Category: FD News

Hankook, Conrad Grunewald Launch 2010 Camaro for FD

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2009 SEMA: Hankook, Conrad Grunewald Launch 2010 Camaro for Formula Drift
From Motor Trend

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Let’s face it: The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro is a hit with show car builders here at SEMA, the land of trends and all things cool when it comes to cars. So it’s only fitting that one of Formula Drift’s veterans, Conrad Grunewald, along with Hankook Tire and BR Racing, will be fielding a newly completed drift-spec Camaro for 2010.

Grunewald is accustomed to American Muscle. For the past few seasons, he’s been drifting in a bright red C5 Corvette. As he explained to us, after finishing the 2009 season, he expressed his desire to his sponsors of wanting to have a bigger role in team management. Unwilling to find a middle ground, Grunewald went his own way and landed a Camaro with Hankook Tire.

Finding a home under the carbon fiber hood is a fully modified GM Performance LSA crate engine. It’s supercharged to make in the range of 600 hp. Having enough grunt to kill tires, of course, is only half the equation when it comes to drifting. That’s where AEM and Eibach stepped in with their respective engine management and suspension setup.

Jump inside and BR Racing’s craftsmanship continues. The usual Sparco bucket seats and steering wheel dominate the driver’s side, while a bevy of gauges and switches on the dash allow Grunewald to better setup the car on the fly.

Preseason testing is planned for immediately after the SEMA Show. Expect big things to come from Hankook and Grunewald, so stay tuned to this channel for more.

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/6588146/motorsports/2009-sema-hankook-conrad-grunewald-launch-2010-camaro-for-formula-drift/index.html#ixzz0W7HOf6bj

Micheal Essa to drive BMW 335i in 2010

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GSR Autosport and Michael Essa to Campaign a BMW 335i in the

2010 Formula Drift Championship Series

LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 30, 2009 – GSR Autosport and Michael Essa have partnered to campaign a 2008 BMW 335i sport coupe in the upcoming 2010 Formula Drift Championship Series. It will be the first BMW 3 Series, powered by a turbocharged BMW M3 engine, to campaign in a national drifting series.

“The BMW 335i is a powerful rear-engine sports coupe with a rock-solid chassis leaving us plenty of room for aftermarket development—the platform will easily handle the 550-hp turbocharged 3.2-liter M3 powerplant which we are finishing development on. Michael Essa was the natural choice to drive this innovative new drift car. Not only does he have a strong motorsport racing background, but he possesses the demanding drifting creativity and competitiveness necessary to win,” says Nick Richards, President of GSR Autosport.

Entering its sixth season, Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship series. As the first official series in North America, Formula DRIFT has taken competitive motorsports to the extreme, attracting fans and car enthusiasts from all walks of life. This high-skilled, high-powered motor sport where drivers intentionally maneuver their cars into well executed, controlled sideways slides at high speeds through a marked course, has more than 60 professional drivers competing in all seven competitions this year. Judged on execution and style, rather than who finishes the course in the fastest time, drifting is a guaranteed crowd pleaser, and is often compared to the freestyle nature of skateboarding and motocross. Formula DRIFT and the drivers serve as ambassadors for the sport of drifting bringing exhibitions to traditional/mainstream motor sports events across the country which have included: multiple Champ Car World Series races, American Le Mans, USAC, NASCAR Busch North & Featherlite Southwest and the SPEED World Challenge, among others.

Residing in Los Angeles, Michael Essa has been racing cars since he was seventeen. He has always focused on the machine and the track, building a solid foundation to create a legacy in global motorsports. He has held positions as Crew Chief and Lead Tech Inspector building and developing his talent from the ground up. Essa not only worships racing but supports the community by offering driving instruction for both Porsche racers and drift drivers. Essa opened Tech Trix Motorsports in Anaheim, California, in the Spring of 2001. The company supplies custom fabrication, specialized maintenance, optimization and management of privately owned Porsche racecars. He and his expert team maintain an average of 20 cars annually and are significant players on the P.O.C. and P.C.A. circuits. Essa campaigned a Mazda in the 2009 Formula Drift Championship Series where he was runner-up for the 2009 Rookie of the Year.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, GSR Autosport is a multi-facetted professional automotive racing business. Founded and operated by genuine racing enthusiasts, GSR Autosport is a race car manufacturer that designs, develops, and builds turn-key vehicles, competitive automotive components, and race safety equipment in various facilities around the country. GSR Autosport is also the parent company to GoSpecRacing.com, a retail race parts supplier, and SpecBoxster.com, a club-level record-holding Porsche Boxster racing team.

Autoweek Article on Formula DRIFT from SEMA

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SEMA Show: Formula Drift stays course
by Mark Vaughn

Like many enterprises, making a living sliding cars sideways around racetracks was not easy in 2009. But . . .

“We survived,” said Formula Drift president and cofounder Jim Liaw, speaking at SEMA of his series’ 2009 season. “Sponsorship amounts were down, but we had an increase in ticket sales and an increase in fan support.”

For next year, Formula Drift will return to the same seven tracks it ran in 2009, and there will be a separate Asian series. There also will be 32-car brackets, which Liaw says will be exciting for fans and challenging for teams, “pushing the limits of car reliabiltiy and driver stamina.”

Some new cars will be on the grid, including a BMW M3, at least one new Camaro and the Dynamic Autosports Team Skyline GT-R R35.

Liaw also is looking at online branding and TV exposure.

“It helps us analyze what we’re doing and where we’re going,” he said. “Our Twitter, MySpace and Facebook pages are constantly being updated. Our fans are young, motivated and have disposable income. And we use different products and methods to create new series value and exposure.”

For instance, last year, there were 2.5 billion impressions, or instances where a fan saw a Formula D car or driver in the media.

Liaw said that “2.5 billion impressions for a little series like ours is pretty good. That trickles down to everybody, especially the teams.”

Formula Drift will continue to be shown on the Versus network, the same channel that carries NHL and college football games and the IndyCar series, not to mention the pro bull-riding tour.

“Drifting is a viable sport and a viable investment,” said Liaw. “Maybe Formula Drift is the best bang for the buck in sports.”

For more information, see www.formulad.com.

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20091105/SEMA/911059996#ixzz0W6v0mBRB

Autoblog coverage of the Finals

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Formula Drift 2009 season wraps up in Irwindale, California
by Merritt Johnson

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The sixth season of the Formula Drift series wound to a close in Irwindale, California this weekend, and the finale certainly lived up to the host venue’s ‘House of Drift’ reputation. The high speeds and excessive angle required to navigate the speedway’s bank required a “go big or go home” attitude in order for drivers to move through the rounds, and there was no playing it safe for seasoned veterans.

The 2009 Formula Drift season began with the debut of a slew of radical new platforms. It was anyone’s guess as to what methodology would win out come October. Driver Chris Forsberg proved that the tried and true ride, with a few years of service under its belt, was the key to securing a championship. Forsberg powered his V8-equipped Nissan 350Z to the top 16, earning him enough points to take the 2009 Formula Drift Championship title. Nipping right at Forsberg’s heals in the point race was fellow Drift Alliance member, Ryan Tuerck. Tuerck showed that Pontiac is still well and alive by sliding his Solstice GXP to the top of the event podium. Hit the jump to get all the results and a rundown on the season finale.

Check out the rest of the article and the image gallery HERE