Justin Pawlak in the Falken Tire Ford Mustang earns the victory at the first event of the 2012 Formula DRIFT season. Daijiro Yoshihara in the America's Tire / Falken Nissan 240SX takes second place while Formula DRIFT rookie Daigo Saito, in the Achilles Tires / Bridges Racing Lexus SC430 rounds out the podium.
Dai's 2012 Drift Test at Willow Springs
Coming off a dominating 2011 season in which Team Falken driver Daijiro Yoshihara¸ competing in the Discount Tire/Falken Tire S13, became the Formula Drift Champion, the high performance tire manufacturer will be gunning for a repeat performance of last year. The cars will be unveiled this weekend on the streets of Long Beach for the opening event of the 2012 Formula Drift season.
King of the Hammers 2012 Falken Tire Testing
FONTANA, CA -- Falken Tire, a leading high performance choice for driving enthusiasts on pavement and off-road, has just announced further expansion of its motorsports involvement in the popular and demanding off-road King of the Hammers event, running a new vehicle built by Off Road Evolution of Fullerton, CA, that will compete in the highly competitive Ultra4 Class. The Falken Tire factory team race vehicle will feature the Wildpeak A/T 37x13.50-R18 tire.
King of the Hammers, known as the "toughest one-day off-road race," according to series organizers, will run for the sixth time on public lands in Johnson Valley, CA. Over the first five years the race has run, it has evolved from 12 teams to more than 150 teams competing before thousands of fans both live and online. The race will be run on Friday February 10, 2012.
The custom tube chassis vehicle will be piloted by Falken Vice President of Marketing Andrew Hoit, an experienced off-roader, along with his co-driver, Ryan Hagel from RCH Designs in Huntington Beach, CA. The car is powered by an LS1 engine making more than 400hp, with a turbo400 transmission and Atlas transfer case. The team is prequalified for the race but will set its starting position on Wednesday February 8th.
This is Falken's first serious effort into off-road racing. The high performance tire manufacturer has already shown its dominance in the professional world of drifting and claimed two wins in last year's hotly contested GT class of the American Le Mans Series. Falken is also supporting two other teams in this year's event, the husband and wife team of Race Prep Racing, also in the KOH Main Event as well as the Savvy Off Road/Currie Enterprises Jeep Wrangler competing in this year's Every Man Challenge event on Sunday February 5th.
"We feel this is a perfect venue to showcase the durability and versatility of our Wildpeak tire line," stated Nestor Cabrera, Falken's Off-Road Supervisor. "We are confident we'll perform well in this demanding event."
KOH, as King of the Hammers is known, will feature over 150 vehicles competing, while 71 Last Chance Qualifier contestants will attempt to secure the 20 remaining spots and conquer the 165 mile course.
First-person view of Falken Motorsports' ALMS pit stop
After starting in eighth position, Team Falken Tire finished 6th in the GT class today in the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach, a home track for the Fontana based team.
Falken Tire 2012 Formula D Long Beach TEASER
Team Falken started the 2012 Formula Drift season the way it finished last year, with one of its factory drivers on top of the podium.
The 800 HP Formula Drift K.Sport 350Z - /TUNED
Tuned goes to Bondurant School of High Performance Driving to meet up with Formula Drift driver Corey Hosford and his 800 HP Blown LS3 Nissan 350Z Drift car. We learn what separates a drift car from a race car, and Matt gets to work on his drifting technique behind the wheel of a monster race car.
Formula Drift Long Beach 2013 Highlights
Video highlights from the Formula Drift "Streets of Long Beach" competition in Long Beach, CA on April 13, 2013.
For more local event coverage, visit Beauty in Metal at http://www.beautyinmetal.com.
Thanks for watching!
Drifting : Rise of the V-8 : Formula Drift (HD)
http://MPGomatic.com asks ... Does life really go better with a V8?
Professional drifting is a motor sport unseen by most Americans. At its highest level here in the USA, the teams in Formula Drift have moved markedly towards the V8 engine. While many (most?) folks associate drift with high-revving turbocharged four bangers, the reliability, horsepower, torque, and affordability of the V8 engine cannot be denied.
This video was shot over the course of two hot and steamy weekends in New Jersey at Formula Drift Round 4 - the Gauntlet/Wall Stadium and Club Loose's East Coast Bash.
Featuring:
Justin Pawlak - 2013 Falken Tire Ford Mustang RTR
Vaughn Gittin - 2013 Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang
Chris Forsberg - 2012 NOS Energy Drink Nissan 370Z
Rhys Millen - 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
Ryan Tuerck - Retaks Racing 240LS
Ken Gushi - 2013 Greddy/Scion Racing Hankook FR-S
Tyler McQuarrie - 2011 Mobil 1 Chevy Camaro SS
Conrad Grunewald - 2010 Hankook Chevy Camaro SS
Kyle Mohan - 2010 Nexen Tire Mazda RX-8
Luke Lonberger - 2005 Blu808 Chevy Corvette
Mike Skudlarek - 1992 Nissan 240sx
Daigo Saito vs. Vaughn Gittin Jr. in Top 16 - Insane Tandem Battle
http://www.wreckedmagazine.com Sit back and watch Daigo Saito in his flat black Lexus SC430 running on Achilles Tires as he tries to pull away from Vaughn Gittin Jr. in his Falken Tire / Monster Energy Drink 2013 Ford Mustang. Vaughn put down a great follow run against Daigo but made contact at the end of the track when Daigo swung way wide and Vaughn had no where to put his Mustang. The contact resulted in damage to Vaughn's rear suspension and resulted him in losing the tandem round. Road Atlanta was on fire this year with a huge crowd and plenty of tandem action with the new track layout.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. Mustang Burnout & Chase of RC Drift Car
Vaughn Gittin Jr. starts with a powerful burnout in his Ford Mustang Drifting machine as he chases an RC drift car version through the K&N air filter factory. K&N is giving away 5 Limited Edition Vaughn Gittin Jr. HPI Remote Control Drift Cars in a sweepstakes. This Monster Energy, K&N, Falken Tire, Ford Mustang themed Drift R/C Car is a model of the 2011 Ford Mustang drift car that Vaughn Gittin Jr. drove in Formula Drift last year and was featured at the 2011 SEMA Show.
Only 5000 R/C cars were produced and K&N has 5 of these to give away to Facebook fans.
One Limited Edition Vaughn Gittin Jr. HPI R/C Drift Car will be given away each week until Friday, March 2, 2012. Entry period ends March 1, 2012. For more information about K&N's Limited Edition Vaughn Gittin Jr. RC Drift Car Sweepstakes or to enter, go to our Facebook page at Facebook.com/knfilters.
TOYOTA SUPRA DRIFT
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Formula Drift 2005 - Behind the Scenes with Rhys Millen and RMR
Behind the Scenes with Rhys Millen and RMR! What is Drifting? It's about style. It's about speed. It's about execution. It's about car control. Formula Drift is a look at the sport, from the view of the drivers and the crews that make the cars drift. There is no clock and there is no finish line.
