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This coming weekend, the streets of Lengthy Seaside will come alive with all the color and pleasure of a brand new System Drift championship.
FD has been kicking off new seasons right here since 2006, and over that point, the difficult concrete barrier-lined road course has seen as a lot glory because it has heartache. Ten years in the past, Larry was on the bottom in Lengthy Seaside to seize all of the motion of the 2014 System Drift season opener, so for this week’s throwback publish, we’re revisiting that occasion protection. How a lot has skilled drifting within the USA modified over the past decade? Let’s discover out…
2014 Characteristic
Irwindale will at all times be ‘The Home of Drift’ – the place the place probably the most epic of occasions happen and System Drift champions are crown. However what about Spherical 1 on the streets of Lengthy Seaside, California?
I feel Lengthy Seaside is the right venue to showcase what drifting has turn out to be as an internationally acknowledged motorsport. It’s honest to say that it needs to be dubbed ‘The Streets of Drift.’ Yearly I sit up for seeing the highest drifters from everywhere in the world collect within the seventh largest metropolis in California and residential to virtually half 1,000,000 residents.
2014 marks the ninth season of System Drift competitors at Lengthy Seaside, and I’ve watched it evolve into what it’s in the present day from the very starting.
Regardless that I’m only a journalist trying in from the surface, I really feel like I’m part of the System Drift household. The game has advanced a lot through the years, however the entire individuals nonetheless behind the wheel stay the identical. Drift Alliance could also be grown up now, however they’re nonetheless better of pals.
I remembered a time when there was nonetheless room within the stands in the course of the Prime 16 introductions. Nowadays there’s standing room solely, and further area for probably the most devoted of followers to get the VIP therapy and watch the formalities from the precise observe.
I feel a part of the success of System Drift will be attributed to the town of Lengthy Seaside, and its willingness to not solely settle for, however welcome with open arms this superior type of motorsport.
Lengthy Seaside is the right place to kick off a brand new season, and the extent of dedication drivers should put in right here to do effectively, is in contrast to some other cease on the System Drift calendar.
Drifting continues to develop, as does the variety of licensed System Drift drivers. Nevertheless, for 2014’s inaugural occasion there have been much less drivers than final yr resulting from lots of the groups not having their vehicles completed in time.
I believed that was going to be the case for Michael Essa, as a result of lower than a month out from Lengthy Seaside his E46 M3 was sitting in his store as a naked chassis. I solely suppose he completed in time as a result of he bought a clone to assist him out.
By now you most likely heard that Chris Forsberg nabbed the win.
Final yr’s championship battle wore on him, as he was only a stone’s throw away from incomes his second title.
Chris was strolling on air when he received. There isn’t a higher option to begin off the season than with the highest step on the rostrum – particularly if you’re in search of a brand new title sponsor.
I assume it was a bit overwhelming, however over the course of the low season a number of effort when into bettering his Nissan 370Z’s setup.
Ray Shake and Brian Wilkerson from MA Motorsports pushed laborious to construct a automobile with not solely extra energy than ever earlier than, however with elevated reliability too.
I do know Chris and the staff’s hearts dropped after they needed to name 5 minutes throughout competitors when the Nissan wouldn’t hearth. But it surely simply turned out to be a unfastened battery cable. All the pieces else in the course of the occasion appeared to run easily, and if that’s saved up throughout the remainder of the season, Chris Forsberg Racing may very well be in with an excellent probability of incomes their second championship.
Our personal Vaughn Gittin Jr. is one other top-ranked System Drift driver working laborious to safe his second title, too.
I don’t suppose there’s one other driver within the ranks of System Drift that’s extra invested on this sport than Vaughn. I actually do not know how he juggles so many issues directly. One week he’s in Europe and the subsequent week he’s in China – it’s infinite with this man.
Through the driver assembly he was reunited with Nobushige Kumakubo, whom he battled with again when D1 Grand Prix nonetheless had North America on its radar.
In fact, a lot has modified since then. Possibly Mr Workforce Orange will make the bounce over to compete in System Drift, identical to Daigo Saito did in 2012.
I feel we’ll see an increasing number of Japanese drivers within the FD ranks, which needs to be nice for the game – and it’s largely because of this man. Nevertheless, the champion bumped into issues in Lengthy Seaside with a automobile that was affected by drivetrain points. Uncharacteristically, he was knocked out of rivalry within the Prime 32 because of this.
Our Scandinavian driver, Fredric Aasbø, is likely one of the few worldwide rivals in System Drift dwelling a dream. He got here to North America with nothing greater than a automobile and hopes of choosing up a significant sponsor.
He has gone from sharing a tiny lodge room mattress together with his spotter/mechanic/finest buddy and solely capable of afford to run a number of rounds, to being sponsored by Toyota and having the chance to take his drifting abilities everywhere in the world.
He’s even changed Manabu Orido because the Workforce RS-R driver now, however the true problem for him is to win his first Professional Championship occasion. He has come shut a number of instances, so it’s only a matter of all his playing cards falling in the correct place.
There’s one thing about these Norwegians that maintain them pushing laborious each single time they go to battle. Possibly it’s the Viking spirit of their blood?
After a few years of heartbreak and up-close-and-personal encounters with the wall, Kenny Moen lastly earned his very first System Drift podium at Spherical 1.
He’s in a fantastic place to win the championship this yr, however he simply has to stay constant sufficient all through the remainder of the season.
I’ve talked about a number of worldwide drivers, however we are able to’t overlook about our pals to the North both. System Drift’s 2013 Rookie of the Yr, Mats Baribeau, continues to impress me everytime he hits the observe. He certified excessive at Lengthy Seaside and made it into the Prime 16, which is fairly wonderful when you think about it was his very first time competing on the road course.
There are actually three Canadian drivers competing within the Professional ranks, together with Dave Briggs and Marc Landreville. It most likely helps that FD is planning an exhibition spherical in Canada later this yr too.
Speak of System Drift holding worldwide championship has been out for some time, however it didn’t actually hit me till I bit into an FD cookie over the weekend.
System Drift’s president and co-founder, Jim Liaw, is placing the whole lot into the game to assist take it to the subsequent stage. A world competitors is a large step.
Co-founder Ryan Sage and a small crew from North America has been serving to plan occasions in South-East Asia for years, and extra lately in Australia. So it solely is sensible to broaden to Europe and past.
A part of that worldwide crew is Jarod DeAnda – the person who has introduced each single FD competitors since day one. When he’s not on the mic, he works very laborious behind-the-scenes to amass extra sponsors, which after all advantages everybody in the long term. He helped to debut the REV’D award this spherical, which shall be granted to probably the most deserving driver of the 2014 season.
It wouldn’t be Lengthy Seaside with out a few nasty wrecks. In my first publish from the occasion I touched on Joon Maeng’s crash, which was one of many worst I’ve seen shortly.
Probably the most notable incident throughout competitors although, was undoubtedly the one involving Kyle Mohan throughout a battle with Robbie Nishida.
The Lengthy Seaside native hit the clipping level wall laborious, shattering considered one of his wheels within the course of. You would truly see elements of the damaged middle and spokes overtake the automobile as a result of large affect.
It didn’t look good, and I believed the automobile was performed for positive. Then they introduced that Kyle had received as a result of Robbie spun independently to Kyle’s wreck. How loopy is that? Solely in drifting I assume…
So the staff spent the entire half time break borrowing elements off different RX-8s within the paddock to get the Mazda again collectively in time for the Prime 16.
Though it seemed a bit worse for put on, the automobile was largely collectively for Kyle’s tandem with Kenny Moen. The body was tweaked nonetheless, so the Mazda didn’t drive the best way it ought to.
It was unlucky for Kyle, however he put up an actual good battle within the circumstances.
Contemplating he misplaced his tire sponsor simply days out from Lengthy Seaside as effectively, I don’t suppose he’ll be forgetting this spherical in hurry. Fortunately for him, GT Radial got here to the rescue within the eleventh hour, leaving simply sufficient time for a number of laps of testing earlier than heading into competitors.
It takes a lot talent to have the ability to drive the course and never stuff your automobile right into a concrete wall. Forest Wang demonstrates this completely.
Lengthy Seaside could be very powerful for the rookies. It’s the harshest observe within the sequence.
Matt Coffman got here in charging laborious and ended up within the tire obstacles throughout qualifying. The model new staff shall be again to battle one other day at Spherical 2 at Highway Atlanta subsequent month.
Kyle Mohan’s teammate, Tyler Wolfson, can also be driving for GT Radial this yr in one other rotary-powered Mazda.
He’s additionally a rookie, and working the least quantity of horsepower out of the complete grid. It’s going to be a tricky highway forward for him to earn Rookie of the Yr, however actually, a number of good qualifying runs and he’d be in with an opportunity on the coveted title.
The drifting fan base on the whole has turn out to be so large. I’ve by no means seen so many individuals on the autograph session as I did this spherical.
It’s wonderful {that a} driver like Danny George can run a program that’s totally funded by followers. They only love being part of one thing wonderful.
That is as a result of absolute dedication that every particular person within the sequence offers to the game.
Every employees member; whether or not it’s the starter, the judges, or the groups, wholeheartedly consider on this sport with each fiber of their existence. They adore it simply as a lot as I do.
The drivers adore it too, after all. That’s why they maintain coming again year-after-year, wreck-after-wreck. A couple of encounters with a concrete Ok-rail by no means stopped anybody.
Subsequent time you guys come to System Drift, strike up a dialog with one of many drivers – you’ll see how a lot they love what they do.
Chris Forsberg could have gone to the darkish aspect with a blacked out automobile and matching race swimsuit, however he’s nonetheless one of many nicest and most devoted drivers within the sport. On numerous events I’ve seen him cease no matter he was doing simply to say hi there to his followers.
It’s going to be enjoyable to observe him push laborious for the remainder of the season.
Congratulations to Chris Forsberg for such an ideal begin of the season. I simply can’t wait to see what’s going to unfold for the remainder of the eleventh yr of System Drift.
Larry Chen
Instagram:Â larry_chen_foto
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