This nine minute installment of Off-Track with NetworkA this week brings you a “Meet the Pro” with Patrick Goodin and the tandem battle of the weekend was selected as Matt Field versus Daijiro Yoshihara. I was going to embed the run from the Livestream.com Formula Drift feed but they only put up a clip of the replay when Field was leading. Tune in to see Jarod DeAnda and Danger Andy take everyone around the Palm Beach International Circuit.
The last time we brought up Xtreme Drift Circuit on this website was a post “Xtreme Drift Circuit Announces That They Will Soon Announce the Moon,” but that February 20th, 2013 post has’t come much to life. The post promised a TV deal with a major network and a new judging format. In January most of the current staff walked out including Matt Petty, John Wagner, and Brian Eggert leaving more questions than answers with the series. On the bright side this weekend at CFRC WDrift aka XDC is offering some free sponsorships if you are short on funds.
Dear Drift Competitor,
Hope to see you out this weekend at CFRC Orlando as we conduct a tandem drift competition and “drivers search” to see who will compete in the Monster KOE Series this year in Europe.Attached is the event weekend flyer.Also, if you haven’t already registered yet for the event, you can do so at the following link:We are offering driver sponsorships for registration for those who are having financial difficulties. Please let us know if you would like to drift, but are short on funds. We have several groups that will look at covering your registration so long as you meet their criteria for drifting.Hope to see you at the event!
Nate Hamilton and Will Parsons both qualified for Top 32 Tandem competition today in Atlanta, giving them the first points of the season. Parsons qualified in 26th place with a score of 69.8 and will face Matt Powers in the first round, while Hamilton qualified in 27th place with a score of 68.9 and will face Darren McNamara. At the very least, both drivers will earn .25 points for qualifying in the bottom 8, and another 24 points for making the round of Top 32. If either driver is able to move on to top 16, they will earn an additional 30 points for appearing in the top 16. Parsons and Hamilton both were in the top 5 of our fan poll on who is likely to win Rookie of the Year that we ran in April. Both drivers also have substantial experience with XDC, as both finished in the top 5 of the final standings last season. It will be interesting to see how they do in tandem competition tomorrow!
Well the 2013 season marked the first time a single rookie failed to score any points during the first round of the championship series. Out of 11 rookies none of them managed to scrape a Top 32 position for the weekend. The question must be asked if the new qualifying structured hindered the performance of these rookies or changed the dynamic of the sport? I am convinced the new qualifying order helps these lower ranked drivers but the evidence sure doesn’t play in my favor at all.
The rookie race last year was ridiculous and invalid with Daigo Saito being granted rookie status after being a Formula Drift Asia champion really reducing the value of the prize overall. These rookies are in a fight to reclaim the validity of the position and chase an opportunity similar to Fredric Aasbo who took home rookie of the year honors and then replaced Tanner Foust as the driver of Papadakis Racing.
Many of the drivers staged for a rookie season were plagued with mechanical failures or just lacked an all around ability to complete the difficult Streets of Long Beach course. The last few seasons we have watched many rookies wad up a new chassis and never really return to the series or underperform the whole season. One positive note is that most of the rookies came out of Long Beach clean with the exception of Kory Keezer and his S13.
I am excited that we have an 11 way tie after one round of Formula Drift this season and all the rookie should keep an eye on this prize above all else as they swing through the new year. At least for 2013 we have our rookie race back! What rookie do you think can win the rookie race?
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After one of the longest qualifying sessions in Formula Drift history. Dai Yoshihara takes takes the number one qualifier spot. The rest of the qualifying order is below.
32 Tyler Mcquarrie
31 Dennis Mertzanis
30 Enrique Mendoza
29 Carl Ryquist
28 Miro Ovcharik
27 Pat Goodin
26 Jeff Jones
25 Danny George
24 Toshiki Yoshioka
23 Justin Pawlak
22 Pat Mordaunt
21 Joon Maeng
20 Robbie Nishida
19 Kyle Mohan
18 Jhonnattan Castro
17 Matt Field
16 Matt powers
15 Chris Forsberg
14 Ken Gushi
13 Ryan Kado
12 Odi Bakchis
11 Taka Aono
10 Forrest Wang
9 Freddy Aasbo
8 Daigo Saito
7 Ryan Tuerck
6 Vaughn Gittin JR
5 Kenny Moen
4 Chelsea Denofa
3 Mike Essa
2 Darren McNamara
1 Dai Yoshihara
Nate Hamilton announced to the world today that the rumors we leaked just after Tech Day are indeed true. Nate has signed on Enjuku Racing as his title sponsor for the 2013 season. Enjuku Racing is a performance Nissan, SR20, Hyundai Genesis, and Scion FR-S speciality shop that has been involved in drifting for the past decade in some form. Here are a list of his other partners with him for his chase of the 2013 Rookie of the Year title.
Enjuku Racing (Title Sponsor)
[HOONIGAN]
Mishimoto
Holley Performance Parts
Enkei Wheels
What Monsters Do
5 & A Dime
Falken Tires
BlueMedia Motorsports Graphics
We also grabbed Formula Drift rookie Nate Hamilton to talk about his upcoming season in the Enjuku Racing (rumormilled) / Hoonigan S13. Sadly his car was not present at tech day so we threw him in front of BG’s FC Rx-7 and started filming his interview. His car is currently getting a new wrap as we type this up preparing him for his rookie season of Formula Drift. Listen to him talk about his sponsors, partners, and what he learned following Chris Forsberg along during the 2012 season of Formula D.
Nate Hamilton is heading to the big dance in 2013 with a freshly built S13 chassis and a great attitude. What we did learn this weekend is he has a partnership in the works with Florida aftermarket parts retailer Enjuku Racing! Nate confirmed with us at Tech Day the car is off getting wrapped this week in California. We grabbed him for an interview at Tech Day, video coming soon, where he did tell us a big sponsor announcement was coming around the corner. After ruffling a few feathers and handing out free candy at Tech Day we have good reason to believe Enjuku Racing is set for his title and the car graphics look awesome! What do you think of Nate getting picked up by Enjuku for 2013?
Here is the official list of drivers who are paid and ready to head out for Streets of Long Beach. You will notice an absense of Rhys Millen but an addition of an open wheel racing star. Please remember that the * denotes anyone who is eligible for rookie of the year in 2013.
Saito, Daigo
Gittin, Vaughn Jr.
Pawlak, Justin
Tuerck, Ryan
Aasbo, Fredric
Yoshihara, Daijiro
Gushi, Ken
Grunewald, Conrad
Powers, Matt
Forsberg, Chris
Essa, Mike
Nishida, Robbie
McQuarrie, Tyler
Yoshioka, Toshiki
Bakchis, Odi
Denofa, Chelsea
Wilkerson, Walker
Moen, Kenneth
Field, Matt
Kado, Ryan
Mohan, Kyle
Angelo, Tony
Maeng, Joon
McNamara, Darren
Mordaunt, Patrick
Aono, Taka
Mertzanis, Dennis
Ovcharik, Miroslav
Castro, Jhonnattan
George, Danny
Lee, Alex
Ward, Chris
Goodin, Patrick
Briggs, Dave
Hosford, Corey
Jones, Jeff
Cano Estrella, Carlos
Mendoza Jr., Enrique
Stone, Gabe
Thomas, Nick
Bostrom, Jason*
Graven, Otto
Hamilton, Nate*
Hateley, Andy
Hildebrand, J.R.*
Jacobs, Julian*
Jeanneret, Chris*
Kretschmer, Eugene*
Landerville, Marc*
Moore, Victor
Osaki, Karl*
Pakula, Luke*
Parsons, Will*
Primozich, Rob*
Steele, Josh*
Wang, Forrest
Wicknick, Brandon*
Kearney, Dean
Keezer, Kory*
Rydquist, Carl
Pollard, Mike
Issue 25 of Wrecked Magazine highlights all the newly Formula Drift licensed drivers of 2013! We highlight Dan Savage, Nate Hamilton, Tyler Wolfson, and an additional 20+ drifters who are making moves for the 13 season. We install an ACT Clutch in our 2013 Ford Mustang RTR and let people know how we liked it after putting some test miles on it. Rathyna Gomer guest interviews Kelsey Rowlings for our new Girl on Girl segment introducing us to female drifters around the world. To wrap it all up we talk with Vegas Drift and they tell you what it takes to become a Pro Am driver in the current drift world.
Check out the New Issue: http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/issues/issue25/issue25.html
