Eric O Sullivan – ProDrift
Hometown – Dublin, Ireland
Car – Toyota Corolla Vtec-86

Im Eric O Sullivan, 28 years old from Dublin, Ireland.I’ve been riding a BMX as long as I can remember and progressed to motorcycles winning an Irish National Trials Championship at 17.I learned to drive the same year and began modifying and tuning street and show cars before becoming involved in race and rally car preparation.

I discovered drifting in 2004 when I watched a dvd about the street drifting scene in Osaka Japan.Soon after, I bought a cheap AE86 corolla, my first ever rear wheel drive car that I leaned to drift in the industrial areas of south Dublin during the winter.I changed this car for a 20 valve corolla in 2005 and began to compete in the Irish national championship.After failing to qualify at my first two events I finished 2nd in the following two rounds and also qualified to compete against the D1 drivers in the Silverstone exhibition match.

I decided to build a more competitive car after the D1 event and spent most of 2006 building my Vtec powered AE86.I ran the car late in the 06 season and developed a set up with the 2007 Prodrift series in mind.I won 5 of the 6 rounds in the ’07 series and finished 3rd in the other, an amazing season that made all the hard work the previous year worthwhile.

2008 began with a new sponsor, Rockstar Energy Drink, who had just launched their product in Europe.I could now afford to travel abroad and compete in the Prodrift European Series and the UK based JDM Allstars triple crown series.I suffered with a lack of power on some of the larger European tracks but managed to win round 3 in Sweden and finish 3rd overall in the Prodrift championship.

The JDM Allstars series would provide the highlight of the year for me, winning round 2 of the series at Wembley stadium in London.This was the biggest event to ever happen to drifting in Europe, bringing our sport to an iconic location in a major city for the first time.Im very proud to be the first winner of this series that is run by drivers for drivers, giving us some of the best publicity and exposure in the European scene.

Away from drifting, I work 5 days as a mechanic in a Volvo dealership and I’d usually spend 3 nights a week in my own workshop. My friends and myself are all Honda drivers so I’ll work on their cars as well as preparing my corolla for any upcoming events. Whenever I do get away from the tools I’ll be down the local concrete park on my bike with the lads or hanging out with my girlfriend Amy G.

I’m honoured to represent Prodrift and all the Irish drivers at the Red Bull World Drifting World Championship in Long Beach. I’ll approach this as I do every other event, drift as fast as possible with crazy angle to entertain the US fans .

Gary Whiter – D1NZ
Hometown – Dargaville, New Zealand
Car – 1997 Nissan Silvia S14.5

Growing up in a predominant farming area called Dargaville which is situated in the upper north of the north island in New Zealand, Garry known as Gaz was initially more of a dirt bike guy, he had a good friend that belonged to the dominating New Zealand drift team called Driftcorp that initially introduced him to the sport of drifting in 2004, after seeing how it works Garry set out to obtain his first car being a 1989 Nissan Cefiro which around that time was a typical choice for any person starting off drifting, NZ had an abundant supply of Skylines and Cefiro’s they were cheap to buy and easy to setup to skid.

Although he was still a rookie to the sport and was competing against the best in the NZ business, with the Cefiro he was nearly always a fixture in top 16, He spent some time in his Cefiro. Looking back now it was basically a stepping stone for research and driver development, it didn’t take long to outgrow his full potential due to the smaller power and setup of his car.

It was then that he and his Father purchased his first Nissan Silvia S14 and set out to build it to compete with the higher level drifters. This in turn paid off as he was getting podium finish after podium finish, with this set up he achieved two very close D1NZ series overall runner ups and finally the long awaiting crowning of the overall D1NZ Driftking for 2008.

In the short downtime of 3 months His father Tony and Garry built yet another S14.5 completely from scratch with new and improved ideas and setups, this vehicle now is faster and more reliable running a PPG gearbox, it looks set to be at a world wide competitive grade. Garry himself has an appetite for improvement and is highly competitive he is also an extremely reliable and consistent competitor much to the delight of his sponsors. He thanks most of his success to his very supportive father Tony Whiter who motivates him and is there with him every step of the way..

In the NZ Drift scene Gaz is regarding as one of the most laid back happy go lucky drivers, he knows how to have a good time but come race day is 100% focused on the task at hand and always aims to win. He’s always easily approachable and ready to talk to his fans and sponsors.
For his future career he plans to be more involved with competing in international Level, with the support of his father and his dependable team mates in DriftCorp he will be sure to achieve his dream.

Remmo Niezen – International Drift Series
Hometown – Maassluis
Car – BMW M3 V8

photo courtesy of Alok Paleri

Ever since I was a kid I’ve been busy playing around with cars and bikes. I did the racecourse and in 2000 I got my racing licence. I started racing in 2001 in a BMW touring car championship and the first year I was Champion. In 2002 I won several races in the BMW 325i M Cup and ended up 2nd in the Championship. In 2003 I had a number of victories in BMW 325i cup. In 2004 I drove in the Super sports class with a BMW M3 and several races in the 325i Cup. In 2005 I started drifting with a BMW M5 and won my first race in drifting. After that I mixed racing with drifting with a BMW M3. In 2005 I was 2nd in the Dutch Drift Series. In 2006 I was 1st in the Dutch, Belgium and Benelux Drift Series. In 2007 I won the Xtreme Drift Series and the German IDS. I am currently in 2nd position in the German IDS and I will do everything in my power to win the Championship again.

Paul Vlasblom – International Drift Series
Hometown – Uden, Netherlands
Car – 95er BMW, M3 Touring

photo courtesy of Alok Paleri

I started racing Porsche and BMW in 1999. Some victories in the Porsche Series, and winner of the BMW Cup 2002. In 2003 I entered the Autovisie DriftChallenge (the annual sideways-challenge) with a standard BMW E30 323i with a welded diff. and got 11th place. The year after I decided to do better and bought myself a BMW E36 M3 coupe. In the end I won the 2004-edition by drifting all the turns with one hand out of the sun-roof of the car!!

In 2005 I bought my BMW E36 Touring and converted the car for drifting. With that car I entered the NL and BE-drift-series and several other events in Europe. In August 2005 I decided to go to the D1-drivers-search on Silverstone-circuit there and see. In the end I was one of the 6 chosen drivers and I was very pleased to obtain my provisional license.

On the way back from the UK we stopped over at Warneton Speedway in Belgium,where the King of Europe championship was held that weekend.I the field of European drifters I proved to be the best and was crowned King of Europe 2005!

I converted my Touring to match-up the D1-regulations and that year I won the Belgian Drift Series Championship In the end of 2005 I converted the Touring to the GTR-looks and installed a rollcage for the D1 Great Britain-season 2006. During the season the Japanese held another D1 GrandPrix match at Silverstone, and again I was one of the licensed drivers. I managed to qualify in 14th position and was matched up with Ueno driving a 600hp Toyota Soarer. By reaching top-8 my provisional D1GP-license was upgraded to a Full D1GP-license!!! In top-8 I met Ueo, but I couldn’t keep up with the speed of the lighter Corolla AE86. I’m still very proud of my D1GP license, as I’m to only European to have it!
In the end of the King of Europe championship 2006 I was invited to enter the final round on Spa-Francorchamps. In the strong field of Polish, Croatian, Belgian and French drivers I took the 1st place and by winning the finals I was send out to Dubai to enter the Dubai DriftChallenge and won the Challenge!

In 2007 I entered the King of Europe Drift-edition and the German IDS championship. The KoE took me to France (1st place), Czech Republic (3rd position), Hungary (1st place), Finland (1st place) and finally again in Hungary (3rd place).By these results again I became the King of Europe championship winner for 2007.

In September 2007 I got an email from the D1 organisation; the invitation for the D1 All Star World Match 25th November at Irwindale Speedway. As I’m a D1GP License-holder I can also enter the D1 GP-Finals on Saturday the 24th of November.

My car left the port of Rotterdam in a container October 17th, and arrived in the Port of Long Beach (Los Angeles, California) November 13th.Unfortunately the DHL-shipping company didn’t get the paperwork right for the US Customs, so the container couldn’t get cleared and returned to the Netherlands unopened.

Very sorry to have to watch the D1 World Match from the side, and not being able to compete.
In the 2008 season I’m competing in the International Drift Series (the German championship) and so far I won the season-opener at Hockenheim, also the 3rd and 5th round and I’m the current leader in the championship. I also did all the DTM-demo’s with IDS this year, which is a great opportunity to bring drifting to the attention of a big audience.

In June I went to compete in the 2nd round of the Hellenic Drift Championship in Greece, and got 1st place. In July I did a big demo in Moscow, to show Russian people what drifting is!
Last weekend I won the European Driftbattle at Poznan-racetrack in Poland.
My further plans for this year; the finals of the Italian Driftseries in Varano and….the RedBull World drifting Championship in Long Beach in November!

Another driver has been added to the confirmed list of drivers for the Red Bull Drifting World Championship.

Tengku Djan – Formula DRIFT Singapore
Hometown – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Car – Nissan RPS13 180sx

Tengku Djan Ley, who put Malaysia on the drifting world map, is Malaysia’s first D1GP Drift Champion in 2006. He took on the best drifters in the world at the D1GP World Series @ Irwindale Speedway (Los Angeles) the same year earning himself the nickname Tandem Assassin from his US fans.

Tengku Djan Ley is by day a Vehicles Dynamics Engineer who has taken Race, Rally Research (R3 – the motorsports arm of Proton) to Malaysian motorsports cult status.

Tengku Djan is also a seasoned race driver who is not just adept at drifting, but he is also Twice Consecutive Overall Champion in the 12 hour Merdeka Millenium Endurance Race in 2005 & 2006. An unbeaten record till this day.

In 1995, Team Shell racing team came a-looking for novice drivers, and the then-17-year-old Tengku Djan decided to give it a go. After winning eight out of nine races in his debut year to finish as novice champion, the teen began to get – in his own words now – a little bigheaded. However, instead of racing full time, the decision was made for Tengku Djan to pursue further education instead.
Tengku Djan graduated as an automotive engineer in Germany, and is till this day grateful for the decision. “Being a race car driver these days is not just about driving – It’s important to understand the car and the technical aspects of it as well. Knowing the car and knowing how to drive it, and knowing how to improve it gives you an edge over other drivers.” he said.
He got the chance to further enhance his skills while working as a vehicle dynamics engineer for Lotus in Britain for three-and-a-half years, which was where he honed his driving skills further.
“Even though all the driving I did then was work related and I didn’t do any racing at all, that was where I actually enhanced my driving skills. That was because I was learning to drive for my work, and the skills I got were engineering-based ones.”
It was also during those years in Lotus that Tengku Djan discovered the magic of drifting.
“We once watched a video of Japanese drifters, and decided to try it out at the Lotus track. There was even a rivalry amongst us to try and link up all the corners,” he said.
Djan’s interest in the sport of drifting has grown steadily, spending much of his time training and guiding younger Malaysians into the sport of drift.
Djan is also in-charge of spearheading the strongest drift team in South East Asia. Bridgestone Drift Team Malaysia has since competed in various events in S.E.A finishing in the top ranks in Malaysia, Thailand, and recently, as runner-up in the inaugural Formula DRIFT Singapore in April 2008.
Djan is continuously trying to improve his drift skills. June this year saw Djan compete in Tokyo Drift @ Odaiba, seizing the opportunity to learn from the best. Scoring his personal best of 99.5 from the D.K. Keiichi himself, Djan feels encouraged and looks forward to every chance to hone his own skills, by learning from the world’s best.
Djan is excited and feels privileged to have been invited to participate in Formula D and RedBull’s Search for the Ultimate champion in drift. Every resource shall be exhausted to get his ass to Long Beach!