Tyler McQuarrie, of Walnut Creek, Calif., won the GTS class race of the Toyo Tires World Challenge at Long Beach Presented by Bondurant. Nick Esayian, of San Diego, Calif., was second.

McQuarrie, making his World Challenge debut, cruised to a 49.535-second flag-to-flag victory in his No. 19 LPL/DRS/Switcars/LCS/Dayco/M&T Lotus Exige S.

Starting on pole, McQuarrie got a jump on the field on the first lap, aided in part by the poor luck of Peter Cunningham in the No. 43 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Following contact with another car, Cunningham’s hood opened into the windshield of his Acura on lap one, forcing him into the pits that put him a lap down and ended any challenge the Series’ all-time wins leader could have given McQuarrie.

For more info World Challenge
“I had a great start and actually got by a couple of GT cars,” McQuarrie said. “I didn’t have a working radio in the race, so I didn’t actually realize who was behind me. I looked up at the screen on the second lap and saw one of the Acuras head to the pits with the hood up. I dialed it back just a little bit when I felt I could.”

McQuarrie also competed in last week’s Formula Drift event at Long Beach.

“I have to really thank the LPL and DRS team. They only got this car about five weeks ago and really did a fantastic job with it. To be able to run it here at Long Beach—to run both weekends, is really awesome. I think April in Long Beach is a little bit like May in Indy. It’s a special time and to win here is just awesome.”

Cunningham, the GTS points leader, finished sixth.

The GTS win was the first time a Lotus had won a race of any kind at Long Beach since Mario Andretti won the 1977 Formula One event in a John Player Lotus.

Acura/RealTime Racing’s Esayian finished a distant second to McQuarrie in the No. 34 Acura TSX for his third podium finish in as many races on the season. Michael Pettiford, of Louisville, Colo., finished third in the No. 41 Go4It Racing Schools/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette in finishing third.

Charles Espenlaub, driving as a replacement driver for Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, finished fourth in the No. 03 Mazdaspeed/Stoptech/ProParts MAZDA3. Dempsey practiced on Friday and Saturday, but was unable to make the race because of commitments to filming the television show.

Gary Tolar, of Corona, Calif., finished fifth in the No. 86 GMG/GT Racing LLC Porsche 996.

Cunningham remains the GTS Drivers’ Championship leader with 358 points over Esayian (317) and Pettiford (275).

The race from Long Beach will be broadcast May 1 at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) on Versus.

For more info visit Grand Prix of Long Beach

Schedule of Events

Art of Formula D: A 2009 Season Retrospective Photo Gallery
Will be open to the public during the Grand Prix Weekend.
150 The Promenade N. – corner of Broadway and Promenade
10 AM – 6 PM – April 16 – 18

Friday, April 16
9:35 AM – 10:00 AM – Team Drift Practice

Saturday, April 17
8:55 AM – 9:20 AM – Team Drift Practice

Sunday, April 18
3:40 PM – 3:55 PM – Team Drift Competition

Team Drift Participants

Team 1 | Drift Alliance
Chris Forsberg
Justin Pawlak
Joon Maeng

Team 2 | Team Awesome
Kyle Mohan
Patrick Mordaunt
Cyrus Martinez

Team 3 | The Rollaz
Yasu Kondo
John Russakoff
Taka Aono

Team 4 | Wild Side
Matt Powers
Cody Parkhouse
Tommy Roberts

Team 5 | Team America
Samuel Hubinette
Andrew Picard
Alex Pfeiffer

Team 6 | Team Canul / Essa / Pina
Casper Canul
Michael Essa
Dan Pina

Past Team Drift Winners

2009 | Drift Alliance
Chris Forsberg – Nissan 350Z
Justin Pawlak – Mazda RX-7
John Russakoff

Formula DRIFT founders Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage have been recognized by Long Beach magazine in their annual Innovative Icons issue. The Formula DRIFT office is based in Long Beach and has worked closely with the city for their events including Round 1: Streets of Long Beach, Team Drift during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and the Red Bull Drifting World Championship held on the Port of Long Beach. Each event has brought revenue and exposure to the city  and Long Beach Magazine has recognized them for their hard work, innovation, and commitment to the city.

Congrats to Jim and Ryan…well deserved!

Justin Pawlak and John Russakoff talk about their Team Drift victory as part of team Drift Alliance during this past weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Long Beach native Kyle Mohan talks about the Team Drift competition this weekend in his Cooper / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8.

The Long Beach Press Telegram caught up with Kyle and wrote a nice feature that appeared in today’s paper. Read the full article HERE