Posts Tagged ‘Drift’

Drift

Vaughn Gittin signs 2013 deal with Nitto Tires

Posted by: Patrick Walker on

Today it was officially announced that Vaughn Gittin Jr. will not be partnering with Falken Tires in the 2013 season and has formed a new partnership with Nitto Tires. Rumors began to circulate during the 2012 SEMA show in which Vaugh was not listed on the drivers list and began to fly even more-so when Falken Tires removed him from the drivers list on the website. This is a very interesting turn of events as Vaugh has been driving on Falken tires since 2004 and they were his first major sponsor. This will also be the first season since that he has driven on any other manufacturers tires. Will this give JR the little bit of an extra edge in the 2013 season that he was missing in 2012? We’ll see I guess….

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Here is an excerpt from the release on www.vaughngittin.com

From Vaughn: “I am pumped to be working with Nitto Tire! As I enter this new chapter of my career, it feels great to be aligned with a brand that is committed to winning and progression, just as I am. I have always been focused on working just as hard off the track as I do on it, and Nitto’s innovative marketing efforts and awesome tires will compliment that well. It is very clear that our overall passion and future goals align perfectly, and I could not be happier with what the future has to offer surrounding this partnership.”

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Taylor Morris, The Drifting Quad Amputee

Posted by: Patrick Walker on

So without doubt if you are here you’ve seen the video of Taylor Morris, the Navy officer who served in Afganistan and due to an IED was made a quad amputee drifting a Mazda 6. If not check it here:

Either way his goal with the video and internet campaign was to get a ride along with Ken Block, and today Ken responded on Facebook offering to take him along when he practices for the 100 Acre Woods Rally in late Feb, here’s the post he put up today.

block-facebook

Drift

What will be of Formula D in 2013 – Daigo Saito

Posted by: Patrick Walker on

I was going to write an article about a few of the FD drivers, what is known about them thus far in the off season, how 2012 treated them and any information we may have leading into the 2013 season, but after writing just the first one I realized it may be better as a series of posts so, here is the first of the series “What will be of Formula D in 2013”, Daigo Saito edition…

Daigo Saito 2012

Let me start off by saying that I am not a big Daigo fan and think that Formula D’s stance on him as a Rookie is weak to say the least. However, I have to give credit where it is due: he had 4 podium finishes in his first year, 2 first place and 2 third place finishes and managed to surprise everyone and take the FD 2012 championship. He also racked up a slew of 2012 FD awards including (obviously) Rookie of the Year, Top Gun of the Year, Ace of the Year, Hardest Charging Driver, and Fan Favorite Car of the Year. What is more impressive is the fact that amongst all the other V8 NA cars he did it all in a boosted 2JZ engine pulling close to 1200HP.
Now as I am not a native Japanese speaker it’s hard for me to follow Daigo in this off season, but it has been covered on a couple other blogs that Daigo purchased Samuel Hubinette’s Dodge Challenger a little while ago. As well as there being rumors that he purchased 2 NASCAR Dodge engines a while back. There had been rumors during the 2012 season that he might be bringing a Supra to FD in 2013. During the after season there were rumors of him working on a Dodge SRT Viper, but those may have been caused by the purchase of the NASCAR v8 engines. All of this information shatters the previously safe assumption that Daigo would be sticking with a Lexus/Toyota chassis as he seems to have been doing throughout his career and from what I can tell all of the series he has been driving in. In addition, Daigo is the only driver to have driven on 4 different tire manufacturers during his career so there isn’t even a safe assumption as to what he will be driving on next season.
So it looks like as of right now Daigo seems to be, as Winston Churchill said, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

Daigo Saito's 2012 FD Vehicle - Lexus SC430
Drift

Toshiki Yoshioka starts his own team for Formula D 2013

Posted by: Patrick Walker on

So following rumors of RS-R not returning to Formula D and a second Formula D year that wasn’t as impressive as his first it looks like Toshiki Yoshioka will be returning to Formula D in 2013 with his own team in a new car, a Subaru BRZ, a car he hopes will help him return to his original driving roots and potential.

Drift

Help Jeremy Lowe in the Champion ‘Search for a Champion’

Posted by: Patrick Walker on

In the 2012 Formula Drift season Rookie driver Jeremy Lowe was able to propel himself and his 1986 Mazda FC RX-7 into all 7 Formula D events with just himself, his dad and a friend and still managed to perform and finish as the 3rd overall Rookie in Formula D. Here’s a recap video of Jeremy’s 2012 season



Now Jeremy has entered into Champion’s ‘Search for a Champion’ to help himself fund the 2013 season and focus on driving and his performance rather than getting to the events, you can visit his contest page here to vote for him and see if you can give this young and upcoming driver a better chance next season