Michael Essa

A great main event pushing the championship in flux and almost locking in a Rookie for the Year. The event had some minor slow downs and one of the greatest Top 32 battles in history! Rhys Millen and Sam Hubinette put on the 32 battle of a lifetime. Rhys Millen kept on his top performance and old champion form this weekend resulting in an amazing victory. Matt Powers visited the podium again in his Team NFS 240sx as well. Drama and team orders overshadowed a great performance by Team Falken from the weekend and it is all captured in this 1,000+ photo section! The most coverage from LVMS anywhere on the Internet.

Check Out the Gallery: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=260

Posted in Daijiro Yoshihara, Formula D, Michael Essa, Rhys Millen | 1 Comment »

Here are the Top 32 pairings for todays big event. Right now if your eye is on the championship you will care about Tyler McQuarrie Justin Pawlak and Dai Yoshihara photographed above. They are on the same side of the bracket and scheduled to meet in the Final Four if they can win their respective tandem battles for the weekend. Sadly Tyler McQuarrie and Justin Pawlak are on opposite sides of the ladder so they would not meet until the finals for a battle that would be huge after the controversy of the weekend.

Matt Powers Vs. Jeff Jones
Matt Field Vs. Fredric Aasbo
Conrad Grunewald Vs. Matt Walden
Ken Gushi vs. Tyler McQuarrie
Chris Forsberg Vs. Alex Lee
Ryan Tureck Vs. Charles Ng
Vaughn Gittin Jr. Vs. Cyrus Martinez
Darren McNamara Vs. Kyle Pollard
Rhys Millen Vs. Sam Hubinette
Dean Kearney Vs. Patrick Mordaunt
Kyle Mohan Vs. Dennis Mertzanis
Michael Essa Vs. Armando “Dio”
Robbie Nishida Vs. Justin Pawlak
Otto Graven Vs. Odi Bakchis
Daijiro Yoshihara Vs. Ross Petty
Ryan Kado Vs. Toshiki Yoshioka

UPDATE at 6:41pm: Formula D changed the Top 32 due to points not given to Ryan Tuerck. No update of rankings as of Top 32 has been posted or provided as of the event going on live in progress. We apologize for the errors in this post.

Posted in Charles Ng, Chris Forsberg, Conrad Grunewald, Daijiro Yoshihara, Darren McNamara, Dean Kearney, Formula D, Jeff Jones, Justin Pawlak, Ken Gushi, Michael Essa, Patrick Mordaunt, Rhys Millen, Robbie Nishida, Tyler McQuarrie, Vaughn Gittin Jr. | 8 Comments »

Posted in Charles Ng, Chris Forsberg, Conrad Grunewald, Daijiro Yoshihara, Darren McNamara, Dean Kearney, Formula D, Jeff Jones, Ken Gushi, Matt Powers, Matt Waldin, Michael Essa, Patrick Mordaunt, RESULTS, Rhys Millen, Ryan Tuerck, Sam Hubinette, Tyler McQuarrie, Vaughn Gittin Jr. | 3 Comments »

The guys over at Studio Mountain consistently put out some of the best videos for Nitto Tire and their third installment of the 2011 Formula Drift season is no exception. This video from Round 5 at Evergreen Speedway slows things down from their usual fast paced video, and it follows the Nitto Tire team throughout the event. High production value and killer on-car shots make it a video you don’t want to miss.

Watch the video here: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/nitto-tire-takes-on-evergreen-speedway

Posted in Charles Ng, Joon Maeng, Matt Powers, Michael Essa, Video | No Comments »

KW TV Episode 5: Battle in Seattle

So it’s not quite the Battle in Seattle with Charlize Theron released a few years ago it was quite the weekend. KW Suspension drivers Dai Yoshihara and Fredric Aasbo both found a podium finish on the most unpredictable track of the season. Dai was able to take the championship points lead back from JTP and have some time after to conduct an interview with KW partner Fredric Aasbo for the camera.

Watch the video: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/watchvideo/kw-tv-episode-5-battle-in-seattle

Posted in Formula D, Fredric Aasbo, Joon Maeng, Michael Essa, Video | No Comments »

Formula Drift Evergreen Speedway qualifying ended today with Tyler McQuarrie taking the top spot. The rest of the qualifying order is below:

1 Tyler McQuarrie – 94.5
2 Justin Pawlak – 93.5
3 Rhys. Millen – 89.6
4 Daijiro Yoshihara – 86.9
5 Odi Bakchis – 86
6 Conrad. Grunewald – 85.1
7 Joon. Maeng – 83.7
8 Fredric. Aasbo – 82.1
9 Dean. Kearney – 81.3
10 Ryan. Tuerck – 80.3
11 Michael. Essa – 76.4
12 Vaughn. Gittin – 75.7
13 Matt. Powers – 75.1
14 Walker Wilkerson – 74.7
15 Chris. Forsberg -74.5
16 Alex. Lee – 72.8
17 Alax. Pfeiffer – 71.4
18 Otto. Graven – 71.2
19 Darin. McNamara – 71
20 Charles. Ng – 66.8
21 Matt Field – 66.5
22 Kyle Mohan – 65.1
23 Toshiki Yoshioka – 64.6
24 Roland Gallagher – 62.8
25 Ross Petty – 61
26 Ken. Gushi – 60.6
27 Cyrus Martinez – 60.5
28 Robbie Nishida – 57
29 Jeff Jones – 56.1
30 Ryan Kado – 55.2
31 Dennis Mertzanis – 52.3
32 Luke Longberger – 52.2

Posted in Charles Ng, Chris Forsberg, Daijiro Yoshihara, Darren McNamara, Dean Kearney, Formula D, Jeff Jones, Joon Maeng, Justin Pawlak, Ken Gushi, Kyle Mohan, Matt Powers, Matt Waldin, Michael Essa, RESULTS | 7 Comments »

Am I the only one this has clicked with….the Formula Drift tech day going on right now is nothing more than a snooze fest/weigh in which is a far cry from a real tech day. The only big news coming from today (if any) will be someone caught you didn’t realize they were cheating in the first place. Since Formula Drift announced the Tech Day weeks ago between a huge gap of events (New Jersey and Seattle) which was about five weeks we think most teams cheating/doing illegal activities probably had time to fix them for this “tech day.”

The timeline could only be worse to allow cheaters to make repairs since the event takes place on the west coast (where most teams are based). If you didn’t manage to change all the illegal things with your car in five weeks then you probably need a new pit crew. I thought I was just the only one with this logic here but after talking to various drivers and team members it has become clear this tech day is far from something that is serious.

I do understand that the new weights are key and feel free to weigh all the new cars but let’s call today like a Formula Drift Weigh In. The drifting version of a boxing hype day where we all sweated it out to make weight. The new weight/tire rule might cause a few teams problems but I have a feeling some last minute alterations were made to some top cars this season which involved putting them back into legal FD spec. How do you think we can fix this in the future for Formula Drift? Perhaps some unannounced tech days in 2012 just for fun?

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Michael Essa | 19 Comments »

The sixth annual All-Star Bash took place over the Independence Day weekend at Streets of Willow. David Moore grabbed his camera and shot his first Wrecked Magazine gallery over the All-Star Bash weekend for us. He captured some Formula Drift pro’s such as Michael Essa, Matt Powers, and Charles Ng shaking down the cars who are all on Nitto Tires. Dennis Mertzanis (unpictured) was also in attendance with his S14.5 making laps on his Kenda Tires. The grid was full of modified S chassis 240′s along with other awesome cars like this Drift Union Lexus SC300. Sit back and enjoy our whole gallery on the 4th!

Check Out the Gallery: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=246

Posted in Charles Ng, Gallery, Giveaway, Matt Powers, Michael Essa | 3 Comments »

Ryan Tuerck has moved on to the Top 16 already since only 31 drivers could produced a score  and moved on into the main event. Here is the Top 31 looks for this weekend. I am pretty sure Jim Guthrie broke a Formula Drift world record with the lowest qualifying score in history with a 27.9.

1. Ryan Tuerck – 91.2
2. Vaughn Gittin Jr. – 89.2
3. Daijiro Yoshihara – 89
4. Conrad Grunewald – 86.3
5. Tyler McQuarrie – 85.9
6. Chris Forsberg – 84.2
7. Justin Pawlak – 83.9
8. John Russakoff – 81.5
9. Ryan Kado – 81.4 (Takes 9th due to higher speed)
10. Ken Gushi – 81.4
11. Ross Petty – 79.2
12. Joon Maeng – 78.2
13. Otto Graven – 76.7
14. Kyle Mohan – 75.7
15. Darren McNamara – 74.6
16. Matt Field – 72.7
17. Kenneth Moen – 72.6
18. Fredric Aasbo – 72.4
19. Michael Essa -71.3
20. Matt Waldin – 69
21. Odi Bakchis – 68.9
22. Charles Ng – 68.6
23. Eric O’Sullivan – 67.6
24. Toshiki Yoshioka – 65.2
25. Matt Powers – 64.7
26. Luke Lonberger – 61.7
27. Walker Wilkerson – 61.7
28. Dennis Mertzanis – 60.9
29. Taka Aono – 55.6
30. Dean Kearney – 53.2
31. Jim Guthrie – 27.9

Posted in Charles Ng, Chris Forsberg, Conrad Grunewald, Daijiro Yoshihara, Darren McNamara, Dean Kearney, Eric O'Sullivan, Formula D, Fredric Aasbo, Joon Maeng, Justin Pawlak, Ken Gushi, Kyle Mohan, Matt Powers, Michael Essa, RESULTS, Ryan Tuerck, Sam Hubinette, Tyler McQuarrie, Vaughn Gittin Jr., Walker Wilkerson | 1 Comment »

The 2009 champion walked into the new venue without a concern and posted up the top qualifying spot for the weekend to kick things off. While posting up a 93.3 he took home an easy top qualifying spot and set off to battle Michael Essa in the Top 32. This is what he had to say about his qualifying performance.

“Our Nissan 370Z felt great as we headed into Friday’s qualifying session. As usual, I focused on keeping my first qualifying pass smooth and somewhat conservative to ensure us a spot in Saturday’s competition. The judges must have really been focused on our control because they gave us 93.3 which turned out to be the highest qualifying score of the day! We were excited to score that #1 spot as well as the bonus points that come along with it!”

The event moved pretty well as Chris beat Michael Essa (after he spun on the chase run) and then faced off against two time champion Sam Hubinette in the Top 16.

“In Top 16 we ran against two time champion Samuel Hubinette who had been plagued with mechanical failures in the first two rounds so he and his team were definitely pushing hard for a win. On his lead run, he dropped a tire in the dirt which slowed his car down. As he tried to regain control in the first clip, I was able to close in on him and move into the Top 8 to face up against Tyler McQuarrie.”

Once the final four came about it was a battle of Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Chris Forsberg which always gets out of control when these two guys come together. The OMT was a great call by the judges after they spent way to much time looking at the instant reply. If you guys have to take that long to figure it out then just run them again! Don’t make the fans wait for decades. Here is what Forsberg had to say about his tandem battle with Drift Alliance teammate,

“In the semis, I first ran against 2010 Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. I ran a solid lead run however, Vaughn kicked up a little dirt on the inside of the first inner clipping point. On my follow run, as we went through that same section on the course, Vaughn swung a little wide, unfortunately, I swung out a little further. After reviewing footage from both runs, the judges decided to run us one more time. I had a great lead run on our second battle, and although the judges went on to say that it was the best run they had seen all night, I was unable to close the gap enough on our chase run to take the win. I still had one shot at the podium though and I was confident that I could beat Darren McNamara for 3rd but as it turns out, I may have been a little overzealous. Darren was likely to be close but with shallow angle so my strategy was to run deep angle in order to impress the judges but instead, I over rotated in the first corner and spun to a stop.”

Read His Complete Blog Post: http://www.chrisforsberg.com/blog/2011/06/08/formula-drift-palm-beach-recap/

Posted in Chris Forsberg, Darren McNamara, Formula D, Michael Essa, Tyler McQuarrie, Vaughn Gittin Jr. | No Comments »