COVERAGE> Carspotting at SEMA 2012 Las Vegas
We're here at SEMA 2012 in Las Vegas! We once again arrived to the capital of customizations in the automotive world. From everything old school, to the latest in cutting edge automotive technology we'll bring you the latest and greatest in automotive aftermarket industry. Follow our @MOTORMAVENS Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr for our live feed with the latest photos from the show and the afterparties. We'll be posting photos of cars and models live in real time as we encounter them! Read more...
GALLERY> Formula Drift Finale at Irwindale
Even if they didn't attend the jam packed Formula Drift Finale at Irwindale Speedway, all drifting fans with an internet connection already know that Daigo Saito has been smashing the competition repeatedly all year, ascending the ranks of the Formula Drift Championship and ending his first year in Formula D in First Place as the Formula Drift Series Champion.
Here's a collection of some of our favorite images captured from the event! Read more...
Here's a collection of some of our favorite images captured from the event! Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula Drift After Dark: Las Vegas!
The MotorMavens Crew is once again back at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Formula Drift After Dark. For those of you that couldn't make it, consider yourself lucky that you don't have to deal with the searing desert heat. Luckily it's not as hot as it was last year, but we're still baking in the sun so we can bring you imagery of whats current in Formula Drift. Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula Drift Returns To Seattle
Formula Drift Round 5 at Evergreen Speedway has to be one of my favorite events all year (albeit, I'm biased as a Seattle local)! Not only is it my home town, but this race track has one of the biggest bankings in the series - and just like Irwindale Speedway, there's not much room for error. Everyone in the Northwest drifting community has witnessed a lot of crashes at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe WA throughout the years, and with something like 56 drivers registered for this event, we are sure to get one hell of a show this year! Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula Drift Long Beach Qualifying
It's such a beautiful day here in Long Beach at the first round of the 2012 Formula Drift Championship season! The sun is shining, with a cool ocean breeze blowing the clouds of tire smoke. The loud roar of race engines at full throttle somehow mixes harmoniously with the squealing sounds of tires being decimated on the pavement. Not a bad way to spend a Good Friday. Read more...
VIDEO> Cyrious Look at 2011 Slowed Down
2011 was a pretty spectacular year of drifting for me. Being a Canadian, I got to see a whole heck of a lot of America this year – not only from all the different rounds of Formula Drift that I and the rest of the Drift Posse participated in, but also as a result of a tour that saw me flying around the country for three months. (more…)
VIDEO> Formula D Irwindale 2011 = Best Thing Ever
Seriously though, this year’s Formula Drift Finale was one of the greatest weekends of my life. All the media, drivers, and industry people I’ve met over the last few years all in one place to be a part of arguably the greatest drifting spectacle in US history. I say “arguably,” but I will fight you. FD Irwindale 2011 was the best thing ever. Period. (more…)
VIDEO> Formula Drift Hits the Las Vegas Strip!
Now that you’ve heard the story behind and seen all the amazing photos from Formula Drift Las Vegas, courtesy of Oliver Petalver and Mike Kim, take a quick moment to wipe the drool from your keyboards and prepare yourselves for a short video from myself and Joe Ayala. (more…)
COVERAGE> Formula Drift: Vegas After Dark!
Round 6 of the Formula DRIFT series was held in the scorching heat of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where locals went to witness Rhys Millen, in the Red Bull/Hankook Tire Hyundai Genesis, take first place in an already competitive season. Prior to Round 6, Daijiro Yoshihara in the Discount Tire/Falken Tire Nissan S13 was the leader in the Championship Point Standings with Justin "JTP" Pawlak (in the Falken Tire Ford Mustang) in second. Both failed to make it to the to the Final Four in Vegas, making the points spread even more slim.
In addition, this past event made people do a double take as FD Asia drivers Adwitya "Dio" Amandio & Saranon "Non" Pornpatanarak each made their U.S. debut. There was also a bit of controversy as Justin Pawlak switched seats with Tyler McQuarrie in the Falken Tire Nissan 350Z while McQuarrie piloted JTP's Falken Tire Nissan S15 instead.
All in all, with a nail biting points race, Rhys Millen back on the podium, new faces, and driver crossovers, you can see how someone might say that Vegas was the place to be this past weekend! Read more...
In addition, this past event made people do a double take as FD Asia drivers Adwitya "Dio" Amandio & Saranon "Non" Pornpatanarak each made their U.S. debut. There was also a bit of controversy as Justin Pawlak switched seats with Tyler McQuarrie in the Falken Tire Nissan 350Z while McQuarrie piloted JTP's Falken Tire Nissan S15 instead.
All in all, with a nail biting points race, Rhys Millen back on the podium, new faces, and driver crossovers, you can see how someone might say that Vegas was the place to be this past weekend! Read more...
COVERAGE> 2011 Formula D Seattle, Day One
Once again Formula D makes the stop in my hometown Seattle, Washington! This is always one of my favorite events because, not only is it my home track, it's also where we see the Northwest grassroots drivers come out and show everyone what they're really are made of. Seattle has a way of making people rise to the occasion!
Earlier in the day, I received a phone call from Rob Primo telling me that practice was rained out. It was very disappointing because practice is my favorite time to shoot the cars on track. Seattle strikes again. However, she can be forgiving at times. A couple of hours later I received another call from Rob. The rain had stopped and the track was dry. Practice was on again! I think you already know that I quickly grabbed my camera gear and drove straight there before Seattle had a chance to change her mind. So, I guess you can thank beautiful Lady Seattle for what you're about to see. Read more...
Earlier in the day, I received a phone call from Rob Primo telling me that practice was rained out. It was very disappointing because practice is my favorite time to shoot the cars on track. Seattle strikes again. However, she can be forgiving at times. A couple of hours later I received another call from Rob. The rain had stopped and the track was dry. Practice was on again! I think you already know that I quickly grabbed my camera gear and drove straight there before Seattle had a chance to change her mind. So, I guess you can thank beautiful Lady Seattle for what you're about to see. 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...
ROADTRIP> Spectre 341 Virginia City Hillclimb
This weekend, the MotorMavens Crew split up and went to several different events - while most of our friends were out in New Jersey for the latest round of the Formula Drift Championship, I decided to check out the annual Spectre 341 Challenge (aka the Virginia City Hillclimb) event happening roughly 30 minutes outside of Reno, Nevada. As I arrived into the wild west town of Virginia City and walked through the parking lot of the Silverland Hotel (designated the pit area for the race teams), I saw a good mixture of professionally prepared race cars, classic American muscle, and privately owned exotics getting ready to run up the treacherous winding road of Nevada State Highway 341. Read more...
GALLERY> The Forza Motorsport 4 Experience
As some of the readers of this blog may (or may not) already know, I've been away from my Southern California hometown for the past few weeks. In fact, I'm still out of state, dealing with an illness in the family. Last week however, I was able to come back to LA for just a few days to pick up mail, pay bills, and pack some additional clothes for my extended stay with the family.
On one of the nights I was back in LA, I was lucky enough to attend the exclusive Forza Motorsport 4 launch event/E3 Expo afterparty at the LA Live Event Deck in Downtown Los Angeles. Since my time in LA was so brief and packed with errands, I unfortunately didn't even have time to go to the E3 show itself, even though I had passes at the ready.
Even though I didn't make it to E3, I didn't feel too bad, because the Forza Motorsport 4 event had it all - hot cars, hot girls, catered Korean BBQ tacos and sliders from the Kogi BBQ truck, an open bar, an appearance from The Stig from the world renown BBC show Top Gear (or at least, a person dressed in the Stig's racing suit), special exclusive performances by legendary drummer Travis Barker from Blink 182 and Mixmaster Mike from the Beastie Boys, and did I mention... an open bar? Read more...
On one of the nights I was back in LA, I was lucky enough to attend the exclusive Forza Motorsport 4 launch event/E3 Expo afterparty at the LA Live Event Deck in Downtown Los Angeles. Since my time in LA was so brief and packed with errands, I unfortunately didn't even have time to go to the E3 show itself, even though I had passes at the ready.
Even though I didn't make it to E3, I didn't feel too bad, because the Forza Motorsport 4 event had it all - hot cars, hot girls, catered Korean BBQ tacos and sliders from the Kogi BBQ truck, an open bar, an appearance from The Stig from the world renown BBC show Top Gear (or at least, a person dressed in the Stig's racing suit), special exclusive performances by legendary drummer Travis Barker from Blink 182 and Mixmaster Mike from the Beastie Boys, and did I mention... an open bar? Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula Drift Speeds Into Palm Beach
This weekend, Formula Drift brings the third round of the championship series to an all new venue, Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Florida. I managed to shoot a few photos while filming random shenanigans around the track. I really liked the high speed entry to this new track, flowing into a long transition on a rumble strip.
Formerly known as Moroso Raceway, the high speed capability of PBIR's road course did present a problem, however - the course layout led a lot of high speed drifting right into the fans laps. Since this was the very first time that the Formula Drift series would be running at Palm Beach, they certainly didn't expect these types of results from their initial course layout! However, since Formula D is a responsible professional organization, they decided to reverse the course layout mid day in the interest of driver safety. Read more...
Formerly known as Moroso Raceway, the high speed capability of PBIR's road course did present a problem, however - the course layout led a lot of high speed drifting right into the fans laps. Since this was the very first time that the Formula Drift series would be running at Palm Beach, they certainly didn't expect these types of results from their initial course layout! However, since Formula D is a responsible professional organization, they decided to reverse the course layout mid day in the interest of driver safety. Read more...
COVERAGE> Live From Formula D Atlanta Day 2
I'm back in the media tower at Road Atlanta and clicking away at my keyboard while open practice adds clouds to the cloudless sky over the track. I swear, it was clear and blue before the drifting started, now we've got puffy white clouds everywhere. Coincidence? Probably. Our sharpshooters Yoshi Shindo and Oliver Petalver are still on track right now and I'm going to give you a mix of what they've gotten so far today as well as some more shots from yesterday's practice. Read more...
GALLERY> Formula Drift Review in Pictures
Formula Drift at Long Beach is just around the corner. Yes, it is already April again. As the MotorMavens Crew gets ready for another season of tire smoking excitement, we wanted to take a look back on the 2010 season and recap the big moments as well as showcase some of the shots that didn't make it into some of the posts. Read more...
COVERAGE> ThunderDrift ProAm at Thunderhill
With the Formula Drift series starting up in only three and a half weeks, this means that the Pro-Am series will be starting up as well. New drivers from around the country will be competing for an opportunity to drive on the next level. One such an event, is Thunder Drift, held just outside Willows California. Read more...
COVERAGE> Cars of The LA Auto Show
The 2010 LA Auto Show is currently in full swing; and just in case you didn't get a chance to attend the show yourself, I should clue you in on the hot topic that all the manufacturers seem to be extremely excited about - hybrid technology and electric cars.
While not all of the hybrids and electrics looked extremely exciting, there were some manufacturers that had project cars that caught my eye. Let's have a look! Read more...
While not all of the hybrids and electrics looked extremely exciting, there were some manufacturers that had project cars that caught my eye. Let's have a look! Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula Drift Las Vegas Highlights
When it comes to Formula D Las Vegas, what can I say that hasn't been already mentioned? It was hot. Damn hot. Too hot to be outside without air conditioning. I don't understand how Las Vegas locals can handle the incredible heat over there, but they say they're just used to it now. Getting used to it is one thing... but I wonder if they like it though?
Just like the gypsy camps in the days of old, this year's Las Vegas round of Formula Drift brought thieves out of the woodwork. I was really surprised to find out that former Formula D judge (and current Tanaka Racing Corvette driver) Alex Pfeiffer's helmet was stolen. I suppose someone was a fan of Alex's Hawaiian print helmet, which had the traditional Hawaiian plumeria flowers painted on one side. The only question I have about that is... Okay, thieves. Now that you have Alex's helmet, what the hell are you going to do with it? Read more...
Just like the gypsy camps in the days of old, this year's Las Vegas round of Formula Drift brought thieves out of the woodwork. I was really surprised to find out that former Formula D judge (and current Tanaka Racing Corvette driver) Alex Pfeiffer's helmet was stolen. I suppose someone was a fan of Alex's Hawaiian print helmet, which had the traditional Hawaiian plumeria flowers painted on one side. The only question I have about that is... Okay, thieves. Now that you have Alex's helmet, what the hell are you going to do with it? Read more...
COVERAGE> Big Guns at Formula D New Jersey
Formula Drift at Wall Speedway in New Jersey was definitely fun to watch. For me, it's always fun to travel and attend all the events in the tour, but this past weekend, I had some other commitments and couldn't make it to New Jersey. Luckily for us all, Larry Chen was out in New Jersey representing MotorMavens and capturing all the action!
Thanks to our friends at YoParts and Belle 1 Communications, we were able to watch Formula D live; the DriftStream live feed was really fun and entertaining! It was like an old school AOL chat room with tons of drifting fans blurting out information and opinions; I was impressed at how many people got involved in the live chat, cheering for (and sometimes clowning) drivers and teams! All in all, it was super fun - and I quite honestly was pretty disappointed that I had to shut down my computer in the middle of the Top 16 so that I could drive to my friend's house for a party/bbq (it was my fault - I should have just driven over there early so I could watch the entire thing at his house).
Wall Speedway is a pretty interesting track. It was originally built for circle track cars, but somehow was able to re-purpose itself for drifting, thanks to a lot of phone calls, legwork, and planning by the Formula Drift staff. Wall Speedway is also the most extreme banking that Formula Drift competition cars run on, with the most extreme sections of the track being 30 degrees - a really big difference in comparison to Irwindale Speedway's 18 degrees of incline. Read more...
Thanks to our friends at YoParts and Belle 1 Communications, we were able to watch Formula D live; the DriftStream live feed was really fun and entertaining! It was like an old school AOL chat room with tons of drifting fans blurting out information and opinions; I was impressed at how many people got involved in the live chat, cheering for (and sometimes clowning) drivers and teams! All in all, it was super fun - and I quite honestly was pretty disappointed that I had to shut down my computer in the middle of the Top 16 so that I could drive to my friend's house for a party/bbq (it was my fault - I should have just driven over there early so I could watch the entire thing at his house).
Wall Speedway is a pretty interesting track. It was originally built for circle track cars, but somehow was able to re-purpose itself for drifting, thanks to a lot of phone calls, legwork, and planning by the Formula Drift staff. Wall Speedway is also the most extreme banking that Formula Drift competition cars run on, with the most extreme sections of the track being 30 degrees - a really big difference in comparison to Irwindale Speedway's 18 degrees of incline. Read more...
COVERAGE> Insider’s Look at FD Long Beach
It's hard to believe that it has already been a week since Formula Drift took over the Streets of Long Beach. This weekend, the famous street course is still home to many a race fan. However this time, Long Beach has been taken over with open wheel racing fans that have been going to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for years and years. Since we don't really cover open wheel racing on Motor Mavens, I thought it would be good to post up some more photos from our experiences at Long Beach last weekend. (I know, some of you are thinking, it's about damn time!)
The first photo in our series is from one of the practice sessions. I think the practice sessions were actually a lot cooler and funner to watch at times than some of the tandem bouts, because it felt like freestyle drifting chaos within the confines of the white cement barriers and tire stacks that lined the streets of the LBC. Read more...
The first photo in our series is from one of the practice sessions. I think the practice sessions were actually a lot cooler and funner to watch at times than some of the tandem bouts, because it felt like freestyle drifting chaos within the confines of the white cement barriers and tire stacks that lined the streets of the LBC. Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula D Fun at Long Beach
I know, everyone has been waiting to see our first installment of Formula D Long Beach pics. So have I! We just had to get some other deadlines out of the way before we could begin posting our images from this weekend's Formula Drift event on the Streets of Long Beach!
This past weekend was certainly an exciting one. I was excited to see all the new cars that were debuting at Long Beach, as well as seeing a lot of good friends from different parts of the world, even if it would be only for a brief moment. Unfortunately, when you're working at the event like I am, you're usually hustling about, going from one spot to the next, and you don't have as much time as you'd like to just chill and spend time with good friends. This event was definitely like that for me.
I was trying to juggle shooting photos for the website while overseeing the Motor Mavens Crew's event promotions efforts. Not an easy task! Also, on the Saturday of the event, I was asked to help out with the filming of The Grid, which is a UK-based motorsports television show that airs in 120 countries around the world! And... on top of all that, we debuted the new MotorMavens X DSTROYR "Follow The Leader" shirt at our booth, which was managed by super designer Jon Chase, the creative genius behind the brands DSTROYR and Famous Stars and Straps. I and the entire Motor Mavens Crew definitely had our hustle mode switched ON this weekend! Read more...
This past weekend was certainly an exciting one. I was excited to see all the new cars that were debuting at Long Beach, as well as seeing a lot of good friends from different parts of the world, even if it would be only for a brief moment. Unfortunately, when you're working at the event like I am, you're usually hustling about, going from one spot to the next, and you don't have as much time as you'd like to just chill and spend time with good friends. This event was definitely like that for me.
I was trying to juggle shooting photos for the website while overseeing the Motor Mavens Crew's event promotions efforts. Not an easy task! Also, on the Saturday of the event, I was asked to help out with the filming of The Grid, which is a UK-based motorsports television show that airs in 120 countries around the world! And... on top of all that, we debuted the new MotorMavens X DSTROYR "Follow The Leader" shirt at our booth, which was managed by super designer Jon Chase, the creative genius behind the brands DSTROYR and Famous Stars and Straps. I and the entire Motor Mavens Crew definitely had our hustle mode switched ON this weekend! Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> Grunewald Camaro SS Test at Laguna Seca
If you remember, back in September of 2009, MotorMavens was the first to break news of Conrad Grunewald‘s brand new, Hankook Tire sponsored, Chevrolet Camaro SS entering the Formula D Championship. At the time, it was still only a concept and was still being built by Luke Lonberger at BLU808. All we had were a few mid-build photos and renderings, but they still had all of the Motor Mavens readers salivating!
Well, she’s come a long way since then! She’s up and running and looking HOT. While we were checking Facebook this morning, we spotted this video of her first drift runs at Laguna Seca during some “cone course tuning.” Can you say BEAST?! Running 305 wide tires and lighting ‘em up in third gear from 1500 rpm all the way to the redline with no problem, they can definitely check “power” off the to do list. I heard some people on Facebook saying that this car had 2300 HORSEPOWER?! Is that really true?! Twenty three hundred?!?!?!
There’s not really much more we can say about it that you can’t see and hear for yourself. Good Luck to CG Racing and BLU808 with this beautiful new competition Camaro SS! We can’t wait for the Pony Wars to get restarted at Formula Drift!
:: Avon Bellamy
COVERAGE> Autódromo El Jabalí in El Salvador
Without a doubt most of you are very much aware of the car scene in the USA, Japan, and the UK. Some of you are probably also somewhat familiar with automotive happenings within the boundaries of the other member states of the EU as well. However I'm willing to be that most of you are almost completely unfamiliar with the incredible scene that exists in that other America – the one in the Southern Hemisphere – specifically in El Salvador. Therefore, because we Motor Mavens like to expose our readers to the people, places, and automotive happenings that aren't necessarily mainstream, we would like to take a moment to introduce you to a particular AE86er named Pedro Velado - a man after our own Japanese Nostalgic Car loving hearts. This is his very first story with us, and we hope to have many more stories from him in the future! And to you Pedro – bienvenida!
::::::::::::::::::::::::: First, a little background info on myself. I've been a car lover ever since I was a little boy, helping my dad fix his Fiat station wagon. I grew up loving cars, but not really doing much about it until I finished University. After that, I started to learn about the wonderful world of JDM parts and style. It was in 2003, through a combination of my new knowledge and love for Japanese motoring and the process of building my Civic EF, that the idea formed with me and two of my friends to start the show circuit in El Salvador. Since then, I've been doing the CarShow every year, and getting more and more involved with cars as well. Read more...
::::::::::::::::::::::::: First, a little background info on myself. I've been a car lover ever since I was a little boy, helping my dad fix his Fiat station wagon. I grew up loving cars, but not really doing much about it until I finished University. After that, I started to learn about the wonderful world of JDM parts and style. It was in 2003, through a combination of my new knowledge and love for Japanese motoring and the process of building my Civic EF, that the idea formed with me and two of my friends to start the show circuit in El Salvador. Since then, I've been doing the CarShow every year, and getting more and more involved with cars as well. Read more...
