WEBMINING> Ebisu Summer Drift Matsuri 2009
This video of the 2009 Summer Drift Matsuri at the famed Ebisu Circuit is just plain awesome. It’s got tons of variety in cars and courses and lots of high speed fly-bys. I haven’t been to Ebisu yet personally, but by the looks of this video, it’s no wonder everyone is so crazy about Ebisu. I can’t wait to go!
Check it out!
::Justin Shreeve
WEBMINING> Nikko Circuit in the Rain
Nikko Circuit: Part 2 from David Dizzle on Vimeo.
As the gloomy rainy season begins for many of us, I thought I’d post up a cool rainy drift video, reminding us that the rain isn’t all that bad… it saves tires!
Chasers, Mark IIs, Soarers, Silvias, 180SXs, Skylines, Levins, Truenos and RX7s… I stumbled across this gem on Vimeo recently, featuring lots of awesome Japanese cars at the famous Nikko Circuit. The entire three-part series is viewable on MayDayGarage.com, check it out!
:: Justin Shreeve
VIDEO> Evergreen Drift Round 4
Evergreen Drift Round 4 from MotorMavens Dotcom on Vimeo.
Hey guys, it’s Justin again. Last Sunday, I visited Monroe, Washington for Round 4 of the Evergreen Drift series. The final round saw a lot of upsets as some drivers weren’t able to attend and others were plagued with car troubles. Overall, it was an exciting day, making for lots of good footage.
For more information regarding the Evergreen Drift series, please visit EvergreenDrift.com.
:: Justin Shreeve
WEBMINING>Team Battle:Drift by Stephen Brooks
Team Battle:Drift from Stephen Brooks on Vimeo.
I’ve been checking out Stephen Brooks’ work lately on Vimeo. The man from the land of tea and crumpets makes great videos, but this one really stood out to me in particular. It was shot during a team drift event (hence the name) at the Norfolk Arena, which is about 2.5 hours North of London.
Although I’m not too keen on the song choice, I think it matched the content of the video very well. Beyond that, I feel like this piece does a great job to portray all the emotions behind the scenes of a drift event. Don’t worry though, there’s great drifting footage as well!
::Justin Shreeve
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars at Wembley Part 2
But the day wasn't just for practice, it was for qualifying and with over 50 drivers it was going to be a long one. Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula D Seattle, Part 3
It's a long story, but in a nutshell, the Formula D/SCCA guy Randy Hembrey got pissed off at me and pulled my hard card on Saturday (competition day), which allows me to get track access for shooting photos. This was definitely a problem, as I was expected to produce good images that weekend (I was shooting the event for clients, who helped pay my way to get up to Seattle). I had a hell of a time trying to get photos for the rest of the day, especially without access to the hot areas, but I still managed to get some photos somehow.
So here it is... Formula D Seattle through my eyes. Read more...
ARCHAEOLOGY> Ueo vs Taniguchi Video
For those who weren’t there, in celebration of August 6th “Hachiroku Day” that was made into a worldwide holiday by our friend HerbrockOne on Club4AG several years ago… we just thought we’d dig into the vaults for this one.
Were YOU there? We were. It was August 31, 2003. The legendary Battle for Irwindale… and the first inaugural D1 Grand Prix event on US soil. AE86 vs S15. Katsuhiro Ueo from Kyushu Japan vs Nobuteru Taniguchi from Hiroshima Japan.
The video footage may be old, but the memories from this night are vivid as ever, in our minds. What an epic event. Listen to the crowd in the video. I still get goosebumps on my neck. Being on top of the grand stands watching the cars run so close to each other. The videos we had all seen at our friends house were now real in front of us. This event was the first time the chant “One more time!” was screamed from the fans mouths cause we all were in such disbelief at how awesome each run was we just had to say wait a minute wait a minute “One more time” cause that was just too unbelievable.
Long live the AE86!
:: Steve Starr
COVERAGE> Formula D Brings Heat to Vegas, Part 3
In the pit area right before qualifying, the Apex'i crew was busy at work - either their differential or ring and pinion seized up, because the rear wheels on Ryuji Miki's FD3s wouldn't spin at all - they were completely locked up! The Apex'i crew always seems to be working tirelessly, as we always see them working on their cars on the side of the track.
In this photo, we see Jeren Walker from DSPORT Magazine offering to lend a helping hand, so that the Apex'i crew could get the car back on track and Miki could qualify. Jeren works for a magazine - he wasn't hired to help Apex'i; he had nothing to gain from getting down and dirty, helping to get Miki's car back on track. Yet he willingly volunteered to help, because that's what people do from the grassroots drifting scene. Wait... Apex'i..? Grassroots? Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula D Brings Heat to Vegas, Pt 1
As a member of the media with a trackside photo pass, I remember being extremely uncomfortable because of Formula D safety rules requiring us to wear long pants instead of shorts at the track. However, just think about what the drivers must be feeling like - wearing full fire suits and Nomex underwear and HELMETS, sitting inside hot cars without air conditioning; with hot metal roofs working like a broiler due to the lack of headliners and insulation in a professional drift car.
Nevertheless, the crowd at Formula D remained upbeat and excited, due to the level of driving prowess they were treated to. Vegas drift fans are hardcore! Regardless of the heat, these fans were down to sit outside in the stands, sweating and cheering as their favorite professional drifters slid past them, dousing the grandstands in a bath of tire dust. Read more...
VIDEO> Spocom USA Show
Spocom%3a+Models+%2b+Formula+D%2c+Time+Attack+%26+VIP+Cars
Check out our newest video on Streetfire.net, which features some video footage from the Spocom USA show at the Long Beach Convention Center. We decided to go to Spocom to meet up with some friends, and also to see what it would be like if we combined the footage from the small Canon HF S100 consumer HD camera I’m testing with the footage from Antonio’s Canon 5D MarkII digital SLR, which he normally only uses for shooting still photos!
Luckily for us, Antonio’s younger brother David was in town; he helped us capture a lot of this video footage while his big bro stopped at every. single. booth… to say hi to a friend of his. David’s an aspiring video producer in training – he’s only 16 years old, but he seems to have a good eye for composition already!
Enjoy the video and the music… I wonder if anyone can easily identify which video clips were shot with the 5DMk2 and which ones were shot with the HF S100?
:: Travis Hodges
WEBMINING> Calvin Wan’s S15 on Streetfire
We just saw this awesome video of Falken Tire works driver Calvin Wan on Streetfire.net, which features Calvin driving his S15 Silvia at a pre-season private practice event.
The “test track” in the video is an EVOC facility in San Bernadino CA, which is actually an Emergency Vehicle Operations Center used by the California Highway Patrol for training. However, we’re pretty sure that the CHiPs don’t get drifting training yet. And certainly not in a vehicle as stylish as Calvin’s S15 Silvia, his 2009 Formula D competition car that we’ve seen previously in red and yellow and black and yellow liveries. You know which liveries we’re talking about, right?
::Motor Mavens
