Category: Press Releases

Formula DRIFT Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Results

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Formula DRIFT Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Results;
Chelsea Denofa Takes His First Ever Formula DRIFT Victory

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 10, 2016 – Formula DRIFT presented by BlackVue returned to Long Beach for the kickoff event of the 2016 Pro Championship season. Chelsea Denofa in the BC Racing / GT Radial BMW earned his first ever Formula DRIFT victory to start the season at the top of the standings.

Round 1: Streets of Long Beach kicked off the new season in dramatic fashion. The volume of rain, the variable surface conditions of the street course, which made for treacherous conditions in general during Friday’s practice, created a rain delay, which ultimately resulted in the Series making the decision to draw on a provision of the Sporting Regulations that allows the Series to forgo Qualifying in the face of inclement weather. Drivers were placed into the Top 32 bracket based on their 2015 ranking. The weather held up for the main competition and the drivers were able to give the fans a great showing to start the season.

“The weather definitely added a challenging element to this event, but the action was as intense as ever to kickoff the season,” said Jim Liaw, President of Formula DRIFT. “Despite the rain, the fans came out to show their support. This season is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting and for the local fans we will keep things going with the Super Drift competition next weekend under the lights during the Long Beach Grand Prix.”

Returning champion and winner of Round 1 in 2015, Fredric Aasbo in the Rockstar Energy / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota tC battled through some car issues to meet Odi Bakchis in the Ark Performance / Feal Suspension / Falken Tire Hyundai Genesis in the semi-finals. Aasbo edged out Bakchis to enter the Finals. The 2015 runner-up Ken Gushi in the GReddy Racing / Nexen Tire SR Toyota 86 faced off against Chelsea Denofa in an exciting battle. Denofa beat out Gushi to face the champion in the Finals, which gave Gushi the third place event finish. With momentum on his side, Denofa out matched Aasbo to take his first ever Formula DRIFT victory. This also marks the first victory for tire supplier GT Radial.

“I’d like to thank everyone that I work with including GT Radial, BC Racing, Turbo by Garrett, and everyone that helped with the car,” said Chelsea Denofa, winner of Round 1: Streets of Long Beach. “We have been working on this for so long and so hard and through mechanical failures to finally be able to work together and push through to get on the top.”

The 2016 Formula DRIFT Pro Championship will continue to Round 2: Road to the Championship on May 6-7 at Road Atlanta. For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Event Results

1. Denofa, Chelsea BC Racing / GT Radial BMW Winner
2. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen SR by Toyota tC 2nd Place
3. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota 86 3rd Place
4. Bakchis, Aurimas Feal Suspension / ARK Performance / Falken Tire Hyundai Genesis 4th Place
5. Tuerck, Ryan Gumout / Nameless Performance / Hankook Tire SR by Toyota FR-S 5th Place
6. Wang, Forrest Get Nuts Lab / Hankook Tire Nissan S15 6th Place
7. Field, Matt Falken Tire / Driftcave Motorsports Nissan S14 7th Place
8. Gittin, Vaughn Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR 8th Place
9. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z 9th Place
10. Kearney, Dean Oracle Lighting Dodge Viper 10th Place
11. McQuarrie, Tyler Mobil 1 Chevrolet Camaro 11th Place
12. Whiddett, Mike Red Bull / Nitto Tire Mazda MX-5 12th Place
13. Ng, Charles Sogun Motorsports / Achilles Tire Infiniti G37 13th Place
14. Essa, Michael Loudmouth Exhaust / Achilles BMW M3 14th Place
15. Bluss, Kristaps HGK / Motul / Achilles Tire BMW E46 15th Place
16. Jones, Jeff DOC Racing Nissan S14 16th Place

2016 Formula DRIFT Championship Presented by BlackVue Standings After 1 Event

1. Denofa, Chelsea BC Racing / GT Radial BMW 100.00 Points
2. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota tC 80.00 Points
3. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota 86 64.00 Points

2016 Formula DRIFT World Championship Standings Top 3

1. Denofa, Chelsea BC Racing / GT Radial BMW 100.00 Points
2. Aasbo, Fredric Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota tC 80.00 Points
3. Gushi, Ken GReddy Racing / Nexen Tire SR by Toyota 86 64.00 Points

2016 Manufacturer Championship Standings After 1 Event

1. SR by Toyota 144.00 Points
2. BMW 132.00 Points
3. Ford 64.00 Points
4. Nissan 48.00 Points
5. Mazda 48.00 Points
6. Infiniti 48.00 Points
7. Chevy 32.00 Points
8. Dodge 32.00 Points

2016 Tire Championship Standings After 1 Event

1. Nexen 144.00 Points
2. GT Radial 116.00 Points
3. Falken 112.00 Points
4. Hankook 96.00 Points
5. Nitto 80.00 Points
7. Achilles 64.00 Points

Formula DRIFT Enacts Pre-Seeding Format Due to Inclement Weather

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 8, 2016 – In a rare move today, Formula DRIFT was forced to enact a never been used before provision of the Sporting Regulations that allows Formula DRIFT to forgo Qualifying in the face of inclement weather or the inability to start or finish Qualifying.

Formula DRIFT is not unfamiliar with rainy conditions as six of seven rounds were completed in such conditions in 2015. However, given the volume of rain, the variable surface conditions of the street course, combined with being a public street, made for treacherous conditions in general. Adding that walls surround the course added another level of risk, in which the Series did not want to take in light of making sure that all 32 drivers were ready for competition tomorrow, whatever the conditions may be. The decision was made shortly after Top 32 Practice started when as many as seven consecutive drivers wrecked into the walls of outside zone two. This rare occurrence caused Formula DRIFT to go on Rain Delay and call a drivers meeting with teams to discuss the options that would best suite the drivers and fans.

“We spoke to the teams and the large majority felt it was better to have a full field of 32 drivers tomorrow than risk wrecks that would not be fixable due to the damage cause by the walls or have drivers with double zero’s that would disallow them to be placed in the bracket”, says Kevin Wells, Competition Director of Formula DRIFT. “Being that we had exactly 32 cars in competition, no one would be left out and so that seemed to be the prudent thing to do. We want the drivers to have a voice. The majority spoke and we answered.”

The show did not end there, however. Formula DRIFT opened up the track for open practice and under much less stressed conditions; fans at the event and watching the live stream were treated to an open tandem practice ahead of tomorrow’s event. All 32 drivers are set to go and ready to kick off Round 1 of 8 tomorrow on the streets of Long Beach.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com, www.NetworkA.com, and www.Sportsrocket.com. Find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Formula DRIFT Announces Partnership with Network A to Launch First Digital and Mobile Channel Dedicated Exclusively to Drifting

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 6, 2016 – Formula DRIFT presented by BlackVue has announced a partnership with Network A (www.networka.com), the leading global action-sports channel, to launch the first digital and mobile channel dedicated exclusively to drifting. The Formula DRIFT channel will feature livestreams of all of the North American events as well as select events from Japan and around the world. It will also offer a full line-up of highlights, interviews, classics, and original programming featuring the greatest drift drivers and cars. The livestreams, video-on-demand, syndication, and social-platform video distribution will all be powered by the Sportsrocket media platform.

“We are very excited to join forces with Network A on this new initiative for fans of Formula DRIFT,” said vice president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT, Ryan Sage. “The partnership will usher in a new era of access and programming innovation for our sport.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Formula Drift to bring exclusive access to the most entertaining series in motorsports, said Brian Bedol, CEO of Sportsrocket, the parent company of Network A. “Network A audiences have asked us for more drift programming, and this was an opportunity to step up in a big way. Our Sportsrocket sports media platform allows us to provide big-league level services to emerging organizations like Formula DRIFT.”

The channel will officially launch later this spring, but will provide a preview through www.formulad.com and www.NetworkA.com for the launch of the 2016 season from the Streets of Long Beach, April 8 and 9.

For more information visit: www.formulad.com, www.NetworkA.com , and www.Sportsrocket.com . Find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Formula DRIFT Announces Blackvue Bonus Prize Money

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Long Beach, Calif. – April 5, 2016 – Formula DRIFT presented by BlackVue has announced that it will offer $25,000 additional dollars in prize money to the any driver that wins three specific events. Those events will be Long Beach, Evergreen Speedway and Wall Speedway.

“The new Blackvue relationship has allowed us to invest further in developing the series and this additional prize purse is one of the many things that people will see this year,” said Jim Liaw, President and Co-Founder of Formula DRIFT. “Blackvue will also be giving cameras to each podium winner this year.” Formula DRIFT Round 1, Long Beach kick-offs this weekend, April 8-9. The sell-out event showcases the world’s best drifters competing on the wall-to-wall course of the Long Beach Grand Prix street track. All festivities are open to the public and each day will also be broadcast live at www.formulad.com/live.

Tickets are now available for Round 1: Streets of Long Beach on April 8-9, including reserved seating, 2-day ticket packages, and VIP tickets. Tickets can be purchased through www.formuladrift.com, Ticketmaster outlets, and the Long Beach Convention Center box office.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.

Formula DRIFT Announces 2016 CBS Sports Network Television Schedule

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Long Beach, Calif. – March 22, 2016 – Formula DRIFT presented by BlackVue has announced its 2016 CBS Sports Network television schedule. “Formula DRIFT” will begin on Sunday, May 15 at 5:30 PM (ET). The fast paced action featuring bracketed head-to-head match-ups will anchor the coverage and be featured across 12 episodes. Coverage will also include an additional 8 shows of the behind-the-scenes program, “Formula DRIFT Insider.”

“We had a phenomenal opening year with CBS Sports Network,” said Ryan Sage, Vice President and Co-Founder of Formula DRIFT. “With awesome primetime original airings and well placed re-airs, CBS Sports Network has become an incredible partner to the Series and a destination for Formula DRIFT fans.”

The “Formula DRIFT” schedule adds to CBS Sports Network’s robust lineup of motorsports programming, which includes more than 350 hours of coverage throughout the year. The program will consist of live to tape coverage of each of the eight rounds of the Pro Championship including the newly added Canadian round of competition along with eight additional episodes of “Formula DRIFT Insider.”

CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

The 2016 Formula DRIFT Championship begins on April 9-10 in Long Beach, CA. Tickets can be purchased through www.formulad.com, Ticketmaster outlets, and the Long Beach Convention Center box office.

For more information visit: www.formulad.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Tune into Formula DRIFT on CBS Sports and check your local listings for airtimes.