VIDEO> The Spirit of Formula D Las Vegas
My recent trip to Las Vegas for round 5 of Formula Drift was one of minimal luxuries. Joe Ayala and I could only afford one night in a hotel and a rental car was out of the question. Day one, we got up around noon, grabbed some “breakfast” at the Blueberry Hill next to the hotel, and began our journey to the track at around two. The trek consisted of roughly 2-3 miles, on foot, in 108 degree weather. Luckily for us, we found a shopping cart to carry our backpacks, camera cases, laptop bags, and of course my skateboard. Before long, we had covered the cart in MotorMavens cards (gotta represent) and found fun stuff to do on the way, such as drifting and dirt dropping the cart on the side of Las Vegas Blvd. Joe and I had fun overall, but boy were we glad when an old woman (with a legit mustache) stopped and asked us if we needed a ride. She drove us about a quarter of a mile to the gift shop of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, complaining the whole time about how she would be late to work. Haha!
Anyone will tell you that there’s really no way to describe a trip to FD Vegas other than “hot.” I had a great time making new acquaintances, like when my buddy Josh Herron took us by Forrest Wang‘s shop to BS and look at all his rad cars. I also had fun catching up with friends, like when the amazing Drew Fishbein and Ross Fairfield from OMGDrift let Joe and I stay in their hotel room because 18andFamous Abbitt Wilkerson was too busy napping to answer his door. Haha!
Regarding the video, I apologize for taking so long to finish it. The song I chose has a small introduction that requires specific footage to go with the audio. Hobo and I had arranged beforehand to film what I needed while in Vegas. Unfortunately, the lovely security team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was very strict about when and who could drive in or out of the gates, so we just couldn’t make it happen. That being said, I had to acquire the help of up-and-coming photographer, videographer, actor, and stunt driver Joe Ayala to finish the timeline.
Special thanks to Jason at ContourHD for hooking us up with the cameras. These things are a blast to use! Definitely one of the most fun moments of the trip was running around the grid, sticking cameras on cars. Thanks again!
Enjoy! 
:: Justin Shreeve
VIDEO> AE86 Life with Taka Aono
Taka Aono 2009 Formula D video from Ross Fairfield on Vimeo.
When Ross Fairfield told me that his new video featuring Taka Aono and his AE86 was almost complete, I immediately told him to send me the link as soon as it was finished… I couldn’t wait to put this video up on the site, even though I had never before seen it until now. After all, Taka Aono is one of my favorite AE86 drivers ever… he is hardcore, and drives his AE86 with every ounce of commitment and heart that a driver could put into their car or their driving effort.
Taka Aono is one of those drivers that doesn’t need to get on top of the podium at every Formula Drift event in order to have a huge fanbase. Just look… there are plenty of guys who podium all the time, yet fans love to hate them, right? Taka isn’t one of those guys. Taka doesn’t measure his results by the trophies he’s earned or the amount of media exposure he’s gotten. Instead, he concentrates on being there. Taka is out at almost every grassroots drifting event in California, either as a driver or as a judge or an instructor. He focuses his efforts on making a real difference in the grassroots drifting community, and we can see that. We love Taka Aono! Hopefully more of the bigtime drifters follow in Taka’s footsteps and focus more of their efforts on giving back to the grassroots drifting community, building new drifters and helping new drivers come up through the ranks!
Support Taka Aono in 2010! Big ups to Ross Fairfield for choosing to debut this video on Motor Mavens!
:: Antonio Alvendia
VIDEO> Heavy Metal Pro Am
PRO AM Finals from Ross Fairfield on Vimeo.
Well… I’m not quite sure about the heavy metal headband wearing headbanger “rock onnnnn” long hair tight pants faded black Ozzy Osbourne t-shirt wallet chain black fingernails music, as it’s not my personal style (sorry if I offend those schooled in metal)… but here’s what our boy Ross Fairfield’s eye captured at the Irwindale Pro Am. Check it out!
And Ross… party on bro. I’m just scared to hear what your video might say when you play it backwards, LOL.
:: Antonio Alvendia
More Irwindale Pro Am photos, stories, and videos on MOTOR MAVENS
WEBMINING> Dead Pirate at Irwindale
Formula D Irwindale Round 7 “Judgement Day” from Ross Fairfield on Vimeo.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the newest video from Formula D Irwindale, which was produced by Ross Fairfield from Dead Pirate Productions in conjunction with our friends at Streetfire.net. I think it’s the best work I’ve seen from Ross thus far, so props to him for continually working to step up his game. That’s what it’s all about… constant improvement and the never ending quest to seek out new angles and new ways to present the “same old subject.”
This video includes some great footage of all the familiar Formula D characters, plus some cameos from some less familiar faces, like our new Motor Maven from Seattle, Yoshi Shindo, at 4:39. Great job Ross – did you get some new equipment or what?
:: Antonio Alvendia
VIDEO> Sliding Through Sonoma
Formula Drift Sonoma Round 6 Locked & Loaded from Ross Fairfield on Vimeo.
Yesterday, we found out about this video from Formula D Sonoma that was produced by a friend of the MotorMavens, Ross Fairfield from Dead Pirate Productions. Since nobody from the core Motor Mavens crew made it up to the event, watching this video is the next best thing. In our opinion, it’s the best video we’ve seen from Ross thus far. Good work Ross! Keep it coming!
::Lieze Truter
VIDEO> Dead Pirate Productions at FD Seattle
Formula D Round 5 BREAKING POINT from Ross Fairfield on Vimeo.
Our buddy Ross Fairfield from Dead Pirate Productions just sent us an AIM message about his new video from FD Seattle. Ross has been working overtime to put this video together because of some problems he was having with uploading to Vimeo FOUR TIMES (***ahem*** that’s why we use Streetfire ***ahem***).
Hey Ross – great work shooting, and we’re glad you put in all that editing and exporting work so we could watch your video! Ross just did a writeup about the video on Everything Drift so check it out for more info!
:: Travis Hodges
WEBMINING> DeadPirates x Tommy Suell's AE86
Tommy Suell 2009 from Ross Fairfield on Vimeo.
We were looking at the Vegas Drift site just the other day, where they apparently posted up this new video from our buddy Ross Fairfield from Dead Pirates Productions. We’re still processing images from ASB, keep checking back for updates soooooon!!!
:: Motor Mavens
