Los Angeles, Ca – Mertzanis Racing is proud to name Konig Wheels as its title sponsor for the 2011 Formula Drift season. Konig Wheels participated in the program for 2010 and this year has decided to step it up for 2011. If you were at Long Beach for the first Formula Drift event of the year, you would have seen the red Konig Wheels sponsored car already.
“I am really happy that Konig Wheels saw the value in our program in 2010 and now are investing more for 2011. Konig is a great company to work with because, not only are they a bunch of cool guys, but they understand the industry and what it takes to be successful. I cannot wait to see how my new Konig Milligrams look and drift on the car” – Dennis Mertzanis.
Check online for the latest, hottest wheels out there for your ride. Konig Wheels
Long Beach, Ca – Sunny LA was the location for Formula Drift Round 1. Coming out with new livery, the car also came out in a totally different color. Shaking off the yellow from last year, the red was an abrupt change and welcomed by many people as a good move. As far as the car goes, there were many changes from last year. One of the largest was the move from the supercharger to a single turbo setup. To be honest, its been so long since I have drifted the car (pretty much Irwindale last year) I didn’t noticed a huge difference. I think this is a good thing because the supercharger was instant power on throttle and I didn’t notice a change with the turbo. I did however notice I had a bit more power down low. See the supercharger boost was linear, meaning the boost increases with increasing RPM, so at redline, I was at 14psi and 6psi at 3000 or 4000rpm. Now it is at 12 psi at 3000 or 4000 rpm and it’s a constant boost level all the way to redline. Big thanks to Brad at Groundwerks Garage for making the turbo setup possible.
Suspension, suspension, suspension. WOW!!!!! What a change. All I can say here is that last year I got a lot smarter about setup. I still have a ton of work to do and more to learn, but I really enjoy learning about suspension stuff. It intrigues me to the point where it’s a borderline obsession. What did I change?
Well, for starters I am running the Driftworks Geomaster knuckles front and rear. These things are nice. They keep the stock geometry all while lowering the car 2 inches. What this means is all the suspension arms are in their stock-ride-height locations, not pitched up or down. This allows the suspension work more freely and not all bound up with aggressively pitched geometry. Also, you can run your car hella low and it’ll still work….except for your tires hitting stuff inside your wheel wells. The next things changed were the anti-sway bars. With the VQ setup, I wasn’t able to run a front bar without it hitting the TC rod and binding the suspension. I also got a rear bar that wasn’t too stiff as well. I set the alignment to the same specs as last year and BOOM, the car was amazing. Like I said, I haven’t drifted since Irwindale and now Im hitting all the marks like a pro. I was happy.
The final change was going to a lighter wheel from the Konig Wheel line. I got a set of the Konig Milligrams in gold and they are really nice. You can feel a difference while drifting, the wheels spin up faster when you romp on it.
Practice was pretty good. I got familiar with the course and just started working on my line. The funny thing here is that I lost a ton a weight and now my seat seemed too far back now as compared to last year. I adjusted the seat and everything really started working even better. Crazy I know. Where you sit in the car is important.
Qualifying was intense as always. Seems as though we don’t get too much time to think about it, we just line up and go. I did my runs, they felt good and I qualified 19th, yeah, my best in my FD career so far.
I was paired up against Jeff Abbot for the top 32 competition. I was very happy. He out qualified me, but I knew I had a chance. Not like last year, were I qualified low and got paired up against a top guy. I was getting excited for the top 32 battle. We start the tandem and I have some pretty decent runs. At the finish line, they hold you until the official word from the judges come down. I am watching the official in anticipation for the win. He gives me the thumbs up and I starting yelling in excitement. Just for the record, its not smart to yell while you are wearing a helmet, its pretty loud. I am so happy for my first top 16 battle. I can line up in front of the crowd now for opening ceremonies.
My crew member Sean and I had a bet, if I got to top 16, he was going to wear a tight shirt and be my umbrella girl. Yeah, he did it and it was funny.
Top 16 was with Kyle Mohan. I knew I had a chance but blew it during the tandem battle. Oh well, better luck next time. See you in Atlanta, my hometown and my favorite track. I’m gunning for a top 8 finish at this event.
OK OK, so I havn’t posted in a while, big deal. I have been busy. Busy with what you say, well as most of you don’t know, I just recently moved to LA. Yup, bye bye midwest, hello fun sun and unfortunately earthquakes. So far its been good, traffic isnt that bad really, everyone drives fast as hell on the interstates. Even little old ladies pass me doing 90 sometimes, they are crazy here and I love it.
So we are living in an area of LA called Koreatown. Its cool I guess…the rent is pretty cheap and its close to some cool stuff.
If you are in the LA area and you want to meet up, shot me an email…I want to know where all the drifting is going on.
Located in Sin City, the SEMA show is the place to be after the seasons ends. My car was at the show pimping in the Kenda Tire booth #40013. The show truly is the greatest show on earth. There is so much to see, its pretty ridiculous. I found an exhaust tip that was like 2 feet in diameter.
see
KENDA booth
posing
And the models….well, one of them at least. The other one was hiding in the trunk maybe.
I was wondering why I had ass and hand prints all over my windshield at the Englishtown Clinic….here is the reason.
My car was WAAAAY too nice for the SEMA crowd…
I walked around, looked at stuff, talked to people and it was fun. Way too much to see. Its cause for freaking out, cause there is just too much. Dudes changing huge dump truck tires to show you the equipment, crazy stuff around every corner. I recommend it to anyone.
Big thanks to Kenda Tire, Strack Inc and Konig wheels for the help this year. I finally got to meet some of the people that have been helping me this year.
Irwindale, CA - Round 7 is in the books and well, we didn’t do as well as we wanted. The important thing is that we ahd fun and learned a ton. Seriously, we learned, and we are going to take what we learned and kick some butt next year.
If you read my blog, you remember I blew my engine at Sonoma.
Working on the car to get the blown engine out. Thanks Sams Autoland for all the support this year. Couldn’t have done it without you.
engines out
Engine we got from Garage Boso…Thanks Ross and Frank
Brad under the hood of the car putting the finishing touches on the engine change after blowing it in Sonoma.
the man, uh the……..man….wow, not flattering…I’m just saying
Lining up for practice.
Thanks to Brad@Groundwerksgarage the car was running great.
We were having some setup issues, so here are the guys working hard to make some changes. Thanks Dave Epifano, Brad Hettinger and Sean Smithson for the support.
Getting a little bit closer to the wall.
not sure why I like this picture, but I do.
nothing beats this race support vehicle. It was an automatic manual…it shifted the manual automatically, weird car.
my office, were I do my work
another cool picture, this one I’m warming up the Kenda tires
All the competitors getting ready for qualifying.
screen shot of the driftstream live and there I am on my 1st qualifying run.
my 1st run score….a 1 for speed, really????
second run is looking good
uhh, what????? reverse entry OMG
oops, good setup, but too close to the wall….next time
Now I have an excuse for my brake light being out.
getting some love from Nikolay-scissor-hands
ok, I put alot of pictures in this one, so I hope you like it.
I’d like to thank:
Kenda Tires
Strack Inc
Konig Wheels
Extreme Dimensions
and in no particular order:
Eugene Chou
Brad Hettinger
Sean Smithson
Dave Epifano “The Fonz”
Jelani Winston
JC Robinson
Mark Lenardon “Makeshift Films”
Sam, Jim and Dwight from Sams Autoland
Tony B
The Gardella Racing guys, Gary, Scott, Moose and Bruce,
maybe Angerman but he didnt do anything
Matt Powers for some suspension parts.
Drift Emporium for the spacers
David at WORKS Motorsports
Rob at Z-Car Garage
Frank at Garage Boso
Erik Jacobs with Atlelite.com
Toyo Tire changer guys, all of them, BIG THANKS
and of course my girlfriend Susan, needless to say, my biggest fan and greatest supporter.
and whoever else I have forgotten
and of course the fans, without you there would be no one in the stands.
Wanna race on Kenda Tires? Here’s your chance – Kenda has set up a racer support program for all the passionate racers who want to race on the Kenda Kaiser’s (used in DMCC and FormulaD).
If you’re interested, email John at Blvdtire@comcast.net for the official race support program. If you are a racer, send in your race resume and quality for discounted Kenda tires! Drift on!
Also, look us up on Facebook at “KENDA Tires racing” to keep up with the latest news and information.
If you want to see the run during the Live Feed from Justin.tv on DriftStream Live check out 00:01:40 for the run…
Sonoma, CA, was the scene for round 6 of FormulaD. Speaking of scenes, the backdrop at Infineon Raceway was truly beautiful: mountains, lakes and sprawling desert land. I’ve never been here before, but it felt like home.
Beautiful isn’t it
Before we could get started on a weekend of antics, fun, sun, beverages and drifting, we had to work on the car. After Vegas, I went to an event in Phoenix to dial in the car. Leaps and bounds, my friends…..I found that two suspension components were binding the car which caused it to act like a wild horse on the track. After the fix, the car was driving well. So well in fact, I blew out the clutch. With clutch in hand and 2100 miles from home, we made some frantic phone calls to get some shelter for clutch installation.
I called Rob from Z-car Garage and he was more than willing to help. His shop wasn’t convenient to Sonoma so he made some calls. He pulled a favor or two in for us and landed a sweet spot at the track with none other than the WORKS Motorsports guys. Their shop is located in one of Infineon Raceways many garages. It was very difficult to concentrate on the clutch when all I was thinking about was taking the Evo out for a spin. A big thanks to the team: Brad, Eugene, Dave, Sean and Mark for busting butt on getting the car back up and running, as well as Rob with Z-car Garage and David from WORKS Motorsports.
<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/greekdrifter/4994160939/” title=”15 by greekdrifter1, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/4994160939_e23a3e4b09.jpg” width=”500″ height=”374″ alt=”15″ /></a>
Brad working hard to install the clutch
There was not a Thursday practice for this event. Basically, you have 6 runs to get the course down. We don’t have any communications equipment so it makes it a challenge to communicate using text messaging…especially when the reception is spotty. I did my 6 or 7 runs and didn’t receive any text messages until the session was over. I got crazy ones from the day before and one about 30 min after practice was over. Needless to say, I was not driving so well and it was now too late to change anything; off to qualifying we go.
Let me start by saying, this track was probably my favorite so far in the FD tour after Road Atlanta; highspeed ebrake entry to a decreasing radius. Every course has its challenge and this was no exception. But it flowed pretty well and the surface was silky smooth. I was linking it no problem, but I wasn’t hitting the correct line on the entry. Qualifying comes and goes. The Kenda team barely makes it in at the 32nd spot, going up against Tyler McQuarrie who qualified 1st.
In drifting, you always have a chance….anything can happen.
We practice and I take Brad’s advice on the line. I start getting the course down much better than before. After one run, Ken Gushi is motioning to me that something is wrong with my car. I get out and look around and see nothing. We keep practicing and I notice the car smokes really bad after a run. After I cool down and get back on throttle to head back to the waiting area, we check the car out and find the valve cover is leaking oil on the top. Friday night, we get it all sealed up, ready for tomorrow.
Getting interviewed by Jarod about the up-coming tandem with Tyler.
Saturday starts off great; we practice and I’m driving well. I practice my strategy that I will be using against Tyler. Drive Hard and Drive Fast…drift my ass off and hope he makes a mistake. During practice, the car feels really down on power and is now smoking after every run. We take it easy and head back to stop the leak before top 32.
Top 32, we get the engine seal yet again and go out for top 32. As soon as I get up to the top of the hill, it was game time. Tyler and I were first to go. We take off and I am following as close as possible. We initiate into the first turn and I’m not as close as I’d like but I’m happy. I shift 3rd and clutch dump it and the car bogs…the engine was done, no power. I shift to 2nd and finished the run. Leading, I knew I’d be even slower than I was before, BUT Tyler had to follow. We finish up the run and the win goes to Tyler. He is a cool guy as well as a great competitor. I met him at the autograph session in RoadA and it was cool to talk with him.
All and all, the weekend was awesome. The car still looks great with the Konig Lace wheels. We are planning a new look for the car next year, so I know Konig will have another awesome wheel that we can run on the car.
I have been talking a lot about setup this year. It’s because without it, you will get your face stomped at FD. My car was amazing in the past, or so I thought. Some adjustments we made have been good and some not so good. But overall, the car is getting better and faster. I plan to kick ass in the future because I will not stop, I will not give up. I love this sport. It’s been my life for the last 4 years of my life. Remember, no matter what people say about you or you’re driving, it’s your destiny. With a positive attitude and a thick layer of tenacity, you can do whatever you want.
I’d like to send a special shout out to the guys at Sam’s Auto in Gardena, CA…especially Sam, Dwight and Jim. They have been especially great with helping a privateer like myself!
Vegas, NV, was the scene for round 5 of Formula Drift and it lived up to its reputation for being a hot spot for fun, trouble and sin..and don’t forget temperature cause it was friggin hot at 109 degrees. This year has been overshadowed by the quest for speed and grip. The only thing we haven’t changed so far were the shocks. So here we are in the sweltering heat of Nevada, wrenching and sweating to get the car set up early on Thursday.
The Vegas course was a ton of fun. A fast line into a kink then bumper to the wall, you slide out to the next wall. This course can be done 1 of 2 ways, flick at the kink or hold a tight line and e-brake against the wall. The flick was baller, so I went for it. I was starting to get it down on Thursday, but the changes to the car and the challenge of the flick were not proving to be a winning combination. Well, there’s always Friday I thought, so I’ll get the e-brake down. The car was gripping well. The speed and traction were there, I just had to learn how to ride this bull. I’m telling you, the Kenda KR-20s are really grippy. I got good smoke and traction.
Thursday was also the scene of a tragic pop-up tent incident that included an innocent Dodge Viper and Dodge Challenger. We were moving the pit space around and Mark was holding the huge Kenda pop-up tent (RIP) when a gust of wind blew it up and over the fence, where it landed on top of these beautiful cars, scratching them. The Dodge guys were not too happy. I apologized for what had happened but what can you do…it’s nature and I have no control over that. There goes my chances of getting a Dodge Viper for next year’s FD season. Puh, yeah, right! By facilitating the use of my 2 upper control arms, duct-tape and many zip-ties, we got the Kenda Tires pop-up tent standing on its own again.
Friday starts off with the autograph signing and I sat next to Robbie Nishida. He’s an interesting guy; he has an odd sense of humor and a care free attitude. I didn’t expect to get that from him; it was cool. I started practice with a flick entry just to get my feet wet. The next run, I e-brake in a bit too close to the wall and smacked the rear of the car against it. It messed up my line, so I decided to try again. Thursday practice was plagued with crashes and Friday was no exception. After the numerous cleanups, I knew I had only 2 runs, maybe, to get the e-brake down. I decided it might be best to stick with the flick, seeing as that’s all I knew so far.
Qualifying: I’m up for my first run. I do the flick, stick it pretty good. I thought I was in for sure, but the judges gave me a 55. I wasn’t mad, I just had to do better. I was watching the top guys qualify and I was blown away by the entry of Forsberg. He rolls at the end of the wall and flicks hard, then flicks back at the wall, exactly what I was doing, only further to the right and much, much better. I lined up for my second run and just pictured his run as my run. I take off, aim for the wall, flick and ride through the course. Not my best run, it was shaky and offline a bit, but I gave it a shot. They announce top 32 and I’m not in the show. I understood, but I wasn’t happy. People told me my run was better than some that qualified, but I know we (everyone else) cannot see what the judges see, besides, I don’t worry about that stuff anyway. So, again I’m watching my friends battle to get into the top 16.
Saturday was a fun day. Since I wasn’t in the show and my car setup needed some work, I asked if I could use the top area of the gi-normous parking lot to setup a little course and get some suspension tuning on. Brad (aka B-rad), Dave Epifano (aka, the fonz) and I spent about an hour running the same line making adjustments to the shocks, rebound and compression. Towards the end, I was really hammering down with grip and tons of smoke through the course. The car was a ton better.
Saturday was especially special for a few reasons. First, Susan had come out for the event. Since I didn’t qualify, I could spend more time with her. Next was that Kenda had 2 really hot models come out to support the team, handing out stuff, taking pictures and making us look good. The last thing was that Saturday was my birthday. I should have told the judges to give me some qualifying points so I could have been drifting on my birthday instead of watching.
Interesting quotes from the weekend:
“You some sort of GOD D$%N retard?” – Fremont prostitute
“Hot girls are making out, let’s go there”
“That dude has a tail, I’m serious”
“THAT GUY IS THE F%&KING DEVIL”
“Hey Sean, can you check tire pressures, and then go kill yourself”
Why do Asian guys throw shoes? Seriously!?
“People come from miles around to watch him drift; they believe his transitions can cure cancer”……..”he once drifted around a blind man and cured his sight”
I’d like to thank the guys of Tanaka Racing and Sam’s Autoland for helping with trailer storage for the last 2 rounds of FD.
A big thanks for the team: Brad, Sean, Mark, Eugene and Dave for their help at the event.
