Category: FD News

Famed Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach Racing Circuit Beginning To Take Shape

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LONG BEACH, Calif. (Feb. 19, 2013) — The green flag signaling the start of construction for the 39th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which will run April 19-21, fell this morning on Shoreline Drive, the famed racing circuit’s front straightaway.

The honorary construction foremen were Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, Papadakis Racing owner Stephan Papadakis, Formula DRIFT President & Co-Founder Jim Liaw and Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President & CEO Jim Michaelian. Also on-hand were the Papadakis Racing Scion tC, which will be driven in 2013 by top Drifting driver Frederic Aasbo, and, courtesy of Toyota Motorsports, an all-new, race-prepared Scion FR-S that will be driven in the 2013 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.

“Our race circuit will feature something extra this year as we will be hosting the first-ever night racing in the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge on Friday and Saturday,” said Michaelian. “Along with the six other racing events here in April, this should make for one of the most entertaining weekends in our history.”

The setting of the first of more than 14 million pounds of concrete blocks that line the track marks the beginning of two months of work preparing for the 175,000 fans expected during race weekend.

“It’s three days of great parties and great racing,” said Foster. “The Grand Prix brings a lot of people to Long Beach. Our hotels get filled up, our restaurants get filled up and people understand that Long Beach is a really a great city, a great place to have a good time.”

Track Construction
More than 30,000 working hours will be spent installing the  blocks, three miles of fencing and 16,000 bolted-together tires, along with 16 huge spectator grandstands, seven pedestrian bridges and giant-vision boards for full-circuit TV coverage. The heavy-duty blocks and fencing, however, are merely a start.“

Leading up to race weekend, our staff will also install hospitality suites, tents, electrical  equipment, phones, porta-johns, trash containers and a hundred other little things up until race weekend,” said Dwight Tanaka, director of operations for the Grand Prix Association.  “Then, when the last checkered flag falls on Sunday night, we start to take everything down, inspect it and get ready for next year.”

All businesses along the race circuit, which includes Shoreline Drive, Aquarium Way and Pine Ave., will remain open during construction of the racetrack.

The 2013 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will feature racing from the IZOD IndyCar Series, Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Pirelli World Challenge, Formula DRIFT, Robby Gordon OFF-ROAD Stadium SUPER Trucks and the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.

Fans can select and pay for their seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Tickets can also be ordered by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 82-SPEED, and callers can request a printed ticket brochure that includes a circuit map, ticket prices, order form and other information. Also featured on gplb.com is the latest Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach news, downloadable ticket brochure and racetrack information, photos and ongoing announcements of special race week activities.

Ticket prices range from $28 for a Friday General Admission ticket to $130 for a threeday ticket that includes Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels.  Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, IndyCar Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of Hospitality Club packages.

Fans can also follow the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB and on Twitter @ToyotaGPLB.

Formula DRIFT Announces Competition Changes for 2013 Season

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Formula DRIFT Announces Competition Changes for 2013 Season;
New Changes to Be In Effect at Round 1: Streets of Long Beach

Long Beach, Calif. – February 12, 2013 – Formula DRIFT has announced competition changes for the 2013 Pro Championship Season. The new changes will be in effect starting at Round 1: Streets of Long Beach on April 12-13, 2013.

“To better inform our fans of competition changes that will be relevant to the live viewing and live stream, we have announced a few new changes to the competition format that will begin at the season opener in Long Beach,” stated Ryan Sage, vice-president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “These adjustments will bring new excitement to the Series and keep downtime to a minimum with the end goal of enhancing the fan experience.”

The main revisions to the competition format and rulebook are as follows:

1. “Knock-out” style Qualifying.
Qualifying will now begin with the number one ranked driver first and seed the Top 16 after the first run through the whole field. Positions 17-32 will now be filled after the second run from the remaining drivers in the field, who will advance with the best score of their two runs.

2. 5-minute rule renamed and adjusted.
The “5-minute rule will has been changed to a new term, “Competition Timeout.” The time frame will remain at five (5) minutes for the competitor to use, however the competitors vehicle may no longer leave the hot area of competiton to go back to the paddock. All changes done to the vehicle must be done on grid unless otherwise specified.

3. Qualifying criterion points adjustment.
Style, line and angle criteria categories will now be judged using whole numbers. Speed will be the only category that uses 1/10 numbers and will based on a median speed of all the drivers field during practice.

4. Specific issues identified as zeros (0) in qualifying and tandem.
Formula DRIFT has identified specific terms that would receive a judging zero (0) in both qualifying and tandem.

Qualifying:
– Spinning out
– Loss of drift
– Two tires off course
– Hood, hatch and/or doors open during a run
– Resulting contact causes an abrupt change in the vehicles drift and/or causes a spin

Tandem:
Two or more of the following items constitute and automatic zero in tandem:
– One wheel off course
– Straightening
– Hitting a cone or course marker
– Double entry
– Abrupt stop
– Stalling

5. Updated verbiage on passing.
Formula DRIFT has adjusted the passing verbiage in the rulebook to make it more broad and open. The purpose of this will be to give drivers a chance to attack a lead driver who is making noticeable mistakes and also for the public to be more deeply engaged in the competition.

Passing is allowed in Formula DRIFT. Passing is allowed anywhere on course as long as the lead car is clearly off the line the judges have specified. Any passing that occurs outside the scope of the aforementioned criteria will be deemed illegal and constitute an equivalence to a zero (0) run.

“We made these changes to make judging specific criteria less ambiguous and more defined, which will keep us accountable for consistency,” said Andy Yen, judge for Formula DRIFT. “The new changes will help define the judging without sacrificing the essence of drifting, subjectivity.”