Category: Press Releases

Formula DRIFT Round 6: After Dark Results

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August 28, 2011

Formula DRIFT Round 6: After Dark Results;
Rhys Millen Takes the Victory while Daijiro Yoshihara Retains the Points Lead

Long Beach, Calif. – August 28, 2011 – Formula DRIFT returned to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Round 6: After Dark. Rhys Millen in the Red Bull / Hankook Hyundai Genesis Coupe takes his first victory of the season. The chase for the championship tightens up heading in the final event of the season.

The results of Round 6: After Dark at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway set-up what will be the most competitive finals in the history of the Series. Five drivers have a chance for the championship staying within in 52 points of one another.

“The events that unfolded in today’s competition prove that anything can happen in this sport,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “The level of competition continues to provide action and excitement to the Series. With the championship up for grabs Round 7: Title Fight will be one of the most anticipated events in Formula DRIFT history.”

The competition was full of surprises as many of the point leaders were taken out of the Top 16 competition opening the door for other drivers to tighten the gap in the point standings. Underdog and current leader for “Rookie of the Year,” Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis in the Forged Racing Nissan 240SX surprised everyone moving into the Top 4 and to face Matt Powers in the Need for Speed / Nitto Nissan S14. After a hard fought battle Powers took third place and secured his chances to have a shot at the title. The Finals pitted Darren McNamara in the Falken Tire Saturn Sky against Rhys Millen in the Red Bull / Hankook Hyundai Genesis Coupe. With consistent driving throughout the weekend Millen proved why he is a former champion taking the victory and moving into 11th Place overall in the Championship Point Standings.

“This is kind of a milestone for us. This was the first venue that we debuted the Hyundai Genesis and we failed to qualify,” stated Rhys Millen, winner of Round 6: After Dark. “Now 2 years later we are standing on top of the podium and it feels fantastic.”

It all comes down to the final event of the season. The Formula DRIFT Championship continues for Round 7: Title Fight at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on October 7-8. Tickets are currently on-sale online and are expected to sell out quickly.

Formula DRIFT Launches “Formula DRIFT Insider” Web Show

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Formula DRIFT Launches “Formula DRIFT Insider” Web Show;
Weekly Web Show to Debut Today

Long Beach, Calif. – August 11, 2011 – Formula DRIFT has announced the launch of a new web program, “Formula DRIFT Insider.” The premiere episode will debut today, August 11, 2011 on the website, www.formuladrift.com.

Formula DRIFT has teamed with Ubiquity Studios to produce a weekly web show that will provide viewers with more in-depth coverage on the sport of drifting and the Series. Coverage will include event reviews, exclusive interviews with key figures of the Series, trending topics on-going in the Series, and custom segments.

“We are very enthusiastic about this new venture with Ubiquity,” said Ryan Sage, vice president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Formula DRIFT has always been on the progressive front with new media, especially social media and this web show is just another extension of that.”

The weekly web show will run in a 5-7 minute format and will air throughout the remainder of the season. Formula DRIFT Insider can be viewed on all Formula DRIFT social media platforms including the website, Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo pages.

“Ubiquity Studios is excited to partner with Formula DRIFT on this exciting project to create and produce Formula DRIFT Insider. This content is extremely dynamic and is a perfect fit for our award winning team and state of the art digital production studio,” said Ubiquity Broadcasting Corporation CEO Chris Carmichael. “We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with FD and see this as one of many exciting franchises we will be developing with them over the coming months.”

Formula DRIFT Round 5: Throwdown Results

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Formula DRIFT Round 5: Throwdown Results;
Daijiro Yoshihara Takes the Victory and the Lead in the Standings

Long Beach, Calif. – July 23, 2011 – Formula DRIFT returned to Evergreen Speedway for Round 5: Throwdown. Daijiro Yoshihara in the Discount Tire / Falken Nissan S13 takes the victory and the lead in the overall Pro Championship points standings. Attendance records were broken as the event reached capacity for the venue.

Round 5: Throwdown reached capacity as fans came in droves to Evergreen Speedway. Attendance was up over 10% from last season continuing the increase in numbers for the Series. Fans were treated to an exciting round of action from the top drivers in the sport.

“The Pacific Northwest has an amazing fan base, which was proven today,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “We are excited to see the growth of the sport and the Series this season with a continued increase in attendance at each event.”

The competition heated up with the final four drivers aiming to move closer in their chase for the championship. Fredric Aasbo in the Need For Speed / Scion Racing TC went head to head with Rhys Millen in the Red Bull / Hankook Hyundai Genesis Coupe and edged out the former champion earning third place. The Finals matched up the 2009 champion, Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z with Daijiro Yoshihara. Yoshihara took the victory and gained the lead in the Pro Championship point standings and remains the leader with a commanding lead in the Tires.com Triple Crown bonus.

“It feels great to be in the lead,” stated Daijiro Yoshihara, winner of Round 5: Throwdown. “After the Top 32 when Justin Pawlak was taken out of the competition I knew I had a good chance to win, but I didn’t want to think about points and focused on winning one round at a time, which worked! We have 2 competitions left so I need to focus on them still before I can think too much about the championship.”

The Formula DRIFT Championship continues for Round 6: After Dark at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on August 26 – 27. Tickets are available to purchase online.

Formula DRIFT Continues Social Media Success

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Formula DRIFT Continues Social Media Success Surpassing 100,000 Fans on Facebook and Announces Launch of Mobile Version of Website

Long Beach, Calif. – June 30, 2011 – The official Facebook page of Formula DRIFT has surpassed the 100,000 mark in total fans. Formula DRIFT has also launched mobile version of website.

Formula DRIFT has seen a dramatic growth to their Facebook page fan base this season as the 100,000 mark was broken during Round 4: The Gauntlet at Wall Speedway weekend. The amount of Facebook fans has doubled since the season began. To celebrate this milestone Formula DRIFT will be selecting a couple lucky fans from the Facebook page to receive a prize package including Formula DRIFT merchandise and apparel.

“Formula DRIFT has embraced new technology and is very pleased with the growth of our social media outlets this season and we have our tech savvy fans to thank for this,” said Ryan Sage vice president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “In addition to Facebook we have also seen an increase in our Twitter followers along with viewers of Driftstream, our live webcast. We will continue to explore new and exciting ways to engage our ever-growing audience and provide them with the latest content and promotions.”

The Series continues to be the leader and innovator for social media and technology when compared to other emerging motorsports. Formula DRIFT has invested into new technology in order to cater to their demographic of fans who are proven to be tech savvy and early adopters for the latest trends.

“We are proud of this accomplishment as it is evident of the growth of the sport of drifting,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “Formula DRIFT has taken the lead in providing ways to connect with the fans and give them what they want.”

Formula DRIFT has also announced the launch of the mobile version of the website, www.formulad.com. The mobile friendly version of the site has optimized content for mobile browsing while also maintaining the connection for the fans to live event data, results, news posts, and more. A custom blog theme for mobile users has been created allowing users to browse through the blog with ease. The mobile version also allows users to use multiple mobile devices and if equipped with Flash can access the full version of the website.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com

Formula DRIFT Announces 2011 Television Program Schedule on VERSUS

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Formula DRIFT Announces 2011 Television Program Schedule on VERSUS;
Premiere Episode to Air on Sunday August 14 (5:00 p.m., EST)
Long Beach, Calif. – June 27, 2011 – Formula DRIFT announces the 2011 television program schedule on the VERSUS network. Premiere episode to air on August 14 at 5 PM (EST).

For the third consecutive year, Formula DRIFT will air the television program titled, “Formula DRIFT,” on the VERSUS network. The 14 half-hour long episodes will run for 14 consecutive weeks on Sundays at 5 PM (EST) beginning on August 14, 2011 with re-airs showing on Fridays at 5:30 PM (EST) beginning on August 19, 2011.

“We are delighted to be back on VERSUS, the home of such properties like UFC, Tour de France, IndyCar and NHL. It will be interesting to be part of the Comcast/NBC merger and the positive implications of VERSUS becoming part of the NBC Sports family. As our relationship with VERSUS has grown, so have the ratings of the Formula DRIFT programming,” said Ryan Sage, vice president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “VERSUS’s 75+ million households combined with an additional 300 million household distribution internationally, we are glad to continue to not only be the leader in drifting programming, but a real force in motorsports and entertainment.”

The episodes will document all 7 Championship rounds and 1 invitational competition that took place in Qatar. The programs will be hosted by Formula DRIFT co-founder, Ryan Sage along with Formula DRIFT announcer, Jarod deAnda.

The Formula DRIFT program is scheduled for national and international distribution.

Formula DRIFT International Television Distribution to include:

BAND SPORTS
Brazil

SPEED CHANNEL
Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvadore, Brazil, Columbia, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Peru.

MOTORS TV
United Kingdom, France, Czech Republic, Holland, Estonia, Germany, Macedonia, Serbia, Russia, Portugal, Latvia, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Cyprus, Belgium, Ukraine, Spain, Malta, Hungary, Iceland, Sweden, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Switzerland.

SPORT TV
Portugal

AUTO TV RUSSIA
Russia

In addition to the TV programming, Formula DRIFT can be also seen streaming each competition live on the internet at www.formulad.com/live. Also scheduled to air in the coming months is the Formula DRIFT Round 1: Streets of Long Beach event in 3D on DirecTV’s n3D channel.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com