COLUMBUS, OHIO (April 30, 2010) – Kenda Tire and Formula D driver, Dennis Mertzanis, have teamed up to compete in the Formula Drift Professional Drifting Series for 2010.

Dennis, a freshmen in the Formula Drift Series, has been drifting for 6 years.  With 30 competitions and 19 top 5 finishes in Professional and Amateur events across the country, Dennis is no stranger to the pressure of competition.  “During testing, the Kenda KR-20 performed better than expected, superior traction and fantastic control are just a few of the advantages this tire has to offer”.

To follow Kenda Tires and Dennis Mertzanis’ effort for the 2010 Formula D season, point your browsers to: http://www.dennismertzanis.com

Kenda, a leading manufacturer of automobile, bicycle, motorcycle, ATV (All Terrain Vehicle), golf cart, lawn mower, industrial and trailer tires in the world, has maintained its North American headquarters in Columbus, Ohio for the last three decades. Since the inception of the company in 1962, Kenda has operated on core values of honesty, innovation, quality and customer service. For nearly 50 years, Kenda has continued to develop and expand its product selections to meet changing market demands.

Visit www.kendausa.com for more information.

-echou

Mark from MakeShift Films is in my crew for the FormulaD 2010 season and made this awesome recap video of the Formula Drift round 1 Long Beach.

Dennis Mertzanis at Formula D, Long Beach from Mark Lenardon on Vimeo.

First of all, I’d like to thank my sponsors for the support this year and giving us what we need.

The FormulaD guys are top notch.  They really made us feel at home before, during and after the event.  We arrived early on Tuesday during the celebrity ride-a-longs and Tony Angelo was nice enough to get us through tech without incident.  We made our way to the pit area and got setup.  Due to the last minute deal with Kenda, there wasn’t any room in the main paddock area, so we were located at turn 9 of the main course (the first turn for our course).  We did get some press that day posted on Wrecked Magazine for the new tire sponsor Kenda Tires partnering up with me for FD.  Thanks Joey…

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2010/04/07/new-tire-for-2010-kenda-tire-with-dennis-mertzanis/

The course we used for the event was a section of the same course used for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 16^th – April 18^th.  It consisted of a fast entry, only to slow down for the sharp right-hander.  Then you accelerate into a left hander, trying to get the car as close to the 2 walls as possible.  This was hard if you didn’t get the entry speed just right.  Then you slow way down for the tight right hairpin turn to the finish.

We started practice on Friday and the course was daunting.  A blind highspeed entry with very hard walls on both sides of the course was a bit unnerving.  I found the line and got straight to work trying to perfect my runs.  After the practice, there was no shortage of curious people looking at the car and asking about Kenda.  Most reactions consisted of a familiarity of the Kenda brand in other industries like bikes and atvs, but they were very surprised to find out Kenda made tires for automobiles.

After practice we got right to work with qualifying.  Out of a 55 car field, I believe only 50 cars were able to turn a lap during qualifying.  I ended up qualifying in 30th spot, not bad considering there were some top drivers that didn’t make it to the show.  Unfortunately, the 30th qualifying spot paired me up with JR in the new 2011 Ford Racing supported Mustang.  This would not be an easy tandem.

JR and I talked about the tandem cause he knew he was going to be much faster out of the hole.  He was going to hang back a bit and then shoot by me during my following run so I could stay close to him into the first turn.  I felt I did pretty good, but deep down I knew that I lost, but I did have 2 of my best runs of the weekend.  Its always possible to choke under the pressure of competition and I did not, I actually did alright.  A great showing for a rookie driver at his first FD event….or so I’m told.  Every time you don’t win, you feel you could have done better.  Also, an interesting fact was that JR went on the win the entire event, so it seems no one was able to beat him, I was just the first.

I’ve attached a link so you can see my top 32 tandem runs against Vaughn Gittin Jr.

Fast forward to 1:03:00.

Formula Drift Round 1 – Long Beach Top 32

Check out the gallery for the event.

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2010/04/11/2010-formula-drift-long-beach-main-event-gallery/

Road Atlanta is next and I cannot wait.  The Atlanta fans are the best and I know they will blow last year out of the water.

Well, its been a long road, but the rig has officially left for Long Beach with a car that’s ready to rock……Thanks to JC Robinson, Jelani Winston and Mark Lenardon for tag-teaming the driving of 2200 miles across country.  They have satellite radio, GPS, Ipod connections, a Badass Diesel truck, what else can I do……hell, I wish I was driving.