March 8, 2010 (Signal Hill, Calif.) — Kyle Mohan is proud to announce that his team will have a new identity and a new look for the 2010 season. Mohan will partner with Formula Drift’s newest tire sponsor, Nexen Tire, and will compete in the No.99 Nexen Tire / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 in the Formula Drift Pro Championship.
Mohan, also known for the rotary engines that he builds at Mazdatrix that power drift, race, and street cars around the country, has emerged as a leading Mazda driver in Formula Drift since he first competed in a Mazda RX-7 FC3S in 2006.
Coming off of a breakout 2008 season, where he finished a career-best fourth at the Streets of Long Beach and qualified 10th at the Red Bull Drifting World Championship, Mohan debuted a brand-new Mazda RX-8 at the beginning of the 2009 season. After a full season of development, that RX-8 has been developed extensively in the off season, and will be arriving at the Streets of Long Beach with more power, more noise – and a new tires, courtesy of Nexen Tire USA.
“This is really great news for my team, and for all of the sponsors and partners that have supported us over the past four seasons,” said Mohan. “Adding Nexen Tire as our title sponsor will help us elevate our program and give us what we need to continue to compete in Formula Drift. We have already tested their tires and were very impressed with the grip and wear that we got out of them, so I am really looking forward to getting back on track this season.”
Nexen Tire is new to Formula Drift, but has competed in Ireland’s ProDrift championship, and have become large supporters of grassroots drifting in the United States.
“We are very excited to become a part of Kyle’s Formula Drift program,” said Michael Meeiem, Motorsports Marketing Rep. for Nexen Tire USA. “We have had our eye on becoming involved in Formula Drift for a while, and as long as we’ve been talking about it we have had our eye on Kyle. His performances at the end of 2010, and the fact that he and his small team have competed in their RX-8 at such a high level led us to select KMR to be our flagship team.”
The new-look Nexen Tire / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 will debut at round 1 at the Streets of Long Beach on April 8-9.
