VIDEO> Tuerck’s 240SX Drifting Tree-lined Touge
There are so many crappy drifting videos on YouTube. This is not one of them. There are also tons of over hyped, overproduced “viral videos” on YouTube. This is not one of those either. While most of the drifting videos on the internet are incredibly lame, THIS video of Ryan Tuerck navigating his way through dense thickets of trees while bouncing off the rev limiter is really a breath of fresh air! (Or should I say… a breath of freshly burnt tire smoke?) (more…)
FORUM> KoyoRad Build Thread Contest Winner
We have a winner for our January #MOTORMAVENSBUILD Contest presented by KoyoRad Racing! David Bellomo, a 21 year old Toyota Technician from Haymarket, Virginia is the owner and driver of this S14 240SX, which has a Toyota 1JZGTE VVTi engine swapped into it. Check out the Build Thread that David created on the MotorMavens forums! (more…)
DRIVER SEAT> Ferrari vs Lambo At Exotics Racing
Luckily for us, MotorMavens sharpshooter Mike Kim and I were given the rare opportunity to test drive a pair of exotic supercars on a race track at Exotics Racing in Las Vegas! Located just a few freeway exits away from The Las Vegas Strip, Exotics Racing blends all the luxury and service that one expects from a Las Vegas Resort with an amazing supercar driving experience.
To be honest, Mike and I have always thought that test driving cars like the Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Aventador, Mercedes Benz SLS AMG, Audi R8 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage were out of our price range, so we never really bothered to look into it. Big mistake. As it turns out, our stupid assumptions were wrong. Completely wrong! Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula Drift: The Battle in Seattle
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> Team Yellow in Norway Never Stops
It’s official. Team Yellow is the most awesome grassroots team there is. With at least eight running/driving/drifting/awesome cars at any one time, drivers from all over Scandinavia, and several tracks to lay down ridiculous amounts of smoke, these guys get sh!t done. They’ve got an SR powered AE86, and all their other cars are 2JZ powered. There’s never a dull moment with Team Yellow. Huge thanks to Lars and Dag Harlem for inviting Joe and I over multiple times and even allowing us to drive their 1JZ MarkII. We heart Team Yellow. 
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VIDEO> Tuerck Prepares for Top32 at FD Seattle
When Ryan Davis of YAER Productions asked me to edit these clips of Ryan Tuerck piloting the Gardella Racing Mobil 1 Nitto Tire Red Bull Chevrolet Camaro during Formula Drift Seattle, I didn’t hesitate whatsoever. I love Ryan’s driving style and now that he’s in an enormous car with tons of power, I really enjoy watching him drive. That being said, the concept for this video was all Ryan Davis’ idea and I can’t take much credit for the awesomeness you’re about to witness. I just edited it. (more…)
VIDEO> AwesomeFest UK At Mallory Park
AwesomeFest 2011 was, without a doubt, one of the best events I’ve ever been to. It was a fantastic weekend of drifting, skating, BMX, motox, dope music, great people and more! Sadly, I had some equipment issues and my camera seems to have died finally so I wasn’t able to shoot much in the way of coverage. But, fortunately, the videographic wizard that is Stephen Brooks (along with the help of Al Clark and his BMW M3 chase car for onboard footage) has managed to perfectly capture the weekend’s atmosphere and action in his latest film. (more…)
OH SNAP> Happy AE86 Day
OH SNAP> Taka Aono’s AE86 Turbo at Road Atlanta
CENTER STAGE> Team Tekno AE86 Crew in Ireland
When it comes to Japanese cars from the 1980s, I've never quite seen one that evokes as much love, nor as enthusiastic a following, as the AE86 Toyota Corolla. To some people they're just weird old hatchbacks that look more suited to being driven by elderly ladies to the supermarket and back; but to others they are lightweight, rear-wheel drive cars with fun engines that beg you to drive them hard - not to mention a certain character and style that you only get from 1980s Japanese design. It's just crazy to think that, when I was much younger, these cars could be picked up for a few hundred pounds. Nowadays, you can see some examples going for over £10,000!
On that note, if there's one country (excluding Japan) that has the biggest love for the AE86 as far as I've seen, it's got to be Ireland. I'm not sure what it is, but people the Irish are nuts for them and it always impresses me how such a small country can contain so many. There are more in Ireland than in most of the UK combined.
My personal love for the AE86 came about, like many others, through drifting. There's just something so right about seeing an AE86 being thrown sideways, foot to the floor, with the driver giving it everything he has. It's just RAW, and it's always been my dream, since I started shooting cars, to shoot an AE86. Not just any old 86 - it had to be the right one. So, when I came across some new photos of Killian O'Brien and Kevin Reilly's Levin and Trueno, I knew they were the ones I had to shoot. So, after organising things with Killian and Kevin, I and my girl (who happens to be a big fan of Corollas, too - luckily for me!) headed over for a taste of Team Tekno style! Read more...
VIDEO> Formula Drift Visits the Pacific Northwest
MotorMavens | TANDEM OF DIE | Formula Drift Seattle from MotorMavens Dotcom on Vimeo.
Last weekend I experienced my third and greatest trip to Formula Drift Seattle. At this time two years ago, my ’09 Evergreen video graced the pages of MotorMavens and encouraged me to start shooting professional drifting on a larger scale. (more…)
VIDEO> Visualizing Drifting At Evergreen Speedway
As the next Formula D nears, Andrew Coomes and a few other drivers had the chance to test their cars at Evergreen Speedway.
YAER had an opportunity to stop by and shoot a goodie for MotorMavens. A short featuring myself (Ryan Davis) and Andrew Coomes… (more…)
VIDEO> Drifting With Team Yellow’s JZX100 MarkII
If you’ve been tuning in to MotorMavens lately, you’ll know that Joe Ayala and I recently returned from a trip to Norway to cover the three day Gatebil Festival in Rudskogen. Thanks to Team Yellow Drift and Racing, we were able to shoot virtually nonstop action as well as live comfortably in between drifting spectacles. We enjoyed local cuisine, local people, and most importantly – local race cars. Joe and I saw an endless number of home built drift and grip machines, ranging from 100-1000hp strong. No vehicle is turned away at Gatebil. (more…)
VIDEO> A Taste of The Gatebil Festival in Norway
MotorMavens | TANDEM OF DIE | Gatebil from MotorMavens Dotcom on Vimeo.
A huge thanks is due to Lars and Dag Harlem of Team Yellow in Rakkestad Norway for flying Joe Ayala and I over to cover the 2011 Gatebil Festival in Rudskogen. (more…)
VIDEO> JustDrift/Ziptied All Star Bash Weekend 2011
I couldn’t make it to All Star Bash AGAIN this year, so I can’t offer much insight to the event. What I do know is that many shenanigans were had, with the usual fireworks and drinking. During the day, the 108 degree weather put a huge damper on the action, making the night drifting the “cool” thing to do. (more…)
VIDEO> Last Year of Dirt At Pikes Peak Hillclimb
Look forward to a full edit of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the upcoming 2011 DVD from Justin Shreeve and Joe Ayala! (more…)
VIDEO> Hoshino Car Style at Ebisu Minami Course
Hoshino Car Style : Customer Drift Day お客様のドリフト日 from Luke Huxham on Vimeo.
I just got a link to this video from Facebook (Connect to MotorMavens on Facebook!), and it really got my attention for some reason. Why? While there’s certainly no shortage of drifting videos online (most of them are pretty bad), but this one was fun and refreshing! This video from Luke Huxham features my fun loving friends from Gunma, Japan tearing it up at Ebisu Circuit‘s South Course; they are a strong drifting family (I say family because the word ‘team‘ doesn’t accurately depict how close these guys are) called Geki Kassou Dan.
The members of the Geki family are certainly a popular bunch of misfits in the Gunma drifting scene. They are easy to spot, with bright orange paint adorning their cars as an homage to their revered friends, Ebisu Circuit’s own Team Orange. (more…)
VIDEO> YAER Shoots Formula Drift Palm Beach
Formula Drift at Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida was AWESOME!!! First off, I was excited getting there being part of the first group to shoot this location. It’s Florida, it’s new, they were changing the track up last minute.. It was a very freestyle feel to the weekend. Much less structured seeming than the previous events this year.
Secondly, the YAER team was out and about running wild, the drivers were killing it, and Walker Wilkerson (YAER sponsored driver) had a new reverse gear installed that allows him to enter the turns backwards. (more…)
VIDEO> JTP Schools Coomes on Drifting a V8
One of the advantages to building your race car at Portland Speed Industries is their ability to hook you up in ways you wouldn’t think possible – how about getting you a 40 acre parking lot, a pro driver and an entire fabrication/tuning staff on hand to help refine your skills and car set-up? (more…)
VIDEO> Formula D at Wall Speedway New Jersey
This year was Joe’s and my first trip to Formula Drift at Wall Speedway in New Jersey. Super bummed that I couldn’t make it out last season, I was very excited to see this awesome track. I know it may not look like much to most people, but as a videographer, Wall Speedway is what dreams are made of. There is so much texture and color and grit. The trees, asphalt, and guardrail all make it very fun to shoot. (more…)
COVERAGE> Formula Drift Speeds Into Palm Beach
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...
VIDEO> Drift Posse – Road To Formula Drift Atlanta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPvpCt5KZeY
Today is Dan Cyr of Cyrious Productions‘ Birthday! If you don’t know who Dan Cyr is, he’s the brother of the Pat Cyr, the baddest privateer AE86 Formula Drift rookie who cleaned up at the Irwindale Pro Am event in the tail end of 2010. What a better way to honor Dan’s efforts as a drift documentarian than posting his latest video from Formula Drift Round 2 – Atlanta. It’s the best we can do Dan! We are all starving artists for now. Happy Birthday!
What does it feel to be the proverbial black sheep? Or better yet, the wolf in sheep’s clothing? Before you contemplate and think that I’m going to throw all kinds of cliché’s at you, consider where privateers like Pat Cyr sit right now in the world of Formula Drift. It’s hardly cliché at all to see a 360hp, garage built, ratty AE86 in a field of expensive dream machines and famous drivers. To me, and to countless others, the story of the “underdog” never gets old. (more…)
COVERAGE> The Formula D Atlanta Experience Pt. 2
