Event Reports
Formula Drift Round 1
April 10-11, 2009
Long Beach, CA
Report by John Chennavasin
Formula Drift kicked off its sixth season at the Streets of Long Beach with a two-day competition format previously seen at the Red Bull Drifting World Championship. The tandem round has been expanded to 32 drivers. To make room for the additional tandem matches, the qualifying session was moved to Friday.
Judging has been revised for the 2009 season as well. For the qualifying runs, each judge was now responsible for evaluating a specific part of the driver's qualifying run. Also, the tandem judging format was revised. Scores were no longer announced between the tandem runs, and the judges only declare the winner or a "one more time" run after both runs. The updated format resulted in numerous "one more time" runs. Multiple "one more time" runs were permitted again to the delight of the crowd.
New Cars for 2009
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Back-to-back champion Tanner Foust was driving a Scion tC with a NASCAR V8 engine.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. received a 2010 Ford Mustang GT with a 4.6 liter "Aluminator" V8 engine. In a change from previous drifting Ford Mustangs and other drift cars, the bodywork was largely stock appearance-wise with no aftermarket wings or fender flares.
Rhys Millen's Hyundai Genesis coupe made its Formula Drift debut. Due to the short lead time to prepare the car, it was powered by a Nissan engine.
On the other hand, Samuel Hubinette's Dodge Charger was parked in the paddock while development work continues. Justin Pawlak was also waiting for his new Mazda RX-8 to be completed.
The Nissan 370Z, Infiniti G37, and Chevrolet Camaro are not expected in Formula Drift until at least 2010.
The privateer spirit was present at Formula Drift, with Jeff Jones and Matt Powers making the tandem round.
Notable Matches
The audience was treated to a first-round match between Irish drivers Eric O'Sullivan and Darren McNamara.
In the second round, there was an all-GM match between Ryan Tuerck's Pontiac Solstice GXP and Conrad Gruenwald's Chevrolet Corvette. After two "one more time" runs, Ryan Tuerck moved on.
The loudest match was between Samuel Hubinette's Dodge Viper SRT10 and Vaughn Gittin's Ford Mustang GT.
After Miki Taka was introduced as Miss Formula Drift 2009, Formula Drift announcer Jarod DeAnda mentioned that he'd like to see a tandem match between Ryuji Miki and Taka Aono.
Results
Ryan Tuerck outdrove Samuel Hubinette for his first Formula Drift win, with Tanner Foust in third place. The top three received new carbon-fiber trophies.
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Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Tuerck | Gardella Racing/Mobil 1 | Pontiac Solstice GXP | 102 |
| 2 | Samuel Hubinette | Nuformz Racing/Mopar | Dodge Viper SRT10 | 90 |
| 3 | Tanner Foust | Rockstar/Scion Racing | Scion tC | 84 |
| 4 | Robbie Nishida | Hankook Tires/Dynamic Autosports | Nissan 350Z | 72 |
| 5 | Taka Aono | Technosquare | Toyota Corolla (AE86) | 65 |
| T6 | Tony Brakohiapa | Cooper Tire | Ford Mustang GT | 62 |
| T6 | Chris Forsberg | NOS Energy Drink/Maxxis Tire | Nissan 350Z | 62 |
| T6 | Vaughn Gittin, Jr. | Falken Tire/Ford Racing | Ford Mustang GT | 62 |
| T6 | Stephan Verdier | Cooper Tire/Crawford Performance | Subaru STI | 62 |
| 10 | Darren McNamara | Falken/Sears Auto Center | Saturn Sky | 61 |