After the 2011 season Formula Drift has 52 events in the books. The series now has 17 overall event winners meaning just about every 3 events (twice a season) a driver will receive his first win in the sport. Now after 2011 nine drivers are multiple events winners in the series. This year added two of those nine drivers with Justin Pawlak winning both his events this season and Tyler McQuarrie earning his second at Irwindale Speedway this season joining the club.

1. Sam Hubinette (9 Wins)
1. 2004 Road Atlanta
2. 2004 Houston
3. 2004 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2005 Road Atlanta
5. 2005 Chicago
6. 2006 Streets of Long Beach
7. 2006 Chicago
8. 2006 Wall Speedway
9. 2007 Summit Point

2. Tanner Foust (7 Wins)
1. 2006 Road Atlanta
2. 2007 Irwindale Speedway
3. 2008 Streets of Long Beach
4. 2008 Englishtown
5. 2008 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
6. 2009 Las Vegas
7. 2010 Evergreen Speedway
8. 2010 Irwindale Speedway

3. Chris Forsberg (6 Wins)
1. 2005 Irwnidale
2. 2007 Road Atlanta
3. 2007 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2008 Streets of Long Beach
5. 2009 Road Atlanta
6. 2009 Evergreen Speedway

3. Rhys Millen (6 Wins)
1. 2004 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2005 Wall Speedway
3. 2006 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)
4. 2008 Road Atlanta
5. 2008 Evergreen Speedway
6. 2011 Las Vegas

3. Dai Yoshihara (6 Wins)
1. 2006 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2007 Evergreen Speedway
3. 2007 Wall Speedway
4. 2010 Road Atlanta
5. 2011 Road Atlanta
6. 2011 Evergreen Speedway

6. Vaughn Gittin Jr. (3 Wins)
1. 2008 Irwindale Speedway
2. 2010 Streets of Long Beach
3. 2010 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)

7. Ryan Tuerck (2 Wins)
1. 2009 Streets of Long Beach
2. 2009 Irwindale Speedway

7. Tyler McQuarrie (2 Wins)
1. 2010 Las Vegas
2. 2011 Irwindale Speedway

7. Justin Pawlak (2 Wins)
1. 2011 Streets of Long Beach
2. 2011 Palm Beach International Raceway

10. Ken Gushi (1 Win)
1. 2005 Houston

10. Calvin Wan (1 Win)
1. 2005 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma

10. Yukinobu Okubo (1 Win)
1. 2006 Evergreen Speedway

10. Mitsuru Haraguchi (1 Win)
1. 2007 Streets of Long Beach

10. Toshiki Yoshioka (1 Win)
1. 2008 Las Vegas

10. Darren McNamara (1 Win)
1. 2009 Wall Speedway

10. Stephan Verdier (1 Win)
1. 2009 Infineon Raceway (Sonoma)

10. Conrad Grunewald (1 Win)
1. 2011 Wall Speedway

A tentative drivers list for Road Atlanta has been released by Formula Drift today. Eric O’Sullivan is finally on the list and ready for action in a Pontiac Solstice. Some of the rookies like Walker Wilkerson are making the trek out east. Make sure to sign in to Fantasy Drift and update your roster in case your drivers are not making it to Round 2.

Justin Pawlak
Matt Powers
Daijiro Yoshihara
Chris Forsberg
Kyle Mohan
Conrad Grunewald
Rhys Millen
Ryan Tuerck
Fredric Aasbo
Darren McNamara
Tyler McQuarrie
Walker Wilkerson
Matt Field
Ross Petty
Matt Waldin
Dennis Mertzanis
John Russakoff
Michael Essa
Ken Gushi
Joon Maeng
Cyrus Martinez
Charles Ng
Alex Pfeiffer
Taka Aono
Odi Bakchis
Mike Feiock
Otto Graven
Jeff Jones
Dean Kearney
Patrick Mordaunt
Tony Brakohiapa
Patrick Cyr
Vaughn Gittin Jr.
Jim Guthrie
Zoltan Hadju
Brad Hettinger
Sam Hubinette
Ryan Kado
Luke Lonberger
Eric O’Sullivan
Mike Skudlarek

When we saw Stephan Verdier’s name on the 2011 Formula Drift licensed driver list, we got curious as to what changes he had made to his WRX for 2011, and wondered if he’d be competitive this season with the introduction of all these pesky V8s. Shortly after that thought, our ADD kicked in and we had forgot all about that.

But fast forward to this morning, our friends over at MotoIQ sat down with Stephan Verdier to discuss 2011, and it turns out that his WRX is being prepared for Global Rallycross, following in the footsteps of Tanner Foust and Rhys Millen. MotoIQ reports Stephan’s plan to sit the 2011 Formula Drift season out to focus on the new sport, as well as documents the build process of preparing his WRX for GRC.

Looks like i’m out a few Fantasy Drift wreck points this year.

Source: MotoIQ.com

We have had a ton of drivers/teams hitting me up because they are missing from our Gymkhana Grid list that we pulled from the video was not quite complete. Here is a list from the website of what Formula Drift drivers will be attending in full. Here is the list of Formula Drift drivers PLUS I have been told that Toshiki Yoshioka is in attendance driving the Driftspeed S15. I know we have upset some people calling the event Formula G and auto-x cone drifting at Irwindale Speedway but the longer the events go on the more it just seems to be a Formula Drift moment of fame. They are at the House of Drift, a grid that is well over 50% Formula Drift drivers (per the website), they are using the Voice of Formula D Jarod DeAnda on the microphone so I don’t feel like my assumptions/words in the department are too harsh.

I also would link you to the website but the terms and conditions of the website restrict that under the section “LINKS TO THIS WEBSITE” which states this exactly, “You may not create a link to any page of this website without our prior written consent. If you do create a link to a page of this website you do so at your own risk and the exclusions and limitations set out above will apply to your use of this website by linking to it.” So uhh if you want more information about tomorrows event take the name of the event, put it together and add a .com to the end and you might find the information your looking for. Don’t worry, I screen capped their terms/conditions in case they remove it and claim I made it up.

Here is the drivers list of Formula Drift Stars:
Cody Parkhouse – APEXi Lexus SC430
Kyle Mohan – FC Mazda Rx-7
Toshiki Yoshioka – Driftspeed S15
Daijiro Yoshihara
Stephan Verdier
ACP
Jon Russakoff
Patrick Mordaunt
Joon Maeng
Tony Brakohiapa
Matt Powers
Michael Essa
Ross Petty
Jeff Jones
Calvin Wan

So Gymkhana Grid just released this promotional video promoting the Irwindale Speedway event this weekend and the drivers list read like a Formula Drift event and Ken Block. Well Vaughn Gittin Jr. will be in an unknown car (well he knows but won’t tell us), Tanner Foust, ACP, Dai Yoshihara, and Stephan Verdier. Joon Maeng will also be running in his Lucas Oil S13 seen above along with possibly some other FD drivers that were not listed in the promotion. Will you be attending Gymkhana Grid or Formula G this Saturday?

SubieLife sat down with Stephan Verdier and spoke about many topics including Formula Drift and his X-Games visit this year. I took one excerpt from the interview and posted it below. It is a question about his return to Formula Drift and running as a privateer. If you want to read the rest of the interview then just follow the link at the bottom.

Q: As one of the few privateers in Formula Drift, how hard (or easy) is it for you to have to try and conserve funds for each event?

A: 2011 Formula Drift, as right now, I don’t have any plan for it. I really want to be in it for 2011 but need to find a team. I can’t afford to do it as a privateer again. Rallycross, I want to be part of it too. My first plan is to drive for a team, I’m talking to 3 teams right now, hopefully I can make it happen. At worst I can use my car for selected West Coast Events. I think by SEMA will know the exact schedule and tv package.

 

Source: http://subie-life.com/2010/10/14/471/

Falken took home another top qualifying spot this year with Darren McNamara. He looked pretty solid in the Saturn Sky this weekend taking home maximum points from the qualifying session. Here are the results:

1 D. McNamara
2 C. Forsberg 
3 D. Yoshihara 
4 R. Tuerck 
5 T. Foust 
6 V. Gittin 
7 S. Hubinette 
8 R. Millen 
9 M. Whiddett 
10 J. Maeng 
11 F. Aasbo 
12 C. Grunewald 
13 J. Pawlak 
14 K. Mohan 
15 M. Waldin 
16 T. McQuarrie 
17 R. Nishida 
18 M. Takatori 
19 M. Powers 
20 K. Gushi 
21 S. Verdier 
22 T. Aono 
23 J. Deane 
24 Y. Kondo 
25 E. O’Sullivan 
26 I. Fornier 
27 N. Konstantinov 
28 J. LeJeune
29 R. Miki 
30 M. Field 
31 B. Sherman
32. A. Pfeiffer

Here is the qualifying results for Formula D Sonoma.
1. Tyler McQuarrie
2. Chris Forsberg
3. Kyle Mohan
4. Ryan Tuerck
5. Daijiro Yoshihara
6. Fredric Aasbo
7. Alex Pfeiffer
8. Ross Petty
9. Samuel Hubinette
10. Stephan Verdier
11. Conrad Grunewald
12. Michihiro Takatori
13. Justin Pawlak
14. Vaughn Gittin
15. Joon Maeng
16. Patrick Mordaunt
17. Tanner Foust
18. Taka Aono
19. Ken Gushi
20. Darren McNamara
21. Bill Sherman
22. Ryuji Miki
23. James Dean
24. Tony Brakohiapa
25. Rhys Millen
26. Matt Powers
27. Nikolay Konstantinov
28. “Mad” Mike Whiddet
29. Jeff Jones
30. Dean Kearney
31. Matt Field
32. Dennis Mertzanis

So the Superrally race ended a lap early or maybe it didn’t but that just adds to the general confusion of X-Games 16 rally events. Regardless of any fudged outcomes three Formula Drift drivers made it into the finals of the Superally. Stephan Verdier held second place in the finals for quite some time and it looks like Sam Hubinette had some car troubles in the Evo X. In the elimination round we saw Ken Block DQ and Sam Hubinette win by spinning out ACP who hopped on the brakes to avoid Ken Block. That was the best run of the night by far! Anyways, in the finals Tanner Foust smashed into Brian Deegan to take position in turn one and took home his second gold medal of the night. This could be his year because he isn’t that far out of the Formula Drift championship chase on top of all these gold medals.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. just continues to dominate the 2010 season by qualifying first and gaining more qualifying points than any other driver today. This is just pushing his lead slightly farther from Daijiro Yoshihara (2nd) in points. He will line up against Alex Pfeiffer in the Top 32. Taka Aono did finish qualifying 6th which was quite a shock in the Nexen Tire AE86. Check out how all the results stacked up below:

32. Alex Pfeiffer

31. Brian Wilkerson

30. Kyle Mohan

29. Stephan Verdier

28 Eric O’Sullivan

27. Charles Ng

26. Dean Kearney

25. Forrest Wang

24. Mad MIke Whiddett

23. Ross Petty

22. Nikolay Konstantinov

21. Robbie Nishida

20. Matt Powers

19. Michael Essa

18. Cody Parkhouse

17. Patrick Mordaunt

16. Fredric Aasbo

15. Ken Gushi

14. Joon Maeng

13. Rhys Millen

12. Dai Yoshihara

11. Conrad Gruenwald

10. Michihiro Takatori

9. Sam Hubinette

8. Tanner Foust

7. Tyler McQuarie

6. Taka Aono

5. Chris Forsberg

4. Darren McNamra

3. Ryan Tureck

2. Justin Pawlak

1. Vaughn Gittin