CENTER STAGE> Tomei Stroker Silvia from Portland
During the 2010 Formula Drift Pro-Am Nationals, up and coming drifter Kyle Pollard from Portland, Oregon earned his Formula D license behind the wheel of a white F20C-powered AE86 Levin - in tandem with guys like Pat Cyr and Walker Wilkerson. Since then, he has opted to build a car that is fully Formula D legal and more easily competitive. Because of all the aftermarket support available, he chose an S13 Silvia... of course! Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> D1GP Champ Daigo Saito Joins FD!
Oh whaaaaat!!! The rumors are true! Just released today – it seems that D1 Grand Prix Champion driver Daigo Saito will be joining good friend Robbie Nishida at Bridges Racing to campaign a two-car team in the Formula Drift Championship. I suppose the question everyone has on their minds NOW is which car will Daigo be driving? (more…)
BN Sports IS300 in the Pacific Northwest
While recently trying to dig up photos of this car, I realized this article was never published. Somewhere along the way, it became buried beneath all the other drafts and never resurfaced. I love Nick's car too much to allow that to happen, so here is the article in it's entirety, written and photographed in April of this year by international superstar Joe Ayala himself. Joe, take it away! Read more...
GALLERY> Traffik Tour Heats Texas Motor Speedway
For those who haven't been to Texas Motor Speedway in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the complex is HUGE. It may seem like a cliche that "everything is bigger in Texas," but this is a case where that saying is actually true! I experienced the Texas Motor Speedway complex first hand recently when I attended the inaugural event of the nationwide Traffik Tour series, which is a car show series that has partnered up with the Indy Racing League (IRL).
For the first Traffik event, the entire car show was organized right by the main entrance of Texas Motor Speedway's main track entrance, so the 80,000 recorded event attendees for the IRL event and the special "Ultimate Drifting" Formula Drift competition event (not for series points) had an opportunity to check out all the cars in the Traffik show, as they melted underneath the sun's 100 degree heat. Read more...
For the first Traffik event, the entire car show was organized right by the main entrance of Texas Motor Speedway's main track entrance, so the 80,000 recorded event attendees for the IRL event and the special "Ultimate Drifting" Formula Drift competition event (not for series points) had an opportunity to check out all the cars in the Traffik show, as they melted underneath the sun's 100 degree heat. Read more...
OH SNAP> BN Sports IS300 In The Rainy Northwest
On my way into Xtreme Toys in Portland today, I spotted this BN kitted IS300, which belongs to my friend Nick Rodriguez. I’ve never been a huge fan of Altezzas, but the first time I laid eyes on this car, I couldn’t pull them away. The stance is perfect. The fitment is perfect. The kit, paint, visors, and wings are all perfect. Not to mention, he’s repping MotorMavens. It all comes together to look so right. Cars like his are far from common in the cold and rainy winters of the Pacific Northwest. (more…)
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars Wembley Stadium
For the third year in a row JDM Allstars returned once again to the city of London in what can only be described as the landmark event of the series - Wembley Stadium. For reasons I'm not quite sure about, this years round was dubbed "THE BIG SMOKE." But over the weekend it became a very fitting title. In fact as I sit here writing this I'm still coughing and finding the remains of many deceased Federal, Nexen, Kuhmo, Neuton, and whatever other tyre brand you can think of, in my ears and nose.
Wembley is THE event to go to in the JDM Allstars calendar. Drifters from all over Europe and even outside of Europe flock to Wembley to step up to the plate and show their talents in the competition. So bright and early (way too early) Saturday morning, I headed down into London to check out what was going on.
Usually I like to hang around the pits for a while to chat with drivers and friends, but with briefings to attend to and with the large amount of drivers competing, practice had to get underway pretty sharpish and I didn't want to miss out on any of the action. So I made a move out to the track and started shooting. So here are some photos from practice and qualifying! Read more...
Wembley is THE event to go to in the JDM Allstars calendar. Drifters from all over Europe and even outside of Europe flock to Wembley to step up to the plate and show their talents in the competition. So bright and early (way too early) Saturday morning, I headed down into London to check out what was going on.
Usually I like to hang around the pits for a while to chat with drivers and friends, but with briefings to attend to and with the large amount of drivers competing, practice had to get underway pretty sharpish and I didn't want to miss out on any of the action. So I made a move out to the track and started shooting. So here are some photos from practice and qualifying! Read more...
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars – More from Manchester!
After an unusual but fun night in the Trafford Centre which involved myself, Dan Chapman and a bunch of friends attempting to do 5 car drift trains on the dodgem karts in the arcade, it was time to wake up, head out of my hotel and get to the track for another day of intense JDM Allstars action!
Saturday had given us just a glimpse of what Sunday had in store, and with even more crowds, the atmosphere building, the Krispy Kremes being handed out (oh yes, I said it, free Krispy Kreme doughnuts!) and a huge live screen, it was looking like Sunday would be a very good day indeed. Read more...
Saturday had given us just a glimpse of what Sunday had in store, and with even more crowds, the atmosphere building, the Krispy Kremes being handed out (oh yes, I said it, free Krispy Kreme doughnuts!) and a huge live screen, it was looking like Sunday would be a very good day indeed. Read more...
GALLERY> Southern Style’s Journey to Silverstone
You may remember my last feature about the JDM Allstars Driver Search at Silverstone a few weeks back. Well, I failed to mention that I had a pretty interesting journey up to Silverstone, and since I was heading up with Southern Style, a group of people who own some of the dopest grassroots drift cars on the UK streets, I thought it would be rude not to show you MotorMavens readers some of the photos I took and tell you about what happened on the way! Read more...
CENTER STAGE> Roland Gallagher's BN Blister S13
As this weekend's much awaited Formula D Pro Am event at Irwindale Speedway draws near, the members of the Motor Mavens Crew from Los Angeles are getting more and more excited to see all our friends from all the different grassroots drifting scenes from all over the country.
Our whole crew has a ton of respect for all the grassroots drivers out there; they are certainly working hard to step their game up and make it into the pro ranks... and for me personally, I think sometimes watching the grassroots guys compete is even more exciting than watching the pro drivers go at it. Some people may be thinking, "What?! Are you crazy?" I know, I know... it may be a bit different to outsiders or to those who are just sitting in the stands... but for those of us who circulate through the pit areas and go to the different shops and hang out with the drivers even outside of track events, it's really inspiring to see the hard work and perseverance of normal, everyday individuals, the grassroots enthusiasts, pay off.
This is what passion is all about. And this is why I think people are crazy when people think drifting is just a fad. Maybe it is for outsiders... but for the people who live and breathe this stuff day in and day out, it couldn't be further from the truth.
One guy who lives and breathes drifting is Roland Gallagher. The first time I saw Roland drive was at Formula D Las Vegas, where he was competing to earn his invite to the Pro Am. I was standing trackside with my younger brother David, and I saw this flash of teal pass me, followed by clouds of billowing white tiresmoke. My eyes followed the tiresmoke and somehow became fixated on his WHEELS which had ridiculously fat lips... I remember muttering "helllll yeah" under my breath, because these days, it's becoming more and more rare to see drift cars with good looking wheels and stance on the FD circuit. Read more...
Our whole crew has a ton of respect for all the grassroots drivers out there; they are certainly working hard to step their game up and make it into the pro ranks... and for me personally, I think sometimes watching the grassroots guys compete is even more exciting than watching the pro drivers go at it. Some people may be thinking, "What?! Are you crazy?" I know, I know... it may be a bit different to outsiders or to those who are just sitting in the stands... but for those of us who circulate through the pit areas and go to the different shops and hang out with the drivers even outside of track events, it's really inspiring to see the hard work and perseverance of normal, everyday individuals, the grassroots enthusiasts, pay off.
This is what passion is all about. And this is why I think people are crazy when people think drifting is just a fad. Maybe it is for outsiders... but for the people who live and breathe this stuff day in and day out, it couldn't be further from the truth.
One guy who lives and breathes drifting is Roland Gallagher. The first time I saw Roland drive was at Formula D Las Vegas, where he was competing to earn his invite to the Pro Am. I was standing trackside with my younger brother David, and I saw this flash of teal pass me, followed by clouds of billowing white tiresmoke. My eyes followed the tiresmoke and somehow became fixated on his WHEELS which had ridiculously fat lips... I remember muttering "helllll yeah" under my breath, because these days, it's becoming more and more rare to see drift cars with good looking wheels and stance on the FD circuit. Read more...
