Vaughn Gittin Jr. Circa 2004 in his Falken S13
Check out one old school flashback to 2004 when Vaughn Gittin Jr. wasn’t even driving a Ford Mustang yet in Formula Drift. The video offers a super cool flashback to the 2004 Formula Drift season showing some footage from the Road Atlanta event. A great video showing the progression of Formula Drift and the 2010 champion back with it roots.
Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/vaughn-gittin-jr-circa-2004-in-his-falken-s13
We got some wheels in the other day for our Project V8 240sx. The wheels are Enkei RPF1 wheels in F1 silver. The wheels will be installed soon once our new tires arrive for the 240sx. This project car keeps building as we installed the APEX’i S1 coilovers last month over at on the V8 240sx project car blog! Be sure to keep an eye on the build as we will be making large steps in progress over the next few months during the California not so cold winter.
Check out our Enkei Wheels:
http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/v8s13nissan240sx/2010/12/28/enkei-rpf1-wheels-in-f1-silver-parts/
I thought of many ways to formulate this opt-ed piece today but I decided to cover all the issues I see going on in one blanket statement. OctaneReport listed the falling of D1GP the #9 biggest motorsport event of the year. The real question for me is, is D1GP even relevant to the American Drifting scene anymore?
I understand that the series has some cult fans and the drifting is damn entertaining to watch through Option DVD’s and now on the SPEED channel. The thing that has me stumped is how irrelevant the D1GP drivers have quickly become on the Formula Drift circuit. On top of rumors that Ryuji Miki won’t be returning next year in the Lexus SC430 I have been told that Yoshioka moved here full time and cannot secure a ride for the 2011 Formula Drift season.
The thing is nobody seemingly wants to fund/back his program or sign him up as a driver. Yoshioka has a leg up on everybody else from D1GP because he has won a Formula Drift event already in his AE86. I am not sure if the sponsors don’t want to deal with the language barrier or if the allure of a D1GP champion/driver/rodeo clown just has lost it’s appeal to the mass drifting market before us today.
I know some of your readers have been drifting fans before Formula Drift even came to be and I respect your cult like die-hard love for the series. However, the need drifting fan and the fan coming to the sport as it has grown doesn’t seem to be interested in the overseas onslaught of drifting. The lack of access to the sport really put it behind over the last few years.
A DVD distributor told me that Option DVD’s last year just stopped selling completely. Nobody was purchasing them and seemingly nobody still is picking them up. D’s Club America has packed up and returned to Japan from what I understand these days as well. They came and threw a horrible B-rate series in 2009 and then flaked completely in 2010 with promises and nothing to ever back it up.
Daigo Saito even drove at an international Formula Drift event (which I feel like is a sign of things to come stateside) who has been held captive by D1GP in pervious years from coming to participate in Formula Drift. Maybe threats from D1GP just aren’t holding the water that they use to be with Daigo that he came to participate in the American backed series this month?
The bigger question I guess I want everyone to weigh in on in the comments section is does anyone on a big picture scale care about D1GP anymore? Yokohama is pulling out as the rumors go, Daigo is driving in FD, Yoshioka moved to America, Inada and the Drift King have split ways with the series all within the last few months. Can a series like MSC make up for the slack in drifting in Japan or what does the future look like? Does this make Formula Drift the world power in drifting officially?
I spoke with Vaughn Gittin Jr. on the telephone yesterday and he confirmed with me that he will not be going to Formula Drift UAE at the end of February. He told me that scheduling conflicts just weren’t able to be worked out so that he could attend Formula Drift Abu Dhabi. This looks like it brings more truth to our rumor yesterday about Ken Gushi heading to the Middle East.
It looks like the Vaughn Gittin Jr. UAE rumor isn’t the only one traveling around Formula Drift circles these days. We have also been hearing a buzz about Ken Gushi heading over to Yas Marina Circuit to compete in the Formula Drift Abu Dhabi event coming up at the end of February. While I find it hard to believe they would ship him over a Scion it makes me wonder what other cars from the RSR bag of tricks could they get for Ken Gushi to drive?
Low Brain TV – The Dubai Edition pt1
The guys from JDM All-Stars had a drift demo at Dubai Festival but not with some huge nightmares on the logistics side including the cars getting out of customs after the event was over. Formula Drift driver James Deane was their for the event and provides plenty of commentary on how things went down.
Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/low-brain-tv—the-dubai-edition-pt1
Mike Ryan Drifting His Pikes Peak Freightliner at Irwindale Speedway
Check out Mike Ryan and his Pikes Peak Attacking Freightliner as he slides around Irwindale Speedway. He told me at the 2010 SEMA Show at the Snow Performance booth that he also has a Nissan 350z which he has been perfecting his drifting with as well.
Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/mike-ryan-drifting-his-pikes-peak-freightline
Gardella Racing has had an open driver search for the last few months. They are looking to add a second driver to their Formula D team. Today Gardella posted on his blog that he has narrowed the search to his top 3 picks: Patrick Cyr, Chelsea Denofa & Eric O’Sullivan. May the best man win.
Check out this 22 minute video from Blu808 and Luke Lonberger documenting the build of the C6 Corvette. This video is part one of a series that will walk us through the transformation of this daily drivable stock C6 Corvette into a full fledged drifting machine.
Watch the video: http://vimeo.com/17958947
Bill Wood had Daijiro Yoshihara on his radio show this week to talk about his victory at Gymkhana Grid when they brought up Formula Drift UAE. The event taking place in late February has Daijiro Yoshihara packing up this Nissan 350z (pictured above) to head out to the Middle East for a weekend of fun at Yas Marina Circuit.
