The last leg of the Toronto-based Drift Posse‘s first adventure into the Southwestern United States took place at the final round of XDC in Phoenix, Arizona. It was really fun getting to experience the different kind of climate that Arizona gets compared to California, even though the places are so close together (technically speaking). In California there seemed to be an ever-present but never bothersome breeze going on that made things much more pleasant, even though the sun was pretty damn hot. In Arizona, however, the air didn’t really move around at all, so it really served as a reminder that we actually were in the middle of a desert, kinda. We were fortunate enough to have a tent and two big trailers to keep out of the sun, but some of the other teams were not quite so lucky, and resorted to hanging out in the shadows of their trucks, or the little stucco building that served as a bathroom.
The event itself was an awesome time for me. At one point I had decided to go towards the starting line and see what the angle was like from there. Horrible angle. I could see the cars launching, which was kinda cool, but I couldn’t get a really good shot of it without getting in the way, so I didn’t bother. As I was moving away from that spot though, I noticed some people hanging out at this little elevated area right beside the initiation zone. That seemed like a golden opportunity to get some good shots, so I made my way over there.
Little did I know, but the people hanging out over there were XDC Judges Matt Petty and Chris Forsberg! I shot a couple initiations from that spot, but I felt like I needed to be closer. Forsberg immediately suggested that he’d stop the guy at the line from sending cars and I went out and put the camera in a safe spot on the track. Shortly after that both judges were getting totally into making good shots, with Matt Petty actually taking the camera and shooting for a while! It was pretty hilarious watching dudes who are known for being drivers wanting to get down and dirty with some filming.
The event itself was pretty good, although I was a little bit miffed because on the first day I had kinda explored the whole track trying to find the spot that I wanted to stay at for the main part of the competition, and like 30 minutes before the competition one of the dudes working there (not for XDC I don’t think, no idea) basically booted me out of my spot (which, for the record, was completely safe and behind a wall). I was able to find an okay spot in the bleachers on the other side of the track, but the lighting didn’t look quite as good from up there, and it just wasn’t what I had planned out originally. In the end it turned out okay, but I really wish I could’ve watched the event from my original “sweet spot”.
Anyway, with Phoenix being the last destination on our little tour, it was time to head back on home. With MotorMavens’ Jover Papag along for the ride, we now had two drivers for the rig while I navigated, and we made our way back across the U S of A to our home in Ontario, Canada (not Ontario, California) in one long sitting. Needless to say, we had an amazing time on our little adventure, and are very much excited to make our trips to the States even more frequent.
And you can be sure that I’ll be there, and covering it for you here at MotorMavens.com!!
::Dan Cyr
This is one of my favourite videos, Dan! I was glad to be a part of this mini-tour with Dan and Pat Cyr. This past year I am pretty grateful for the opportunities to witness some really good highlights and say to myself that I was part of it when I’m old and grey. Thanks again to the Mavens crew for taking care of your homeboy when I was in LA. It was cool meeting some new faces too!
Big props to Motormavens.com! They contributing in part to why there’s a buzz around Drift Posse and most particularly, Patrick Cyr. Oh you don’t know? Where’ve you been hiding?
For those readers out there who don’t know, Pat Cyr is in top contention to be considered for a driver position in the Gardella Racing roster. I don’t want to jinx it at all, but I’ll let you read:
http://www.gardellaracing.com/news/?p=222
Can’t wait to see how 2011 will unfold.
“… here comes the sand… roll up your windows.. lock ’em down… WE GOT A SAAAAANDSTORM!”
– Me and Pat look at each other… wTf? Oh SHIT! Never had a tear down of a tent, car and gear go so fast!
Dan, that shot at ~2:50 was nuts! Good job on the edit!
@Jov: I’m tempted to call this one of my faves too, to be honest. It’s probably one of my more minimal edits, so I’m happy it turned out as nicely as it did. I think the fact that I used a different frame rate for this video is helping make things especially nice.
@JMac: Thanks dude!!! Yeah, if I had a contest to decide which of my shots this year I liked the most, I think that one would win hands down. It’s pretty hard to not love a hachiroku limiter shot!
Well given the fact that you weren’t given the chance to shoot in the “sweet spot” you had in mind, I thought it turned out great!
Best of luck as part of Gardella’s final 3 picks for 2011!
All these drift videos get me pumped for DMCC 11′ Can’t wait to shoot with you again! Your work is so amazing bro!
Nice video. I spotted myself at least twice in the background lol
The write-up makes it sound like people were sweating… It was nice out! Come back in August or July.
@Brandon: Thanks dude!! Yeah, all things considered I ended up really happy with the final product, so yeah, it’s kinda whatever at that point. Still though, if I ever go back to Phoenix, I’m making a big stink about that spot being crucial and needing more k-rails.
@Ben: Hell yeah, thanks dude!! Hope to see you out at more events this year!
@Matt: Good stuff dude!! I always try spotting myself in the background of other people’s vids and I’m rarely able to find myself. And straight up, we WERE sweating! 😛 I mean, yeah it was kinda pleasant, but the shade was like money at that event, we couldn’t get enough. I guess maybe it’s because we’re from the North? Possibly?
I’ve watched this one more times than any other. I think it’s great! A complete sight and sound experience!
Awesome work man!! Can’t wait to drive with you guys next year. I’m sure I speak for everyone in Phoenix when I say thank you for the video and for the awesome driving. Dope choice in music too for sure!
who’s is the artist???
@Dan, yeah, you guys just aren’t used to it. I thought I was going to freeze to death in 40 degrees yesterday, so I’m sure it works the other way too.
@RJ: The song is Silk Suits by Kram
@Matt: Yeah dude!! Once you get used to your climate, changing over can be a bit of a shock. I remember when I was working on a movie set several years ago in September or something, and there were some actors from Cali who were all bundled up and shivering and stuff, but all the Canadians were cruising around in shorts and t-shirt. 😛
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Really cool video. Glad it does not follow the typical drift vid format.
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