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...
While some Formula D drivers are trying to get on podium, some are trying to get their cars done before the last few events. Nikolay Konstantinov has been doing just that.
After a pretty bad crash at Irwindale last year, he's been planning and redoing his car to be even more competitive this year. This is the same car that he drove last year with a new scheme. He ended up ditching the Type-X for the Instant Gentlemen kit. He also ditched the RB25DET for an LS2. No hate mail - please. Read more...
Hello MotorMavens! A quick introduction before I tell you about our recent journey over to Germany. My name is Jordan Butters and I am Editor of Drifted.com.
I was recently chatting with Antonio Alvendia about a trip I took to the Nürburgring on behalf of Falken Tyres Europe and the Team Falken UK drift team and he kindly allowed me to show you my shots and experience of the N24 Race here on MotorMavens. Read more...
August 13th marked the coming of one of the most anticipated events of the year in the Northwest. Xtreme Drift Circuit was coming to Pacific Grand Prix! This was a chance for the locals to put on a great show with the already talented list of drivers that follow the series.
XDC is known for their raw and mixed make series - making it an interesting change from the more serious Formula Drift. If there ever was an equivalent to the MSC drift competitions that are held in Japan, XDC would be it. Read more...
When Ryan Davis of YAER Productions asked me to edit these clips of Ryan Tuerck piloting the Gardella RacingMobil 1Nitto TireRed BullChevrolet Camaro during Formula DriftSeattle, 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…)
As some of you may (or may not) know, I'm definitely not from California. So when I found out that I would be going to California for a week, I knew that I'd have to check out as much stuff as I could possibly get around to checking out while I was there. Usually, when I go somewhere in the name of drift events, I don't really get to act like a tourist very much since the team is always busy taking care of race car stuff - but there was no race car stuff this time so I knew this was going to be my best chance to really see some cool stuff.
Once I got into town, my buddy Nick Soo suggested that we check out the Rucksters Customs garage. My experience with Honda Ruckus scooters was fairly limited, to say the least. I had seen a dude cruising on a fairly unmodified one at Drift Mania, and then this year at Formula Drift in Florida, I saw a stretched out Ruckus for the first time cruising around the paddock area. I was definitely intrigued but I was unable to get a really good look at the machine.
As soon as we pulled up to the Rucksters shop, it was clear we were at the right place. I figure that when your front door is this legit, you must have some awesome stuff behind it. We were greeted by shop manager Hai who was hanging out at the front counter, and he was more than happy to show us around the place and really school us on some crazy Ruckus knowledge.
Read more...
When it comes to automotive lifestyle, some people prefer hitting racetrack events, and some people prefer going to car shows. While the members of the MotorMavens crew definitely love going to the racetrack, we also realize that it's important to go to all kinds of indoor and outdoor car shows to promote our website to people that may not have seen it before.
When we were contacted by the organizers of the Spocom Tour to work with them as a promotional partner, we were definitely excited by the opportunities it would bring! Although the Southern California-based members of our MotorMavens Crew gained a little experience in throwing and promoting a big outdoor automotive event (Mass Appeal at Ken Block's Irwindale Gymkhana event), we had little to no experience in seeing what it's like to run a big indoor car show. We thought it would be extremely interesting to see the inner workings of a big car show series from people who had a track record of doing it, and so began the relationship between MotorMavens and Spocom.
The first thing we noticed about the Spocom Tour - it didn't feel like a normal car show from our standpoint! It felt like a big, fun party - a hype party that just happened to have a bunch of friends and cars crowded in between the vendor exhibits! Read more...
In continuing with our celebration of 8-6 Day, I wanted to bring back this shot I took of Taka Aono at Road Atlanta earlier this year. Seeing this car still compete at a top level in professional drifting really adds to the excitement and the theater (theatre?) of the event. As much fun as it is seeing two high-horsepower Goliaths battle it out, replacing one of those monsters with a David only makes things more interesting. This might be why the AE86 is still a crowd favorite, well over 20 years after its inception. Read more...
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…)
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...
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…)
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…)
I don’t think the Formula Drift creative team could’ve done a better job naming Round 4 of Formula Drift at Wall Speedway. ‘The Gauntlet’ was a round of pure destruction and chaos both on and off the track. With cars blowing motors, diffs, and smashing into the wall above the steep bank, watching FD at Wall Speedway was almost like watching a demolition derby with drift cars. Of course, Mother Nature made an appearance, bringing a torrential downpour and some crazy wind which wreaked havoc on the Need For Speed booth. (more…)
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…)
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...
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…)
I called this last video ”A Couple Days On Planet Jupiter.” Weird title, right? I picked it because really, it felt like we were on another planet for a weekend. Everything was completely different from any of our previous racing experiences, right down to the sand-floored pit area. Combine that with the hot weather, the hot ladies (of which there were many), and the otherworldly atmosphere of Formula Drift, and you’ve got yourself the recipe for a very foreign place to a bunch of Canadian drift junkies. (more…)
During Formula Drift‘s first Florida event last weekend, there were many bobbles, a few spins, and even a couple of wrecks. The new layout on Palm Beach International Raceway proved to be a challenge for drivers, event organizers, and media personnel alike. The slippery track was slightly technical, with a high speed and high angle entry, and rounded off with a smoky finish. (more…)
For the first time Formula DRIFT history, the war was brought to the battlegrounds in Florida at the Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR). Locals got to witness a "Battle of the Mustangs" as Justin "JTP" Pawlak took another victory this year in his Falken Tires Ford Mustang against last year's champion, Vaughn Gittin, Jr. and his Monster Energy/Falken Tires Ford Mustang. Darren McNamara (who qualified 2nd) and his Falken Tire Saturn Sky ended up in 3rd place after defeating number one qualifier Chris Forsberg and his NOS Energy Drink Nissan 370Z. Florida was very very good to Falken Tires! In fact, Florida was very good - period. Read more...
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...
The lesser-told stories of Formula Drift involve the homegrown teams and drivers who work their way up the rankings at grassroots and ProAm events to get the opportunity to pour out their own blood, sweat (and money) to face the best professional drifters in America. They represent the spirit of the sport.
In the spirit of representing the spirit of the sport (say that three times fast!), rookie Formula D driver Alex Lee came all the way down from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to debut his Driftmania Canadian Championship (DMCC) West winning 1990 Toyota Cresta at Long Beach! And he certainly did it with a bang! Read more...
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 baddestprivateer 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…)
