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A Few Photos: Formula D x UTI Tech Day

Well I just got back from the Formula D Tech Day at UTI and it was certainly an interesting event!  I heard a lot of pretty juicy tidbits, some I can share and some I can’t out of journalistic respect but I’m sure you don’t care about that part so I’ll get down to the good stuff.

The biggest bit of news to come out of the event is that Drift Alliance Co-Founder Tony Angelo will be putting down his helmet for 2009 and become a Formula D judge.  So who is the odd man out you may be asking?  Tony Angelo will be replacing Ken Takahashi in the judging booth.  Don’t worry about Ken though, word has it he will remain on the Formula D team as an overseer of all of the Pro Am events.  With Ken having such strong ties and passion for the grassroots community, I think this is a great fit for him.

In other news it seems that a lot of the bigger teams were a no-show to the tech day event for various reasons.  It looks like Sam Hubinette’s Mopar Challenger wont be ready in time for Long Beach so he’ll be back in the seat of the Dodge Viper.  While this bad news for those who were looking forward to seeing the challenger in action its good news for those who want to see Sam win as he’ll definitely be a threat in his trusty Viper.

Another no-show was Rhys Millen.  I really wanted to see his Hyundai Genesis coupe up close but Rhys spent the day testing the car at a secret location.  However Rhys called in live to the “Inside Drift” radio show which was broadcasting from inside the UTI facility during the event to say hi to everyone.

Someone err..something that DID show up was Tanner Foust’s Rockstar/AEM Scion tC which was brought up to the UTI facility by Tanner’s team manager Steph Papadakis.  He showed up at the crack of dawn with the car to try and get in and out quickly as the car wasn’t totally ready for its close up yet.  However that didn’t stop a swarm of photographers from bogging down the NASCAR Truck engine’d tC on the lift as they climbed over each other like ants at a picnic to snap as many photos as possible.

I wasn’t there for this so I didn’t get any pics of the car but my good friend Bill Wood (who also co-hosted the live radio show) managed to get some video footage and will be sending it soon so look forward to that going up here soon!

For now check out some of the pics I shot while strolling around.  Remember click the thumb nails for bigger pics!

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