Category: FD News

A’PEXi Racing- FORMULA DRIFT 2014 – ROUND 1-LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA RACE REPORT

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2014

A’PEXi Racing- FORMULA DRIFT 2014 – ROUND 1-LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA RACE REPORT

ORANGE, CA – The 2014 Formula Drift season kicks off a new season with a new beginning for the A’PEXi Racing team with seasoned D1GP driver, Kuniaki Takahashi behind the wheel of the Lexus SC430. During this offseason, the crew was at work making changes to the SC430 machine that were geared towards Takahashi-san’s vehicle settings, including converting the vehicle to right-hand drive to assure the driver acclimation process to be as efficient as possible. Takahashi is known for his aggressive “all out” driving style driving Toyota chassis’ such as the JZX100/ Mark II and his current vehicle in the D1GP series, a Toyota Mark X, he is no stranger to the Lexus SC430.

The twin-turbocharged Lexus SC430 on Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08-R tires put down a couple of practice runs during practice, but unfortunately ran into mechanical issues during the session, and the crew hustled to get the machine back out on track in time for qualifying sessions, however, the limited seat time was not enough to result in a Top 32 qualifying score out of an estimated field of 60 cars. On the following weekend, the team was back out for the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge during the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend, Qualifying in the 11th position, and faced up against 2013 Formula Drift Champion and Yokohama Tire teammate, Michael Essa in his turbocharged BMW 3-series. Though, not able to advance into the Top 8 competition bracket, the potential of the vehicle with Kuniaki Takahashi behind the wheel was witnessed immediately during the tandem Top 16 round, and the team is anticipating a successful 2014 season.

During the back to back competition race weekends we were proud to introduce this year’s team and partners: A’PEXi Racing x Up Garage x Yokohama Tire with Kunny’z, rest assured that the team is hard at work preparing the SC430 to be the dependable and competitive machine that it has lived up to be the past few seasons. In addition, to developing and dialing in the vehicle to Takahashi’s specifications.

We would like to thank all of our 2014 partners for their continued support as the team gears up and prepares for the upcoming Formula Drift Round 2: Road to the Championship event hosted by Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA on May 9-10, 2014.

 

Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge Results

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Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge Results;
Daigo Saito Takes the Victory

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 12, 2014 – Formula DRIFT hosted the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge during the 40th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Daigo Saito in the Achilles Radial Lexus SC430 takes the victory.

The Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge for the second consecutive year brought motorsports action under the lights during the annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with a filled capacity within Turns 9, 10, and 11 of the famous street course. Sixteen of the top Formula DRIFT drivers competed for a $25,000 prize purse. Eight vehicle manufacturers and seven tire companies were represented in the competition.

“It is an honor to be able to bring drifting to the masses during the 40th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach,” stated Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “And to be able to showcase our sport for the second year in a row under the lights on the city streets is something special.”

The action under the lights along with ever changing track temperatures proved to be a test of driver skill. Number one qualifier, Forrest Wang in Get Nuts Lab / Hankook Tire Nissan S14 finishes in third place. Daigo Saito met teammate Kenny Moen in the Bridges Racing / Achilles Radial Nissan 240SX in the finals. Saito, the 2012 Formula DRIFT champion, was able to edge out Moen to take the victory. For the second consecutive weekend, Moen takes the second spot on the podium.

“Last weekend at Round 1 of Formula DRIFT was no good for me, but this week with a few modifications on the vehicle I was able to get the win,” said Daigo Saito, winner of the Motegi Super Drift Challenge. “I am happy with the win and look to continue the momentum into the next round.”

Formula DRIFT Announces Further Details on the 2015 World Championship

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 11, 2014 – Formula DRIFT has announced additional information on the 2015 World Championship that include details on event rounds and locations, competition format, confirmation of all Formula DRIFT Pro licenses to be valid for the World Championship and the petition process for international drivers. In addition, Formula DRIFT has confirmed that three rounds of the World Championship will offer a separate Triple Crown prize purse with a possible USD $100,000 up for grabs.

The World Championship will encompass all US Formula DRIFT Championship rounds plus two to three international rounds. The select international rounds will be vetted by Formula DRIFT through the 2014 season with all existing Formula DRIFT international rounds to be considered, including previous international venues.

The competition format will be based off the traditional top 32 head-to-head format. Formula DRIFT also confirms that all Formula DRIFT Pro Licenses are considered valid for the World Championship as well as selected Formula Drift Affiliate Series drivers will be eligible as well, while all other international drivers will need to go through a petition process in order to qualify. Additionally, three selected rounds of the World Championship will constitute its own Triple Crown with a prize pool of a possible USD $100,000.

“We have laid out the groundwork to complete this ambitious task in front of us in an effort to help bring the sport of drifting to the next level,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT.

Formula DRIFT recently completed the first event of the 2014 season with Round 1: Streets of Long Beach with over 20,000 fans in attendance and a Driftstream live broadcast shown to over 235,000 unique IPs/individual connections with over 1 million views.