Category: Featured

Long Beach Local Kyle Mohan and Rookie of the Year Aurimas Bakchis Take Team DRIFT Victory

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 15, 2012 – Formula DRIFT’s Team DRIFT competition during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach concluded today with a victory from the team consisting of Long Beach native Kyle Mohan and the 2011 Rookie of the Year, Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis.

14 drivers paired up over the weekend to compete in front of thousands of spectators during the annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Judged on tandem execution and style the teams put on a show through the entire street course. Guest judges Andy Yen (Formula DRIFT lead judge), 2011 Formula DRIFT champion, Daijiro Yoshihara and 2-time champion Tanner Foust awarded the win to Mohan and Bakchis. Coming in second place was the team of Taka Aono and Cyrus Martinez. Rounding out the podium with a third place team finish was the pairing of Walker Wilkerson and Dennis Mertzanis.

The Formula DRIFT Pro Championship continues with Round 2: Road to the Championship at Road Atlanta on May 11,12, 2012.

Replay XD To Sponsor Formula DRIFT Team DRIFT Competition during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 12, 2012 – Formula DRIFT announced today that Replay XD will sponsor and support this weekend’s Team DRIFT competition at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach from April 13-15.

Replay XD and Formula DRIFT have teamed up to undertake a huge video production by mounting multiple Replay XD camera’s to all 14 of the Team DRIFT vehicles and film all the action on and off the track for an online video release to come after the event. Replay XD will become the exclusive POV camera for the Team DRIFT event and also be branded on each vehicle.

“We are excited that Replay XD has seen the opportunity to partner with us on the Team DRIFT event,” said Ryan Sage, vice president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “This event is always a fun weekend for Formula DRIFT and the participating drivers, but now this partnership will allow fans to see how amazing 14 drift cars unleashed on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Street Course can be. Fans will be able to see every initiation and all door to door drifting from every single driver’s point of view.”

“We’re all racers and enthusiasts here at Replay XD, and drifting has really pushed the envelope of what is possible in a car. We’ve been long time supporters of grassroots drifting, and are excited to take the next step by working with Formula DRIFT,” said Replay XD President, John Spar. “Having a chance to use our XD1080 to bring a first-hand, HD experience of team drifting on the streets of Long Beach to Formula DRIFT fans and drifting fans everywhere is quite an honor.”

The Formula DRIFT Team DRIFT Challenge will take place on Friday, April 13 at 9:35 AM, Saturday, April 14 at 8:55 AM and the main competition will be held on Sunday, April 15 at 3:40 PM during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach event.

Formula DRIFT Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Results

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Justin Pawlak Wins the Season Opener for the Second Consecutive Season

Long Beach, Calif. – April 7, 2012 – Justin Pawlak in the Falken Tire Ford Mustang earns the victory at the first event of the 2012 Formula DRIFT season. Daijiro Yoshihara in the Discount Tire / Falken Nissan 240SX takes second place while Formula DRIFT rookie Daigo Saito, in the Achilles Tires / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 rounds out the podium.

Round 1: Streets of Long Beach kicked off the 2012 season to a sold out audience. The largest driver pool participated in the two-day event with the largest rookie field of any season with 19 rookies.

“Starting the season to a sold out crowd is a great feeling,” says Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “The drivers stepped up and provided a highly competitive event that sets the tone for the rest of the year. We’re looking forward to how the season will unfold.””

Justin Pawlak found the top of the podium for the second consecutive season in Long Beach taking the lead to start the 2012 Pro Championship season. Pawlak battled the 2011 Formula DRIFT champion, Daijiro Yoshihara, in a hard fought battle to win the event. Yoshihara defeated Formula DRIFT Asia champion and rookie Daigo Saito in the Top 4 to move on to Finals eventually taking second place. Saito defeated Matt Powers, who finished in third place in 2011, in the consolation round to find the podium in his very first Formula DRIFT Pro Championship event. Saito is now leads the new X-Mini Rookie Challenge.

“Its just amazing to come back to Long Beach and put down another win 2 years in a row,” said Justin Pawlak, winner of Round 1: Streets of Long Beach. “This is a great way to start the season and go for the championship.”

The 2012 Pro Championship season continues for Round 2: Road to the Championship at Road Atlanta on May 11-12. Tickets are available to purchase online now.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com

Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2012 Point Standings After 1 Event

1. Pawlak, Justin Falken Tire Ford Mustang 106 Points
2. Yoshihara, Daijiro Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan S13 92 Points
3. Saito, Daigo Achilles Tire / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 78.50 Points
4. Powers, Matt Need for Speed / Nitto Nissan S14 69.50 Points
5. Tuerck, Ryan Team Retaks Nissan 240SX 66 Points
6. McQuarrie, Tyler Mobil 1 Camaro 64 Points
6. Millen, Rhys Hankook / Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis Coupe 64 Points
8. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z 63 Points
9. Gushi, Ken Scion Racing Scion FR-S 62 Points
10. Moen, Kenneth Lutz Performance Nissan 350Z 61.50 Points
11. Grunewald, Conrad Hankook Tire Chevy Camaro 57 Points
12. Aasbo, Fredric Need for Speed / Papadakis Racing Scion TC 57 Points
12. Kado, Ryan Ryan Kado Racing Nissan 350Z 56 Points
14. Mohan, Kyle Nexen Tire / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 55 Points
15. Bakchis, Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis Motorsports Nissan 240SX S14 54.25 Points
15. Yoshioka, Toshiki RS*R Nissan Silvia S15 54.25 Points

Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Event Results

1. Pawlak, Justin Falken Tire Ford Mustang Winner
2. Yoshihara, Daijiro America’s Tire / Falken Tire Nissan S13 Second Place
3. Saito, Daigo Achilles Tire / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 Third Place

Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Ticket Update

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Formula DRIFT Long Beach Seating Sold Out!

For the first time in Formula DRIFT history, Formula DRIFT has sold out all of the seated tickets in the venue located in downtown Long Beach. Due to this incredible occurrence, Formula DRIFT has consulted track and city officials and will offer a very limited general admission/stand room only ticket for tomorrow’s main event. The ticket will include admission to the event and access to the Long Beach Grand Prix viewing area on the Shoreline side of the track near grandstands 24, 25 and 26. These tickets will be sold on a first come, first serve basis and sold at a rate of $27 at the Long Beach Convention Center box office.

If you have any further questions you may call the Long Beach Convention Center box office or send an email to [email protected]

Formula DRIFT Announces Live Stream Expansion for the 2012 Season

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 10, 2012 – Formula DRIFT has announced today that they will continue to air all domestic Formula DRIFT rounds through the Driftstream program that will expand for the 2012 Pro Championship Season.

All on track action will be shown via the Driftstream, located on formulad.com/live, including the first practice through to the last tandem competition on both Friday and Saturday event days. With an average viewership of over 150,000 unique IP’s in 2011 Formula, Formula DRIFT has signed a number of agreements that will expand the distribution of the already popular live stream. In 2012, Formula DRIFT will be distributed live through Justin.tv, Metacafe Live, Dailymotion Live and Youtube Live.

“Formula DRIFT worked diligently in the off-season to reach out to our existing partners and develop new relationships that will help make our live broadcasts more attractive. We feel that we are leading the charge of what is a progressive and new way to reach and develop a fan base.,” said Ryan Sage, vice president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Additionally, with partner Ubiquity Broadcasting Corporation, we are excited to be expanding our coverage of the events as well, making the live experience better to watch from home or work. We will start with a few shots of the competition on Friday and expand to a full broadcast by main day. We will also be adding a live half-time show and new graphics.””

Additionally, Formula DRIFT has signed a deal with Flingo, as a new “on-demand” option providing content to all Web-enabled televisions that carry the Flingo application. There are currently 10,000,000 of these devices in the U.S. and 40,000,000 world-wide and include Insignia, LG, Samsung, Vizio, Sanyo, Western Digital, as well as Netgear devices – covering more than 8.5 million screens in 118 countries worldwide. The combined viewership of all the 2012 Driftstream partners is over 200,000,000.

“The FormulaD app offers a window into the exciting world of drifting, one of the fastest growing categories of extreme motorsports. FormulaD pioneered drifting in the United States, and it’s not surprising to see them become a pioneer in the Smart TV arena,” said Ashwin Navin, CEO and co-founder of Flingo. “Our partnership enables FormulaD to reach millions of people in their living rooms with the convenience of a TV remote control at any hour of the day with a more dynamic, engaging viewing experience than traditional broadcast.”

The Formula DRIFT Driftstream begins broadcasting tomorrow at Round 1: Streets of Long Beach on April 6-7 starting at 10:00 AM (PST).