Posts Tagged "Patrick Mordaunt"

Brandon Wicknick didn’t do anything this weekend but load up his car, drive across America, and lay down some pretty decent runs in his JZ powered 240sx. He took the 32nd qualifying spot home at during the drivers announcement probably had a feeling that was unrivaled by most in the world as he landed his first Top 32 spot. Sadly for Brandon and his team the qualifying score for Patrick Mordaunt was missed or not counted at first making him miss the Top 32 completely.

Way back in 2009 Patrick Mordaunt was on the tear of his life in his S14 Nissan 240sx running down the likes of Dai Yoshihara and other drifting stars. Then it all came crashing down after Patrick Mordaunt was then omptly DQ’d and stripped of his victory when failing a tire durometer test after his one pass. The tire durometer quickly and quietly disappeared shortly after this debacle and stripped Patrick of what I think was a potential podium.

Patrick doesn’t seem to hold a grudge or be down on this track after I spoke with him quickly yesterday. He didn’t even really seem to think about this 2009 mess after mentioning his history at this track. Luckily history didn’t repeat itself and eliminate him from competition this weekend. Someone got the error quickly and I am unsure who it was but qualifying results were quickly referenced to me as unofficial and then hours later the actual list came out removing Brandon Wicknick from his main event debut. So Patrick’s luck has turned a nice 180 coming into the main event and rookie Brandon Wicknick might have the new Road Atlanta curse.

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Patrick Mordaunt | No Comments »

Patrick Mordaunt ended the season looking strong in the APEX’I Lexus SC430 after cranking up the power prior to FD Seattle last season, and it looks like he will be entering the new season with some additional support. Diamond Lighting, based just out of Seattle, WA, will be the title sponsor of the car this season, and just sent us this sneak peak at the new livery. Diamond Lighting was a sponsor last season, but has stepped up their support this year. It’s great to see the growth of companies in the series, and with Oracle Lighting recently being announced as the title sponsor for Dean Kearney, it seems like the lighting wars have started on the FD grid!

We may have more pics of this livery before FD Long Beach next week, so stay tuned!

Posted in Formula D, Patrick Mordaunt, Spy Shots | No Comments »

Currently Michael Essa is building an E46 chassis BMW to compete in the 2013 drift season, while Toshiki Yoshioka is building a BR-Z and running his own team. With Nitto Tire making the big signing of Vaughn Gittin Jr. they have trimmed down the rest of their program for the 2013 season and both Yoshioka and Essa were results of this trimming. This cutback over at Nitto Tire led to rumors that Michael Essa is making the move over to Yokohama Tire, and that was confirmed today with an announcement from Yokohama announcing both Essa and Yoshioka have made the switch. Essa’s E46 chassis we think will give him a ton of potential to progress in the sport and be a top level competitor in the 2013 season, while Yoshioka will be the lone Subaru-badged vehicle on the grid as of this time. These drivers joins the ranks with Patrick Mordaunt and a couple other drivers completing the Yokohama team. What does everyone think of this move for 2013?

Posted in Formula D, Michael Essa, Toshiki Yoshioka | 13 Comments »

Patrick Mordaunt brought a new attitude and new chassis out to the Streets of Long Beach with his APEXi Lexus SC430. A great look at his performance in the new Lexus including some spot on interior shots in this SullyLife video. Rumor has it that Patrick Mordaunt might still be in the works on picking up a title sponsor for the 2012 season as well. Good luck to the team this year as they shoot for his best career finish.

Posted in Formula D, Patrick Mordaunt, Video | No Comments »

PM Racing and driver Patrick Mordaunt are proud to announce their partnership with APEX Integration for the 2012 Formula Drift season (We called this move happening back on February 20th here). A’PEXi has always been a leader in high performance components for racers, driving enthusiasts, and has supported Patrick Mordaunt since the beginning of his career. “We are thrilled about this collaboration and opportunity to witness the potential of Patrick Mordaunt’s progression in his career,” said A’PEXi. Mordaunt will drive the recently upgraded A’PEXi Lexus SC430 that previously competed in the 2010 Formula Drift season. Mordaunt said, “I’m excited to partner with an experienced team like A’PEXi and am looking forward to driving their Lexus SC 430 for the 2012 Formula Drift season”.

In addition, to this exciting new partnership is the resurgence of Yokohama Tire back into the Formula Drift for 2012. The PM Racing / A’PEXi team has partnered with Yokohama Tire for the 2012 season and is excited to use high performance Yokohama tires with their proven track record for that elusive competitive edge.

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Patrick Mordaunt | 4 Comments »

Back in late February we spotted the Yokohama Tire logo on the Formula Drift website but they quickly removed it after we made a post concerning the matter. Well now they have issued an officially official release which brings them back to drifting in the United States since they left in 2005. In theory they never lost a championship when they walked out of the series in 2005 (Sam Hubinette 2004 – Rhys Millen 2005) so no telling how well the drivers will perform on tires made from oranges or whatever that marketing gimmick they have means. Drivers of the brand (Patrick Mordaunt as a rumor to name one) will be on the ADVAN Neova AD08.

“Yokohama has a long history in the sport of drifting and was among the first tire brands embraced by the pioneers of the sport,” said Matt Johnson, Yokohama Performance Marketing Supervisor. “In addition, the first 2 Formula DRIFT championships were won by drivers using Yokohama tires. The Yokohama brand is synonymous with performance and we look forward to showcasing our products in 2012.”

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Patrick Mordaunt, Sam Hubinette, Tyler McQuarrie | 2 Comments »

The biggest rumor of the 2012 season floating around is that Patrick Mordaunt has signed a deal with a top four gun company to sponsor his car (which we think is the old APEX’i Lexus SC430). They have kept a pretty good wrap on his new program but once the big announcement comes out we think you will have guns, luxury, and a new tire sponsor. Patrick is a few steps into becoming a third world country warlord at this rate. He just needs to secure some rare resources and more weapons partnerships. All kidding aside we cannot wait to see which of the big gun companies he has brought on board for 2012. Any guesses as to which gun company is stepping up to team up with Patrick for 2012?

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Patrick Mordaunt, Rumors/Gossip | 14 Comments »

The rumormill in the drift industry is buzzing about Patrick Mordaunt stepping into the APEX’i Lexus SC430 for the 2012 season. Earlier this year some people mentioned hearing about Walker Wilkerson stepping into this ride for the season but nothing has surfaced recently about him hopping into the car.

Now in recent weeks several people have mentioned Patrick hopping into this car although he has a prepped S14 and 350z in his possession that could run the series. This build would bring the first opportunity to Patrick Mordaunt to drive a V8 in the Formula Drift series. How do you think he can handle his first go around with a V8 assuming the rumors are true?

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Patrick Mordaunt, Rumors/Gossip, Ryuji Miki, Walker Wilkerson | 26 Comments »

Here you can see Joon Maeng staged and ready for run at Texas Motor Speedway tomorrow. The IRL race that Formula Drift will be doing the demo at comes on VERSUS tomorrow at 4:30pm PST. Drivers such as Fredric Aasbo, Kyle Mohan, and Patrick Mordaunt are in attendance to perform. Sadly Patrick Mordaunt has suffered some transmission problems so we are not sure if he will still be in attendance for the demo. Here is a snapshot we received from Formula Drift showing off the number plaque from this event at Texas Motor Speedway.

Buy Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/

Posted in Formula D, Fredric Aasbo, Joon Maeng, Kyle Mohan, Michael Essa, Patrick Mordaunt | 2 Comments »

Yesterday we announced Patrick Mordaunt would be swapped cars in Texas at the IRL demo. Sadly during the testing today Patrick Mordaunt suffered gearbox issues with his S14. His Nissan 350z (pictured above) had engine troubles at Road Atlanta and then blew up at PBIR this past weekend. Patrick Mordaunt took to his twitter account and announced that he will be sitting out Round 4 at Wall Speedway due to all these car issues. Such a tough break for a privateer like Patrick this season but we are sure he will return for the final west leg of the Formula Drift series this year.

Posted in Formula D, Major Announcements, Patrick Mordaunt | 7 Comments »