Decide to stay in this Friday night?  Nothing to watch? No worries! Just do a simple scroll down below and  you can watch Formula Drift Round 6 “After Dark” Live!  Tonight at 9pm PST will be qualifying and tomorrow will be the big show!  Anyhow, stop reading and start watching!

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Watch live video from driftstream on www.justin.tv

All weekend we will have the live feed from Formula Drift Round 5 “Throwdown” in Monroe, Washington right here at the top of the site for your viewing pleasure!  So scroll down a bit and enjoy!

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Watch live video from driftstream on www.justin.tv

Formula Drift returned to the ATL over the weekend for Round 2 AKA “Road To The Championship” as the grid continues to battle it out for supremacy.  To mix things up the judges changed the layout of the track by having drivers go around the “horseshoe” first instead of at the end which made for some interesting tandem battles.  When the smoke cleared the podium was almost a repeat of Long Beach with Justin “JTP” Pawlak taking the win and Daigo Saito taking third.  However, it was Fredric Aasbo who captured second place instead of Dai Yoshihara (who lost in top 32 to Ryan Tuerck).  The results give JTP a comfortable points lead with 209 total putting him 51.5 points ahead of new second place points holder Daigo Saito while Dai Yoshihara has fallen back to 7th place in points with 118.  If the 2011 champ has any hopes of repeating he has his work cut out for him, meanwhile JTP better watch his back for Daigo as it is more than obvious that he has a very good chance at taking the title in his rookie year!

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[Photo: The ID Agency]

The past weekend marked the official kick-off of the 2012 Formula Drift season.  Once again the roar of drift cars echoed off the high rise condominium and office buildings of downtown Long Beach and layers upon layers of scorched tire rubber were laid down on turns 9, 10, and 11 of the Long Beach Grand Prix street course.  Round 1 of the Formula Drift season is always the most anticipated because this is the time when the fans get to see the debut of new cars, new drivers, and in same cases new teams. 

Speaking of new cars one of the biggest stories of this year’s first round was the debut of Ken Gushi’s new Scion Racing FR-S drift car built by GReddy.  Scion is banking on the FR-S so much that they actually flew out the first 86 people to drop a deposit on one out to the event all expenses paid and built a special VIP viewing area for the group to cheer on Gushi and the other Scion Racing drivers.  “The Gush” as he is called had a pretty good first outing in the new FR-S as he made it all the way to the Great 8.  Unfortunately he had to face 2011 Formula Drift Champion Dai Yoshihara.  During the battle Gushi gave the FR-S its first official introduction to the walls of Long Beach, effectively handing the win over to Yoshihara.

Another major talking point of the weekend revolved around the track itself as the surface was repaved just weeks before the event.  A special test session was held with one driver from each tire sponsor to see how their rubber would hold up to the new asphalt surface.  The feedback was resoundingly positive and it showed in the tandem battles as many drivers who historically had lackluster performances were throwing down lines that were straight gangsta!  To help measure just how “gansta” each run was Formula Drift actually had proximity sensors installed at the three main clipping points of the track that would light up every time a car came within a foot of said point.  It really helped to show who was really hanging it out there and who was being conservative; it really was a great addition for the hardcore fans who love to technically break down each run to the minute details.

In the end the final battle was a re-enactment of the 2011 points battle as it came down to 2011 champion Dai Yoshihara against 2011 runner up Justin “JTP” Pawlak while the battle for third place came down to fan-favorite Matt Powers against living legend Daigo Saito who was killing it all weekend.  Saito, with his Toyota 2JZ powered soarer proved that V8s are not needed  The final battle between JTP and Dai was close but this time Justin Pawlak came out on top claiming the victory and marking his second year in a row winning in Long Beach.

With round 1 officially in the books it is onto round 2 at Road Atlanta which is a favorite among the drivers due to its super fast downhill entry.  Stay tuned to MotorworldHype.com as we will have the live feed from the event at the top of our page!

For a full gallery of all the action from the weekend hit the links below to our Facebook photo albums.

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Track Action Gallery

Car Show/Vendor Gallery

Can’t make it out this weekend for the final round of Formula Drift? No worries!  Just scroll down below to watch all the action live from Toyota Speedway in Irwindale AKA “The House of Drift”.  We will also bring you live updates on twitter @MotorworldHype and a bunch of cool pics and stuff from the event!  If you want last minute tickets just go to FormulaDrift.com but be aware that reserved seating will probably be sold out by the time you read this!

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Watch live video from driftstream on Justin.tv

There were rumors of this for a while but today on the Formula Drift Blog it was confirmed that course configuration for Toyota Speedway AKA Irwindale AKA “The House Of Drift” will be changed.  How?  Well it looks like they are extending the course by including the inner bank opposite to the grid.  This means drivers will not only have to conquer the big bank but BOTH inner bank turns as well while drifting completely across the track’s infield in the process. 

The tire mount guys will definitely be earning their money with this new layout in play.  We can wait to see how this change will effect tandem competition!

Remember the 7th and final round of Formula Drift “Title Fight” is coming up October 7th-8th at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale!  Once again they’re doing reserved seating so hurry up and get your tickets before all the good seats are taken!

P.S. If you want to check out the new track config more closely just click the thumbnail below for a super sized image of the layout.

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The 2011 Formula Drift season is nearly at a close and the title fight is starting to get really close.  Dai Yoshihara was still in a some-what comfortable points lead coming into Round 6 “After Dark” at Las Vegas speedway but Justin “JTP” Pawlak was gunning for him and wanted to gain some ground.  However it almost looked like Justin’s plans would be dashed when he broke a camshaft on his Falken Tire Ford Mustang and for some reason the team couldn’t fix it.

Instead Falken sent their truck 4 hours back to LA to pick up a back up car in the form of a Nissan S15 Silvia, but it wasn’t for Justin.  In a controversial move Falken put last year’s Vegas winner Tyler McQuarrie in the S15 and gave Tyler’s usual V8 Nissan 350Z to JTP.  While many saw this as messed up play on Falken’s part would it really help JTP that much to put him in a car that he is unfamiliar with?  Well while JTP looked ok in practice he did not qualify very well in the 350Z and Tyler had an even worse showing as the S15 did not seem to get along with him that weekend.

Champ contenders JTP and even Dai Yoshihara were both taken out before the top 4 and it was none other than Rhys Millen who managed to nab his first win in the Hyundai Genesis coupe.  Darren McNamara captured 2nd spot, falling to Rhys in the final, and Matt Powers captured 3rd place.

Now just 18.5 points separate Dai Yoshihara from Justin Pawlak going into the final round at Irwindale in October.  If that wasn’t tense enough Darren McNamara, Chris Forsberg, and Matt Powers are all within striking distance of the title as well.

Suddenly October seems so far away!

If you did not get a chance to tune in to the livestream of Formula Drift over the weekend you missed Falken Tire driver Dai Yoshihara earning a victory, taking the Formula Drift championship points lead, and making history as the first Falken Tire driver to win at Evergreen Speedway.  You also missed Fredric Aasbo earning his first podium in the Need For Speed Scion tC.  Wow, you really missed a lot didn’t you?!  Next time you should really make sure you watch our livestream post!  The next few rounds should be pretty interesting with Dai Yoshihara taking back the lead from Justin Pawlak who had an early exit in round 5 by losing to Dennis Mertzanis in the Top 32.  While that sounds like a major setback for JTP, Dai’s lead is only a measely 15 points (Dai 412, JTP 397) and with two rounds left (Las Vegas and Irwindale) JTP is still very much in the title fight.  Not to mention that Chris Forsberg, Darren McNamara, and Matt Powers are all still viable theats for the title should something drastic happen to Dai or JTP during the final rounds.  We can’t wait for the next round! Stay tuned to MotorworldHype.com for the Las Vegas Round 6 livestream post.

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Press Release:

Formula DRIFT Round 5: Throwdown Results;
Daijiro Yoshihara Takes the Victory and the Lead in the Standings

Long Beach, Calif. – July 23, 2011 – Formula DRIFT returned to Evergreen Speedway for Round 5: Throwdown. Daijiro Yoshihara in the Discount Tire / Falken Nissan S13 takes the victory and the lead in the overall Pro Championship points standings. Attendance records were broken as the event reached capacity for the venue.

Round 5: Throwdown reached capacity as fans came in droves to Evergreen Speedway. Attendance was up over 10% from last season continuing the increase in numbers for the Series. Fans were treated to an exciting round of action from the top drivers in the sport.

“The Pacific Northwest has an amazing fan base, which was proven today,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “We are excited to see the growth of the sport and the Series this season with a continued increase in attendance at each event.”

The competition heated up with the final four drivers aiming to move closer in their chase for the championship. Fredric Aasbo in the Need For Speed / Scion Racing TC went head to head with Rhys Millen in the Red Bull / Hankook Hyundai Genesis Coupe and edged out the former champion earning third place. The Finals matched up the 2009 champion, Chris Forsberg in the NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Nissan 370Z with Daijiro Yoshihara. Yoshihara took the victory and gained the lead in the Pro Championship point standings and remains the leader with a commanding lead in the Tires.com Triple Crown bonus.

“It feels great to be in the lead,” stated Daijiro Yoshihara, winner of Round 5: Throwdown. “After the Top 32 when Justin Pawlak was taken out of the competition I knew I had a good chance to win, but I didn’t want to think about points and focused on winning one round at a time, which worked! We have 2 competitions left so I need to focus on them still before I can think too much about the championship.”

The Formula DRIFT Championship continues for Round 6: After Dark at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on August 26 – 27. Tickets are available to purchase online.

For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com

Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2011 Point Standings after 5 Rounds
1. Yoshihara, Daijiro	Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan S13	412 Points
2. Pawlak, Justin	Falken Tire Ford Mustang	397 Points
3. Forsberg, Chris	NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z	369 Points
4. McNamara, Darren	Falken Tire Pontiac Saturn Sky	345.50 Points
5. Powers, Matt	Need for Speed Nissan S14	328.50 Points
6. McQuarrie, Tyler	Falken Tire Nissan 350Z	317 Points
7. Tuerck, Ryan	Gardella Racing / Mobil 1 Chevrolet Camaro	308 Points
8. Grunewald, Conrad	Hankook Tire Chevy Camaro	300 Points
9. Gittin, Vaughn	Monster Energy / Falken Ford Mustang	291 Points
10.. Mohan, Kyle	Nexen Tire / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8	266 Points
11. Aasbo, Fredric	Need for Speed / Hankook Scion TC	250 Points
12. Yoshioka, Toshiki	Retaks Nissan S13	238.25 Points
16. Millen, Rhys	Red Bull / Hankook Hyundai Genesis Coupe	207 Points
14. Gushi, Ken	RS*R / Hankook / Scion Racing TC	188.75 Points
15. Bakchis, Aurimas	Bakchis Racing / Forged Racing Nissan 240SX	185.50 Points
16. Wilkerson, Walker	Fatlace / Intec Racing Nissan 240	185 Points
Round 5: Throwdown Event Results
1. Yoshihara, Daijiro	Falken Tire / Discount Tire Nissan 240SX	Winner
2. Forsberg, Chris	NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z	Second Place
3. Aasbo, Fredric	Need for Speed / Hankook Scion TC	Third Place
Tires.com Triple Crown (after 2 of 3 events)
1. Yoshihara, Daijiro	Discount Tire / Falken Tire Nissan S13	212 Points
2. Forsberg, Chris	NOS Energy Drink / Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z	153 Points
3. McNamara, Darren	Falken Tire Pontiac Saturn Sky	144.50 Points

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The 2011 Formula Drift season kicked off over the weekend on the Streets of Long Beach for Round 1.  Many were waiting to see how things would start to pan out with many new cars on the grid as well as new drivers and just as suspected things started off wacky.  The biggest talk of the event was 2010 Formula Drift Champ Vaughn Gittin Jr. failing to qualify for the event.  During Gittin’s first qualifying run he had a major bobble in the middle of the sweeper which resulted in a very low score of 41.  When it was time for his second run he ran the course nearly flawlessly until he reached the hairpin at the end and lost drift.  Losing drift once you initiate a turn will automatically get you a big fat 0 from the judges leaving Vaughn only his first score to try to get by on but it wasn’t nearly enough.  Many feel that this setback for Vaughn will undoubtedly end any hopes that he will repeat as champion this year due to the nature of Formula Drift’s point system.  Time will tell I suppose.

With Vaughn out of the running and Sam Hubinette also bowing out due to engine troubles many were speculating on who would capitalize on the a few of the heavy hitters being absent.  Conrad Grunewald qualified 1st and Dai Yoshihara qualified just under him so many felt it would come down to those two in the final battle.  However, once the Top 32 competition started the next day Grunewald fell to Chris Forsberg in the Top 16.  Dai Yoshihara on the other hand was on a mission.  He had never won at Long Beach before and he was looking to change that.  Dai took down rookie Aurimas Balchis, Ross Petty, and then Ryan Tuerck to get all the way to the final four where he was pitted against Justin “JTP” Pawlak.  The battle between them was fierce and evenly matched.  Many were sure the battle would go into a OMT (one more time) but the judges gave the win to JTP to the ire of the thousands watching on the live driftstream.  With that, Yoshihara’s hopes of winning Long Beach for the first time were relegated to “next year” although he wasn’t totally out of the show yet.  After that battle, Chris Forsberg was lined up against his buddy Matt Powers who was dominating the day in his old but new Need For Speed Nissan S14 240SX now with V8 power.  Their battle was equally epic but in the end Matt Powers bested Forsberg to get into the final show down against JTP.  This would be the first time either driver would make it into the final show down.  While they were preparing to fight for top spot Dai and Chris went head to head in the consolation round for third place where Dai edged out Chris to lock in a bronze for the event.

All that was left was for Powers and Pawlak to fight it out for their first win.  When the smoke cleared (literally) it was Justin Pawlak who won the judges favor and took his first ever Formula Drift victory in his Falken Tire Ford Mustang.  Despite losing to JTP, Matt Powers had plenty to celebrate as he earned his first podium finish and upgraded his status from “fan favorite privateer” to an official “force to be reckoned with”.  While Dai wasn’t able to get a win here the fact that made it to the podium shows the new comers that he isn’t going anywhere soon and is officially in the running for the 2011 Formula Drift Championship title.

With Formula Drift Round 1 in the books all the drivers are now turning towards the south and the next round which will be at Road Atlanta on May 6th-7th.  If you can’t make it don’t worry you’ll be able to watch the whole thing live right here as I will have the driftstream posted on MotorworldHype.com for your viewing pleasure.

Check out the photo galleries from the event!

DAY 1 GALLERY

DAY 2 GALLERY

If there is one thing we hate here at MotorworldHype its theifs!  A bunch of jackasses stole Team Falken driver Justin Pawlak’s truck and enclosed trailer which had his legendary “money green” FC RX-7 in it!  The truck, a white 2004 Chevrolet 2500HD with a 26′ white enclosed trailer attached was stolen between midnight and 2am on Maywood St. in Eaglerock, CA.  If you live in California and you see Justin’s truck, trailer, or green Mazda RX-7 please call Justin ASAP at 623-332-6766 or email him at JTPAWLAK@gmail.com then call the police! 

Also if you can please click the “tweet” button at the end of this post to help get the word out!

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