Corey Hosford, Rockstar Performance Garage, AEM Induction Systems & more team up for a powerful return to Formula DRIFT Pro2

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Corey Hosford, Rockstar Performance Garage, AEM Induction Systems & more team up for a powerful return to Formula DRIFT Pro2

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Hosford piloting a 427ci V8 Twin Turbo by Garrett Nissan S14 Pandem “Boss”

Corey Hosford, Rockstar Performance Garage, AEM Induction Systems & more team up for a powerful return to Formula DRIFT Pro2

Gilbert, AZ – Corey ‘The Boss’ Hosford formally announced his return to Formula DRIFT Pro2 competition today, having been absent from competitive driving in recent years. The “Boss” will also find support from his new sponsors at Rockstar Performance Garage, AEM Induction Systems, Street Standard, Vibrant Performance, Takata, Maximum Driftcast, Momo, Fueled Racing, Holley Performance Products, Turbo by Garrett, Nexen Tire, Mishimoto, R1 Concepts, Tial, Motegi Racing, KW Suspensions, Blackworks Racing, Aeromotive Fuel Systems, Wisefab, AutoMeter, Exedy Clutches, Mast Motorsports, K1, Pandem by Tra Kyoto and many more. Bridges Racing in Huntington Beach, CA will facilitate the final completion of the number ‘232’ Nissan 240SX S14, while adding a custom Mast Motorsports Black Label 427ci V8 motor with TWIN GTX3582 Turbo by Garrett turbos breathing 14psi; among many other mods. Continue reading Corey Hosford, Rockstar Performance Garage, AEM Induction Systems & more team up for a powerful return to Formula DRIFT Pro2

Guest Blog: Shift to Top 32 by Jacob Leveton

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Shift to Top 32
by Jacob Leveton

One of the greatest competition changes made by Formula D over the years was the shift from top 16 to top 32 tandem back in 2009. This shift has doubled the opportunities for up-and-coming drivers to compete in tandem competition side-by-side against the biggest names in the sport, as well as shaken up points structure. Qualifying for the tandem battles used to be reserved for the experienced and elite, with the occasional rookie making the field. Now, the majority of the drivers at any given event will be proving themselves in a judged tandem battle on Saturday, not packing it up early Friday evening. Because of that additional experience, names like Odi Bakchis, Ryan Kado, Matt Field, and Walker Wilkerson are quickly rising up the points standings.

As part of earning Rookie-of-the-year honors, Odi was interviewed for the 2012 Fan Guide. One of the questions we asked him who he gets excited to tandem against. Odi mentioned that he would prefer to get paired up against a top-10 driver because he knows he will learn something new in those tandems. Last year, Odi faced Dai Yoshihara (Long Beach), Vaughn Gittin Jr (Atlanta), Rhys Millen (West Palm Beach), and Joon Maeng (New Jersey) in his first four top-32 tandem battles, all of them ended in a losing effort. After Bakchis finally won his first tandem battle in a tight matchup with Robbie Nishida in Seattle, he was rewarded with a rematch against Gittin Jr. The experience of the first 5 rounds would finally pay off in Vegas where Bakchis was able to defeat Otto Graven, Justin Pawlak, and Toshiki Yoshioka before falling to Rhys Millen in the Final 4 and losing to Matt Powers in the consolation matchup. Odi’s run of success in Vegas almost single-handedly earned him the Rookie-of-the-year honors.

This year’s rookie class is looking to be the biggest one to date. As a result, you may see some unexpected names winning a few tandem rounds. Two rounds into this season, eight different rookies have made top 32 and fifteen more have made a qualifying pass. Daigo Saito is undeniably the most well-known rookie this season, but don’t sleep on the rest of the rookie class. Back in 2008, Michihiro Takatori used a 2nd place finish in Atlanta and a pair of 4th place finishes in Vegas and Irwindale to earn the Rookie of the Year honors. Also in that rookie class, a pair of drivers by the name of Justin Pawlak and Pat Mordaunt ran as privateers, trying to prove their abilities. Fast forward a few years and both Pawlak and Mordaunt are driving with some of the best teams in the series.

In 2009, the first year in which Formula D expanded to top-32 tandem format, we caught an early glimpse of how awesome the tandem battles can be in the round of 32. Mike Essa had a great battle with Tyler McQuarrie, unfortunately not having enough to move past the Falken Tire 350Z. But the most exciting tandem battle came between 2nd qualifier Dai Yoshihara and 31st qualifier Pat Mordaunt. Pat put on four stellar runs, two in the original battle and two more in the one-more-time battle, to knock out Yoshihara’s Discount Tire IS350. Entering this year’s event, it seemed that it wasn’t a matter of if there would be first round upsets but who they would be.

If the names Dai Yoshihara, Chris Forsberg, Tyler McQuarrie, Ken Gushi, Darren McNamara, Robbie Nishida, and Conrad Grunewald ring a bell, they should. Between them, they have 10 event wins, 16 other podium finishes, and 2 championships over the last 3 seasons alone. In any given event, any of these drivers could be in the top 8 or beyond. However in Atlanta, this was the list of drivers who were watching Top 16 opening ceremonies from the stands, eliminated in the round of 32. Just a few short years ago, today’s FD freshmen and sophomores were looking up to these drivers. Now, they’re ranked higher than them in the points standings. All thanks to top 32 tandems.

Formula DRIFT Malaysia Pre-Race Conference Highlights

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The VIP panel for the press conference included Encik Zulkifli Bin Ibrahim, Deputy Director General of Planning for Kuala Lumpur City Hall (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur is the local authority charged with the administration of Kuala Lumpur); Mr Edward Mamahit, Head of Global Marketing & Business Development, PT Multistrada Arah Sarana Tbk (Achilles); Mr Harvey Davis, Vice President (Event Management Group), ESPN STAR Sports; and Mr Marcus Lim, Co-Founder of Formula Drift Asia and Driftpac.

Joining the panel on stage were drivers Daigo Saito, Robbie Nishida, Kiki Sak Nana, Josh Boettcher, Muhammad Rulli Armando, Manabu Orido, Ariff Johanis, Lim Zee King, Tan Tat Wei and Ivan Lau.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Vaughn Gittin Jr. Main Character in NFS SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED

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Vaughn Gittin Jr. main character in NFS SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED, with Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang and NFS RTR-X as boss cars

BALTIMORE, Md. (February 23, 2011) – The most successful racing video game series in the world, Electronic Art’s Need for Speed, is releasing the highly-anticipated SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED to the public March 29th, and 2010 Formula Drift Champion, Vaughn Gittin Jr., is excited to announce his huge involvement with the most realistic and immersive racing game on the market.

The Monster Energy Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang that Vaughn piloted to win the 2010 Formula Drift Championship will be the “boss car” for the Drift element of UNLEASHED. All players have the opportunity to have Vaughn’s competition car in their garage and drift it at famous tracks such as Irwindale Speedway and Ebisu Circuit. “Not only does it look the part,” says Vaughn, “but it’s handling and throttle response are as much crazy in-game as it is in real life.”

The Team Need for Speed ’69 Mustang RTR-X is the “boss car” in the Muscle element of the game and every player will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of this amazing vehicle. “Just don’t scratch the paint!” Vaughn says jokingly.

Besides his vehicles being in-game and his personal contributions to the physics and other elements of SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED, Vaughn is honored that he is also the main character in the game. “I am each players’ friend and coach in the game,” Vaughn explains. “I am the guy that gives the player confidence before and during the races, I applaud players when they are killing it, and I yell at them when they are making mistakes.”

Not only is Vaughn in the player’s corner throughout the game, but he also works with them to teach them how to drift during the drift tutorial. “Being the frequent Sim player that I am, I truly believe that having a proper virtual driving experience translates to a shorter learning curve when the opportunity arrives to hit the track in real life,” says Vaughn Gittin Jr.

“Working on SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED has been a true project of passion for me,” Vaughn continues. “I am very excited for the world to have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of my cars virtually. Who knows, it could turn into reality for a few gamers one day! I sincerely hope everyone enjoys SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED. The team has put a lot of passion behind each element of the game to offer in my opinion what is the best console driving experience to date!”

Read Vaughn’s blog on Speedhunters.com for more details and pictures. Stay tuned to VaughnGittin.com for updated news, pictures, and videos.