A great video produced from Road Atlanta showing off the Nitto Tires team car builds from Vaughn Gittin Jr., Chelsea DeNofa, and Matt Powers. Get a look at their three very different builds and chassis that come together and compete in the same sport. Check out what goes into these Formula Drift builds courtesy of Nitto.
The WDS series in China this weekend took over the Olympic Stadium in Tianjin for another awesome weekend of drifting. The China series has brought in more drivers year over year and the Chinese fans seem to just go wild for a chance to see the worlds best drifters compete against locals and themselves in China. An epic rematch from Road Atlanta took place in the finals between Daigo Saito and Vaughn Gittin Jr. and leaving another Formula Drift driver in third place. Here is how they finished up:
1. Vaughn Gittin Jr.
2. Daigo Saito
3. Matt Powers
KW Suspension shows off its 2013 drift team including Chris Forsberg, Dai Yoshihara, Ken Gushi, Ryan Tuerck, and Matt Powers round out the big 2013 team. This interview highlights the team, the changes they made to programs in the new year, and what KW suspension they are running. Sit back and enjoy what the team has to say.
Matt Powers threw up a regram of this guy last night at the Long Beach bars pretending to be him enough so that some poor girl posted up a photo of them together. She even threw in a little bragging that she hung out with Matt Powers last night after he took home a win at the Motegi $25k Super Drift challenge. Aside from this being hilarious we want to warn you ladies that this isn’t the real Matt Powers!
In all seriousness if you drift groupies are looking to hang out with some professional drifters we recommend Rock Bottom (1 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802), Auld Dubliner (71 S Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802), and Beachwood Brewing (210 E 3rd St Long Beach, CA 90802). If you do happen to know the gentlemen in this photograph give him a congrats and tell him to email us! We want to at least get him a Matt Powers team shirt for the future!
Matt Powers drove his Fatlace / Nitto Tire S14 to the win in the first ever Motegi Superdrift Challenge, narrowly defeating Mike Essa’s GSR Autosports BMW E46 in the final. Walker Wilkerson earned 3rd place by default due to Freddy Aasbo crashing out in his battle with Powers in the top 4.
1st – Matt Powers – Fatlace / Nitto Tire S14
2nd – Mike Essa – GSR Autosports / Yokohama BMW E46
3rd – Walker Wilkerson – Fueled Racing / Achilles Tire S14
The $25k Super Drift Challenge fired up with 16 cars battling for a big pay day weekend at the Grand Prix. Michael Essa took home the top qualifier as we reported and we captured some photographs from under the lights thanks to Jacob Leveton. The tandem groups are all set with a drivers suffering from vehicle malfunctions who will scramble today to get their car back in one piece for tandem.
Check out the Gallery: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=330
Mike Essa took home the top qualifying spot, scraping both walls between turns 9 and 10 and putting on a show for the Long Beach Grand Prix crowd! Several drivers had car problems, and may or may not return tomorrow. Qualifying was a best of two runs affair, with drivers who failed to make a pass being ranked based on their 2013 FD points standings. Walker Wilkerson turned his first wheels on track for 2013, while drivers like Jeff Jones and Forrest Wang continued to look strong and built off of their performances last weekend.
Here’s the qualifying order:
1st – Mike Essa
2nd – Matt Powers
3rd – Robbie Nishida
4th – Forrest Wang
5th – Odi Bakchis
6th – Freddy Aasbo
7th – Jeff Jones
8th – Toshiki Yoshioka
9th – Ryan Kado
10th – Jhonnattan Castro
11th – Pat Mordaunt
12th – Walker Wilkerson
13th – Chelsea Denofa (transmission)
14th – Daigo Saito (misfire)
15th – Kyle Mohan (apex seal)
16th – Pat Goodin (axle)
Here are how the tandem matchups will work tomorrow:
Essa vs Goodin
Yoshioka vs Kado
Wang vs Denofa
Bakchis vs Wilkerson
Powers vs Mohan
Jones vs Castro
Nishda vs Saito
Aasbo vs Mordaunt
Formula D has posted a new roster of drivers that will be competing this weekend at the SuperDrift challenge in conjunction with Long Beach Grand Prix. Here’s the list:
- Fredric Aasbo
- Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis
- Jhonnattan Castro
- Chelsea Denofa
- Mike Essa
- Patrick Goodin
- Jeff Jones
- Ryan Kado
- Kyle Mohan
- Patrick Mordaunt
- Robbie Nishida
- Matt Powers
- Daigo Saito
- Forrest Wang
- Walker Wilkerson
- Toshiki Yoshioka
Compared to this previous list, there are several major names missing including Chris Forsberg, Conrad Grunewald, Tyler McQuarrie, Ryan Tuerck, Dai Yoshihara, and Tony Angelo. New names on the list include Jhonnattan Castro, Pat Goodin, Jeff Jones, Pat Mordaunt, Forrest Wang, and Walker Wilkerson. How do you feel about this new roster?
With the first round out of the way, Dai Yoshihara leads the points by taking the win along with earning top qualifier. 2012 champion Daigo Saito sits in 10th place after getting knocked out in the round of 16 by Freddy Aasbo, matching his worst finish from 2012. JR was the last champion to win the Long Beach event and go on to win the championship back in 2010, it will be interesting to see if Dai Yoshihara can repeat that. Who’s your favorite to win the 2013 championship after Long Beach?
1. Daijiro Yoshihara 112 points
2. Vaughn Gittin Jr. 92 points
3. Chris Forsberg 79 points
4. Chelsea DeNofa 75 points
5. Kenny Moen 65 points
6. Darren McNamara 64 points
6. Ryan Tuerck 64 points
8. Fredric Aasbo 63 points
9. Ken Gushi 62 points
9. Michael Essa 62 points
11. Daigo Saito 57 points
12. Aurimas”Odi” Bakchis 56 points
13. Ryan Kado 55 points
14. Matt Powers 55 points
15. Patrick Mordaunt 54.5 points
16. Justin Pawlak 54.5 points
