In cased you missed Part 1 of this saga where Victoria Lo dominated all the media/press boys in a SVT Raptor challenge you can head over to Part 1 on Wrecked Magazine and read it – “We Send A Girl to the Octane Academy And She Wins.”

I’m back to continue making you jealous of my time at Ford Racing’s Octane
Academy last week. In my last post, I drifted with Vaughn Gittin JR. and went on a
seat-of-your-pants ride with Brian Deegan. I also won the Reverse Raptor Challenge!

After lunch it was time for stunt driving with Tanner Foust, one of my all-time
favorite drivers. When my group arrived at Tanner’s station, he was out playing on
the wet Jennite surface, effortlessly doing fancy pirouettes and 360s in the all-new
Ford Focus ST. Now this sounds totally lame but once you see him drive in person
you’ll understand: He was born to do this. This session was a battle, as I was super
excited to get behind the wheel with Tanner, however I was still slightly hungover
from the previous night’s outing. But hello, this is Tanner Foust! I had to stick it out.
Tanner gave us a quick run-down of how to do a 180 J turn and the 360 spin and
then it was time to get behind the wheel. The dashboard and center console had
so many warning lights on it felt like Christmas in there. Tanner had disconnected
everything, including the ABS. The challenge for this part of the Academy was to
spin the Focus but maintain control – any cones knocked over would result in point
deductions.

The actual driving portion of stunt driving with Tanner was awesome but riding
along while other group members attempted the 360 was almost unbearable.
Nausea + Newbie Stunt Driving = Hell. But, I made it through and Tanner
successfully taught me how to do the 180 and 360. Check out my stunt driving
footage with Tanner Foust as cameraman! I had such a great time learning how to properly
do these stunts because let’s be honest, who hasn’t attempted to do a 180 in the
snow? But alas, the training was dangerous as it rained the other day and I had to
fight the urge to yank that e-brake and hone my 360 skills… My poor Honda s2000.

And finally, the last session of the day was rallying with Ken Block. Apparently Ken’s
not one for teaching, so Ford brought in its crew from the Tim O’Neil Rally School to
give us the training we needed. The challenge was obvious: Rally the course as close
to Ken’s 2:15 time as possible. While we were receiving hands-on instructions from
the O’Neil team, Ken took us out one by one for a ride-along on the rally course in
his Ford Fiesta. He’s a man of few words that Ken, but the man can drive!

During the instructional, one of the coaches advised: Rallying is driving as fast as
you can for the conditions – but all I got from that was “Drive as fast as you can!”
My practice lap around the course was tame but as soon as the countdown for the
official lap began, I was all pedal to the metal. After an awesome start I couldn’t take
the braking anymore and just wanted to go fast – Um, hello! There’s a time to beat! I
quickly learned my lesson though, as I unintentionally incorporated Tanner Foust’s
previous 180 teachings into my rally (see my sad fail here). My heavy foot resulted
in a non-winning time but at least I learned what NOT to do while rallying. Plus, I
wasn’t one of the guys [names withheld to protect their pride] who put the Fiesta
in the ditch or completely flipped it over, so all in all I’d say the rally session was
successful! I’d actually love to take another stab at rallying to really learn how to
control turns and weaves at fast speeds – I’m looking at you Tim O’Neil – but until
then I’ll just take my need for speed out on the SoCal drivers. Again, my poor s2000.

So that’s my recap of my awesome day at Octane Academy. My posts definitely
haven’t done this program justice… If you love driving, cars, speed, Vaughn,
Tanner, Deegan, and/or Ken, this is not something you want to miss out on. I
have to thank the Ford Racing team again for allowing us to participate in such
an awesome program. Octane Academy is definitely an experience that everyone should try – or at least, attempt to try (you have to get accepted, first!). If you haven’t submitted your video application yet, do it now! Upload your video to
www.octaneacademy.com before the deadline!

The guys from Modern Automotive Performance posted this D1 Grand Prix bed. Now I have a huge feeling this is a photoshop job but I like the idea of where they are going with this. We were at the release of this drift car back at the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon when Team Orange released this new car in the Yokohama Tire booth. If you can prove your a bigger drifting fan than this guy with his D1GP bed please send us pictures and we will get you on the website ASAP!

Source: http://www.facebook.com/modernautomotiveperformance

If you read my new editorial we are buried deep in project cars and SEMA preparations. When we got the invite to head out to Detroit, Michigan for the Octane Academy no one in the office had the time on our hands. I called on our newest pit reporter Victoria Lo who cut her teeth on the mean streets of New York City for years and finally got enough sense to move to California. Below is her story on how she beat a bunch of boys doing car things while Formula D champions Tanner Foust and Vaughn Gittin Jr. stood by, coached, and watched. -Joey Redmond

Last week I was fortunate enough to participate in a condensed version of Ford
Racing’s Octane Academy at the Michigan Proving Grounds. If you watched this
year’s X-Games 17, I’m sure you saw the commercials for Octane Academy featuring
its four well-known instructors: Vaughn Gittin JR., Brian Deegan, Tanner Foust, and
Ken Block.

While the full Academy program lasts 4 days, our media “tease” allotted the 5-
person groups about 90 minutes with each rotation. Each driver had a specific
expertise: Vaughn – Drifting, Deegan – Off-Road Racing, Tanner – Stunt Driving, and
Block – Rallying. Each session had a challenge to complete and the person with the
most points at the end of the day would be crowned Champion. The competitor in
me was awakened.

My group started off with the 2010 Formula Drift Champion, Vaughn Gittin JR. Each
person received a hot lap with Vaughn in Ford’s 300hp V6 Mustang to experience
riding sideways at 90mph. While the ride was thrilling and filled with adrenaline,
I spent a lot of the time concerned that my helmeted head would at any point bash
out the passenger window. It was an awesome ride but it was time to switch seats
because it was now my turn behind the wheel. The goal for this challenge was
simple: Drift the longest around an oval. I watched JR intently during the hot lap so
his instructions seemed easy enough: “… accelerate to that cone at about 3000rpms,
whip it right and then turn it left while slamming down on the throttle. Then, when
you feel it catch, let off the throttle for a second and then follow with gas, no gas,
gas, no gas, and steering the wheel accordingly.” Got it! But with only enough time
for 3 attempts, it became clear that drifting is not as easy as it looks (or sounds)!

JR’s feedback was I’m too throttle-happy – apparently I just want to go fast. All the
time… I took this as a compliment. Although I did the second best in my group, it
was nothing compared to the winner’s (Alex from Rides Magazine) 6 full-laps. My
session with Vaughn was awesome and I’m sure with some more practice and a
healthy supply of tires (hello sponsors!), I could drift circles around Alex.

Next up was off-road racing with X-Games 17 Rally Cross Gold Medalist, Brian
Deegan, in a Ford F-150 SVT RAPTOR. Surprisingly, this was one of the most exciting
hot laps, as Deegan’s excitement after every jump was equivalent to mentioning
Justin Bieber to a 12-year-old girl. On one of the jumps, we launched so high and

landed so hard that the power steering went out. Did that end our hot lap? Not
a chance! With cameras on us, we had to power though and Deegan muscled the
RAPTOR like a champ. He really is a talented driver as it’s no wonder he’s doing so
well in off road racing – he just won the Pro Lite and Pro 2 in the Lucas Oil Off Road
Racing Series! Keep kickin’ ass, Brian!

The folks at Ford Racing knew letting us loose on the off-road track behind the
wheel of the RAPTOR would be a cluster fuck filled with flipped trucks and mud in
their hair, so they opted for a calmer, more controlled, Reverse Raptor Challenge.
The task? Navigate the muddy slalom course in reverse using ONLY the Raptor’s
back-up camera in less than 5 minutes without knocking over any cones. The
challenge required no real driving skills except a little depth perception, knowing
your left from your right and then flipping that, but definitely left us trusting those
nifty back-up cameras a bit more. And although I got extremely nauseous watching
the screen while driving, there was something else I took away from this challenge…
A Rockstar Energy Drink Refrigerator! That’s right, I won, bitches! I can’t wait for
my apartment to look like a college dorm room. Part 2 is coming soon so stay tuned!

The guys at ACT gave us some great news about Fantasy Drift this week for our loyal players. Below in the block quote text is all the information ACT is providing for the contest. To give you cliff notes we are picking three people randomly who are running ACT drivers for this contest. Below you can see what you will win if your in this top three. Here is a quick list of drivers that make you eligible to win:

Eric O’Sullivan
Fredric Aasbo
Ian Fournier
Jeff Abbott
Joon Maeng
Matt Field
Matt Powers
Nikolay Konstantinov
Ryan Kado
Ryan Tuerck

 

 

 

Here is the ACT Press Release:

ACT is pleased to present a special prize package for participants in Wrecked Magazine Fantasy Drift 2011.  One lucky Fantasy Drift PRO player will win the grand prize which includes a one of a kind ACT themed Sony PlayStation 3 and a complete set of ACT swag! Two additional players will each receive an ACT swag bag.  

Grand Prize includes the following:

• Custom ACT Sony PS3 (160gb or equivalent) & extra controller
• ACT T-shirt
• ACT Hat
• ACT Lanyard
• ACT License Plate Frames
• ACT Zippo Lighter
• ACT Mechanic Gloves
• ACT Sunglasses

 

Second and Third Prize includes the following:

• ACT T-shirt
• ACT Hat
• ACT Lanyard
• ACT License Plate Frames
• ACT Zippo Lighter
• ACT Mechanic Gloves
• ACT Sunglasses

 

 

 

 

(Approximate Retail Value of Prize Package: $650)
Advanced Clutch Technology is a premier clutch manufacturer that has more than 700 different applications and more than 1,300 performance clutch kits. The company’s product line features clutches and forged flywheels for the most popular vehicles in the sport compact, American and European car markets. Advanced Clutch Technology has been involved with the sport of drifting since 2004 and currently sponsors Ryan Tuerck, Eric O’Sullivan, Fredric Aasbo, Matt Powers, Joon Maeng, Matt Field, Ryan Kado, Jeff Abbott, Ian Fournier and Nikolay Konstantinov.  ACT is headquartered in Lancaster, Calif.  

The typical DSTROYR gear comes in black or a slighter darker black but to match the obnoxious look of Odi’s car the guys at DSTROYR went all out for this one. A great blue color is the background for Odi Bakchis insane wrapped S14 sliding down your shirt. We are sure you can find this shirt floating around FD Las Vegas/Irwindale later this year but if you have no patience like most of the world you can pick it up online at the DSTROYR storefront.

Buy It Now: http://www.dstroyr.com/store.html

It seems like this is the year to move your drift cars on the market. This one being sold by Taka Aono is the cheapest of the lot we have seen. This 1986 GTSR5 is a widebody with a seam welded chassis and aligned the same as his competition car when he was running N/A. All of this for sale in the local Los Angeles area for a cool $3,300. A great starter drift car owned by a Formula Drift legend at this price is a steal.

Check Out the For Sale Thread: http://forums.club4ag.com/zeropost?cmd=tshow&id=94785

The Gawker Network website Jalopnik published an article today written by The Daly Planet about “How NBC and Comcast are killing IndyCar.” The article spans out to make some valid points but glazes over some important facts. The reason people aren’t watching IRL spans far beyond the television network.

Everyone knows (or you should realize) that VERSUS is being used by NBC to do battle with ABC/ESPN. Being involved in a huge multi billion dollar pissing content can only help the likes of Formula Drift. Before I get too involved in this story let’s visit a topic that happened back on June 22nd, 2011. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts announced a new name or rebranding is going to happen with VERSUS. Rumors have been spreading in media circles something like “NBC Sports” will be the new name for the channel. If you notice the VERSUS website already redirects to NBC Sports micro site on MSNBC (source).

The branding of NBC within the sports channel network should make huge waves inside the community of supporters, teams, and advertisers of Formula Drift. The channel gets 80,000,000+ homes currently and slapping the words NBC in front of the channel is a statement that could help it grow to 100 million+ quickly and get sponsors taking a second look at team proposals.

Indy has one marketable driver that is a household name in Danica Patrick. She is also rumored to be heading over to NASCAR full time in 2012 leaving Randy Bernard and the Indy team in a huge pickle. They are looking for all kinds of gimmicks to ramp up the end of season. I don’t see how they can blame the television network on poor ratings when the series hasn’t been the buzz of anything in a long long time.

All it takes is a quick look over to sports like the NHL who love the NBC deal they struck and have received record ratings in the last season. The networks are going to do battle for sports supremacy over the next few years and frankly ESPN is chalked full of American football and baseball. After watching the MLS Game of the Week on ESPN we were sitting in a living room among friends and the television was left on.

Next thing I knew they were making predictions about college football rival matches that were ages away. Other than a rare soccer match (most of it is on FOX Soccer) I never tune into ESPN like I did back in the day. It lacks sports variety and actual sporting events. Most of the time they are just talking about these sports and not showing them.

The only other real option is SPEED channel but they have a one track mind for NASCAR that is beyond healthy. Recently they opted to not show part of a Formula 1 weekend to air something worthless like a RE-AIR of a Nationwide NASCAR practice. How they determined anyone would watch that instead of live Formula 1 racing is beyond me? So let’s not let IndyCar’s poor choices and $37,000,000 operating deficit over the last two seasons cloud the reality of why they have bad ratings.

So let’s not sound any false alarms as we get geared up for Formula Drift Seattle. The television network is going to be under a new name that can only do good for our sport and the sports television wars is a winner for all programming involved. NBC has rights to the Olympics for a good time period after winning a huge bid over rivals such as EPSN as well. The show can use some improvements and I think we all realize that but that is another post for another day.

Former Formula Drift driver Jodin Lejeune of Drift Emporium has been arrested by the Gwinnett County police force back on 6/17. According to the Gwinnett County office online docket he was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. He was released on $5,700 bail according to the police docket. For those of you who don’t remember Jodin owned and managed the Drift Emporium team for several seasons. He also personally drove the blue V8 powered Infiniti G35 pictured below.

Before the 2011 season started they put up the transport rig and some of the cars (including the blue G35) up for sale on eBay. The orange G35 that was driven by Forrest Wang a few times got painted hunter green this year and was driven by Jodin Lejeune at Formula Drift Round 3 PBIR during the Pro Am competition. No word or update on if he will be back in the car soon but some of the other Drift Emporium cars we have been told are out in California currently possibly ready for some west coast drift action?

Adams Motorsports Park is the longest running weekly drift event in America and it goes down every Thursday night in Riverside, California. Many Formula Drift pros are in attendance on any given weekday and some even do shake down runs in their pro rides. We have heard that tonight John Russakoff will be in attendance at the track. It should be a good one so head on down if your local or make the drive out to Riverside! It is $5.00 to get in as a spectator and $20/hour to compete drifting all night at Adams.

Adams Motorsports Park
5292 24th st
Riverside, CA 92501

Formula Drift driver Dennis Mertzanis qualified 33rd at PBIR which has to be the worst qualifying spot you can score. It’s one slice away form the big show but Dennis has been constantly growing since his rookie season in 2010 and now carries a title sponsorship with Konig Wheels. The 33rd place was a tough blow but Dennis is focusing and getting ready for Wall Speedway this weekend. Check out his blog over on his Wrecked Magazine home.

Read his Blog: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/dennis/2011/06/13/round-3-west-palm-beach-stayin-outta-of-florida/