo., finished third in the No. 41 Go4It Racing Schools/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette in finishing third.

Charles Espenlaub, driving as a replacement driver for Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, finished fourth in the No. 03 Mazdaspeed/Stoptech/ProParts MAZDA3. Dempsey practiced on Friday and Saturday, but was unable to make the race because of commitments to filming the television show.

Gary Tolar, of Corona, Calif., finished fifth in the No. 86 GMG/GT Racing LLC Porsche 996.

Cunningham remains the GTS Drivers’ Championship leader with 358 points over Esayian (317) and Pettiford (275).

The race from Long Beach will be broadcast May 1 at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) on Versus.

McQuarrie raises eyebrows in opening World Challenge session

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April 17, 2010 (Long Beach, Calif.) – In the lone World Challenge practice session held on Friday, Formula Drift driver Tyler McQuarrie, from Pleasant Hill, Calif. surprised the World Challenge paddock with his pace in the LPL/DR/Switch Cars.com Lotus Exige S.

Despite being mired in traffic throughout the session, and a lengthy pause in the session due to a red flag, McQuarrie was able to hang on toP2 until the checkered in a competitive GTS class. Only multi-time series champion Peter Cunningham was able to turn a lap time quicker than McQuarrie.

“More than anything, being quick out of the box is a great thing for the crew that has worked extremely hard to get this LPL/DRS. Switch cars.com Lotus ready for World Challenge,” said McQuarrie. “Since this was the first appearance of the car in World Challenge, we just wanted to stay out of trouble and learn about how the car works on this track. We learned quite a bit, but we also realized that the team had done their homework since the car was very good from the beginning.”
As this race weekend marks the first appearance for McQuarrie, as well as the first appearance for the Exige S in World Challenge’s GTS class, the first practice left the team full of confidence for the rest ofthe weekend. While the Exige S excelled in the right confines of the Long Beach Grand Prix circuit, McQuarrie also excelled
in the concrete canyons of the track – no doubt due to his experience in drifting on the same course, inside the same walls.

“It’s like flipping a switch, going from drifting here lastweek to driving the Lotus this week,” said McQuarrie. “After spending all of last weekend scraping the walls with my back bumper, driving this car is almost like a piece of cake. It feels great to get back into a roadrace car, especially in the Long Beach Grand Prix. I can’t wait for qualifying.”

Formula DRIFT Invades Hollywood Recap

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Last night the IZOD Indycar Series invited Formula DRIFT to participate in the “Race to the Party” event in Hollywood. Hollywood Blvd was shut down in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre and thousands of fans gathered to watch Formula DRIFT vehicles do a demonstration, Indycar pit stop challenge, and a special performance by Camp Freddy.

The fans were blown away by the drifting action of drivers Joon Maeng – Full Tilt Poker / Nitto Tires Mazda RX-8, Justin Pawlak – Falken Mazda RX-7, Michael Essa – Nitto Tires BMW 335i, Mike Whiddett – Need for Speed Mazda RX-8, and Samuel Hubinette – SHR Dodge Challenger.

The Race for the Tires.com Triple Crown

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This video features Chris Forsberg, Darren McNamara and Ryan Tuerck in their quest to win the Formula DRIFT Tires.com Triple Crown bonus and a check for $10,000.

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– ceso