NEWSWORTHY> Drift Cars vs Drag Cars at IDRC

California people!
Mark your calendars and free up your schedule on Saturday, September 4th! (Labor Day Weekend) We’re teaming up with our friends at IDRC and DSPORT Magazine to present the Drift Car Quarter Mile Challenge at California Speedway in Fontana CA (even though they now call it “Auto Club Dragway” because of sponsorship reasons).
We’re calling out ALL DRIFT CAR OWNERS to sign up for this special event and show the drag-only guys how fast your drift cars really are!
This event will also include a big carshow in the pit area, with lots of Southern Cali’s freshest street cars on display. If you have a super low car with aggressive offset wheels, make sure to sign your car up for the show! I’ve personally made calls to several car owners and crews who own some of the best stanced cars with wide wheels and stretched tires. (I’m not done calling people yet, so please don’t yell at me if I haven’t called you yet…) A whole lot of car owners and crews are already confirmed, so we’re going to have a big area with the dopest street cars surrounding the MotorMavens booth. If you have a dope streetcar, make sure to enter it into the car show!
NEWSWORTHY> Riverside Adams Drift Night
NEWSWORTHY> MotorMavens on VholdR Website!
While we were attending the Apex’i/Lexus Formula D pre-party in Downtown Seattle, we were fortunate enough to spill a few drinks with our new friends at Twenty20, the company who created the incredible VholdR and ContourHD wearable HD camcorders.
The very first time I had ever seen or heard of the ContourHD camera was when MotorMavens Sharpshooter Travis Hodges used it to shoot his Spirit of Irwindale Formula Drift video last year. Since then, the cameras have become more and more popular within the automotive community, with filmmakers like Justin Shreeve and MotorMavens UK shooter Josh Allen now using the cameras to document the numerous events that they attend.
We were treated to a nice surprise from the Twenty20 folks, when they featured Justin Shreeve’s MotorMavens videos in their customer newsletter. Thanks for the love, Twenty20! We’ll make sure to return it twentyfold!
:: Antonio Alvendia
NEWSWORTHY> Monster Suzuki Wins Pike’s Peak

The Monster of the Mountain has done it again. This year’s Pike’s Peak “Race to the Clouds” is now over, and even though most people think of the name Millen when they think of Pike’s Peak… it might just be fitting that the Rocky Mountain behemoth (that peaks at 14,400 feet above sea level) be nicknamed Monster’s Mountain.
Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima hails from Shizuoka, Japan (not too far from Fuji Speedway), and has been doing Suzuki owners proud by holding (and defending) the world record time at the legendary Pike’s Peak Hillclimb in Colorado – previously in a turbocharged Suzuki Escudo, and now in a monstrous Suzuki SX4. (I know that Suz and Tajima have had their relationship going for a while, but for some reason, Suzuki SX4 still sounds odd to me when prefaced with the word monstrous.) Enough of my rambling though… let’s cut to the official press release: (more…)
NEWSWORTHY> Fatal Lexus LF-A Crash At Nurburgring
Just in case you guys haven’t heard the sad news from Nurburgring yet… while test driving a Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition on the 410 highway just outside Nurburg, Germany, Toyota’s chief test driver died in a head-on collision with two other drivers test driving a new BMW.
Both BMW drivers survived the crash (but are hospitalized in critical condition), but unfortunately, Toyota’s driver (who Autoblog speculates is Hiromu Naruse – the personal driver of Toyota head honcho Akio Toyoda, and a highly esteemed driver who is known within the Toyota organization as the Godfather of the LFA) didn’t survive the crash.
For more information and photos, follow this link to Autoblog.
:: Avon Bellamy
NEWSWORTHY> Audi Sweeps Le Mans 24H Podium!

At this year’s 78th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the infamous high-speed Circuit De Sarthe in France, Audi R15 TDI Plus stood the test of time against their faster opponent – the Peugeot 908 HDI. It was the ultimate battle of the tortoise and the hare, where the tortoise came out triumphant in this modern take on an old fable. With a little patience and a lot of strategy, the Audis were able to capture their ninth Le Mans victory – placing Audi in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place on the podium!
These past two days, I saw myself riding a roller coaster of emotions as I watched the Peugeots take the lead throughout the race; however, I was hopeful in seeing how everything would play out during the course of the 24 hours. To those familiar with Le Mans, it’s by far the ultimate endurance race; testing both man and machine. It has got to be one of the most exciting races in the world, as it’s a battle of wits, not brawn. It’s a challenge to see who can go the distance and last the longest, and Audi has proven itself time and time again.
This year, the Audi #9 car took first, Audi #8 car took second, and the # 7 car took third – driven by the Great Dane Tom Kristensen, who has been atop the podium during the past nine years at Le Mans, giving him a personal total of eight victories at 24H Le Mans! Truly a remarkable feat.
The picture above shows the drivers of the Audi #9 car (Mike Rockenfeller, Romain Dumas, and Timo Bernhard) celebrating with the head of Audi Sport, Director Wolfgang Ullrich. On behalf of the Motor Mavens Crew, I’d like to congratulate the Audi TDI team on their longstanding success and their win of this year’s 2010 Le Mans. Audi has entered the history books with the ultimate 1-2-3 win. Amazing!
:: Tamer Omran
NEWSWORTHY> Apex’i SC430 Debuts at FD NJ

Oh snap! Now this is newsworthy! I’ve been hearing about this car for quite some time now, and I’ve been waiting for its debut with eager anticipation! It seems that our favorite Koala-faced ex-D1 Grand Prix series champion Ryuji Miki will be at Wall Speedway in New Jersey, debuting the Lexus SC430 Formula Drift competition car that was recently built for him, thanks to the good folks at Apex’i in Orange County CA!
The masterminds behind this project, Masaki Nakayama and Chuck Griffice from the United States arm of Apex Integration have been gracious enough to keep me updated with the build, but we’ve been keeping all the information under wraps until now! (more…)
NEWSWORTHY> Peace to the Guru

If you don’t live in the Batcave or two miles under the surface of the Earth, then you are already aware that GURU of Gangstarr (Keith Elam) succumbed to his year long battle with cancer on April 19th. This post is not about the details of his life – it is more about the impact of his life. We realize that Motor Mavens is primarily an automotive site but we just couldn’t ignore the passing of a pioneer in an artform that has become such an integral part of American history – especially since we have so many Mavens on staff who appreciate true Hip Hop.
The first time I heard Guru was in 1989. I was a teenager and my cousin and I had formed a rap group in hopes of becoming respected MCs. I was picking him up to go record a song on the album we were working on and I was late so I was rushing to get him and then get to the studio on time. All of the rushing stopped when I got to his house.
My cousin had this nasty, complex track playing that I thought he’d put together until someone started rhyming over it. The MC’s voice was different from any other MC I had ever heard. Remember, this is back in 1989 when you had a very wide variety of different sounding MCs with completely different styles all co-existing in the world of Hip Hop; Rakim, KRS ONE, LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, Ice T, MC Shan, JUST-ICE, Fresh Prince, NWA – gangsta, party, conscious, lyrical, even silly – it was all there and all respected for the skills more than the sales. So, in a huge group of distinctive voices, this MC’s voice was completely different – plus the dude had mad lyrical skills. That MC, of course, was Guru and the song I heard that day, as an introduction to one of the truly pioneering Hip Hop artists, was Manifest. Needless to say, we were a little late to the studio that day.
The first thing Guru brought to Hip Hop was Jazz. It seems like a given now, but then you were more likely to hear Funkadelic or Soul fusions in Hip Hop. Jazz was a much more complex musical language – more cerebral. It would take Guru and Premier to incorporate it so seamlessly and take it mainstream Hip Hop.
But far more than just Jazz, Guru brought a certain musical fearlessness and freedom to Hip Hop. The first time I ever heard anyone rhyme in another language (successfully) was MC Solaar on Le Bien Le Mal – Guru gave us all the opportunity to experience that. I don’t think any other MC could have pulled off the things that Guru did while completely managing to avoid commercialism and corniness.
For me, Guru was a pioneer. He opened my eyes to Jazz in a new way which allowed me to truly appreciate my Pop’s old Miles Davis and John Coltrane albums. I think that Guru did something for the music of Hip Hop that many of the lyricists (including himself) had already done lyrically – he allowed us all to dig a little deeper. And that’s Universal. Peace god.
:: Avon Bellamy
NEWSWORTHY> Formula Drifting on Hollywood Blvd
There were actually several rotary powered vehicles in attendance for the drift demo, but by far, the best looking car (in our opinion) was certainly Justin Pawlak's mean green FC3S RX7. Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> Monster Mustang Revealed
I just got back from Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory in Los Angeles, where Monster Energy Drink and Falken Tires were having a party to announce their big news. Of course, quite a lot of media people already knew about it before the party, as the email invitations weren’t exactly subtle; especially when several people kept asking me throughout the day, “Hey, are you going to the Monster party tonight?”
As with most of these types of shindigs, the event was pretty a much who’s who of the drifting, automotive, and beverage industries, mixed in with skaters, media people, and a whole lot of females. For me, it was fun because it was a chance to hang out and enjoy some laughs and the open bar with some of my industry friends, as well as meet some cool people from the grassroots drifting scenes in different states (and countries). While several people were out there trying to meet pro skater Rob Dyrdek (of the MTV show, Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory), Motor Mavens’ resident skate fiends Edward Uche and Justin Shreeve were just salivating at the chance to skate the ramps at the Fantasy Factory. (They got to skate for a little bit until the security guards came up and said, “you guys need to stop because your skateboards might hit someone, and we could get sued.” Aw man!
Regardless, I had a chance to chill for a bit with my buddy Vaughn Gittin Senior (JR’s dad) and congratulate him on the new venture. Man, he was just beaming, super proud of his son’s accomplishments thus far. So CONGRATULATIONS to Vaughn Gittin Sr. and to JR… we can’t wait to see that thing out on the track!
:: Antonio Alvendia
PS: For more pics from the party tonight (and by more pics, I mean pics of the girls that were in attendance)… then add Motor Mavens Crew on Facebook and check out our albums! The photo above was shot with my Canon S90 point and shoot pocket camera! (Too bad Eri moved a little though… I forgot to tell her it was a long exposure.)
NEWSWORTHY> Hubinette Driving D1GP Japan

I’ve been holding this info back for a couple days, and trust me – it’s pretty hard not to say anything when you have news like this! This is a pretty interesting piece of news here – Samuel Hubinette is currently in Japan, and plans to drive at the D1 Grand Prix event at Odaiba this coming weekend!
I received an email from Samuel, asking my opinion on which car I thought he should borrow for this weekend’s D1GP event – Daigo Saito‘s D1 Championship car, the FNATZ JZX100 Chaser, Takahiro Ueno‘s widebody JZZ30 Vertex Soarer, or Takahiro Ueno’s normal fendered JZZZ30 Vertex Soarer.
My vote was for Daigo’s super sick Chaser – first of all, it’s a D1GP Championship winning car for crying out loud; second of all, I thought the long wheel base and the big pendulum swinging characteristics of such a long drift car would be perfect for Samuel’s driving style. However, since I heard reports that Samuel was currently in Yokohama at Ueno-san’s car shop, Sui Vax, I’m guessing he opted for one of the Soarers. Either way, S.Hubinette is one hell of a driver, and I’m confident that he can drive anything with four wheels – probably even an Ikea Expedit bookcase or a Malm dresser. LOL
Speaking of Ikea, I can’t believe that Samuel has been drifting professionally this long, and Ikea still hasn’t sponsored him. They’re both Swedish after all; now that Mopar is no longer his title sponsor, I think Ikea needs to step up and sponsor the crazy Swede. Samuel has told me before that he loves going to Ikea in Irvine, because it reminds him of Sweden. He can chill out there and drink all the lingonberry juice he wants!
Could you just imagine Samuel’s pit area if Ikea were to sponsor him? Instead of an EZ-up with folding chairs, he’ll be rocking a bright red Ikea couch that folds into a bed; a furry white carpet on the ground; a difficult to assemble cabinet, and a million cheap tealight candles scattered all over the place.
Oh, umm… but back to the topic at hand, I’m sure Samuel will be putting on quite a show for the Japanese D1 audience. I just hope we don’t see Option Videos of Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Suzuki saying “DRIFT YA RATER!!!”
:: Antonio Alvendia
NEWSWORTHY> Quoc Rocks XDC Qualifying

For those who couldn’t make it to the first XDC (Xtreme Drift Circuit) event happening at Irwindale Speedway this weekend, I just thought I’d post a little update, and a little note of congratulations to Quoc Ly from Driftspeed, who was the top qualifier of the day today!!!
Here’s the official results and press release from XDC:
Place/Car# Driver Score
NEWSWORTHY> F1 Season Start in Bahrain

Alright everybody, I know we don’t normally feature Formula 1 and other forms of open wheel racing on this website, but I just wanted to share this because I personally am pretty excited for the start of the 2010 F1 season! This Sunday, March 14th is the kick off race for Formula 1 on the twenty-three turn Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
This is going to be one incredible season! Not only because of the return of Michael Schumacher, racing for the Mercedes GP team; but with the new FIA rules, teams will add another set of alterations to their strategies. Last year was a huge change to the rules, but this year, a few more were added to the mix. To start, refueling during the race has been banned for the first time since 1993. Now teams are running more than triple the size of last year’s petrol tanks – which means drivers must monitor their tires and brake wear even more closely. What does this mean for pit stops? With just tire changes, we can expect to see solid 3-second pit stops for all the teams. Red Bull is boasting they can perform a four-tire-change in 1.9 seconds!!! (I can’t get 1 lug nut off my car that fast, LOL) Lets see if this gives them another advantage to taking the checkered flag! (more…)
NEWSWORTHY> Vegas Pro Am Saturday!!!
Just so you don’t forget! This weekend, you need to head to Las Vegas for the Vegas Pro Am, which is being organized and put on by our friends at VegasDrift! This event is a perfect opportunity to get up close and personal with all the future Formula D drivers before they hit the big show… and if you’re in need of some fresh new gear, make sure to stop by the DSTROYR Booth to get some fastlane fashion, designed by one of the most talented designers on the scene right now, Jon Chase! Drifting is going to take over Las Vegas this weekend; let the battle begin!
:: Jose Gonzalez
NEWSWORTHY> Grunewald Camaro SS Test at Laguna Seca
If you remember, back in September of 2009, MotorMavens was the first to break news of Conrad Grunewald‘s brand new, Hankook Tire sponsored, Chevrolet Camaro SS entering the Formula D Championship. At the time, it was still only a concept and was still being built by Luke Lonberger at BLU808. All we had were a few mid-build photos and renderings, but they still had all of the Motor Mavens readers salivating!
Well, she’s come a long way since then! She’s up and running and looking HOT. While we were checking Facebook this morning, we spotted this video of her first drift runs at Laguna Seca during some “cone course tuning.” Can you say BEAST?! Running 305 wide tires and lighting ‘em up in third gear from 1500 rpm all the way to the redline with no problem, they can definitely check “power” off the to do list. I heard some people on Facebook saying that this car had 2300 HORSEPOWER?! Is that really true?! Twenty three hundred?!?!?!
There’s not really much more we can say about it that you can’t see and hear for yourself. Good Luck to CG Racing and BLU808 with this beautiful new competition Camaro SS! We can’t wait for the Pony Wars to get restarted at Formula Drift!
:: Avon Bellamy
NEWSWORTHY> Southeast Drift Pro Am Series

It looks like the new year has brought some exciting news for the east coast drift community! Southeast Drift is teaming up with Formula Drift to bring an east coast qualifier series to Atlanta for a shot at an FD license!
Atlanta, Ga. – February 2, 2010
Southeast Drift will be bringing an all new pro-am championship series to Atlanta in 2010. This five round series will enable up and coming drivers in the southeast region a place to compete for and win their Formula Drift professional license.
The Southeast Drift Championship Pro Am Series will test drivers as they compete at top notch professional level venues. Drivers who are successful here will transition well into Formula D. Details regarding the series will be available in the coming weeks on the southeastdrift.com web site.
“I am very happy with these recent developments. I can not wait to help showcase some of the immense talent in the southeast drifting scene.” said Marcos Ruiz, CEO of Southeast Drift. “Formula D is the leader in professional drifting in the U.S. and Southeast Drift is proud to be a part of it.”
For more information about the series, be sure to check out Southeast Drift’s Official Website.
NEWSWORTHY> Farewell, Atsushi Kuroi
Last night, D1GP driver Atsushi Kuroi from legendary Osaka drift team Tinker had a deadly accident while he was riding his motorcycle. Although there aren't too many details known about the accident, Kuroi san's kohai (apprentice) Kazuya Bai says that Kuroi's thigh was apparently injured from the accident, and even though the hospital staff worked diligently to stabilize him, Kuroi san's wounds were too severe, and he passed away within four hours of arriving at the hospital. Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> The Mighty FC Returns to FD

Yes, the rumors are true. The green FC3S RX7 that we all know and love is returning to Formula D competition!
A lot of our Facebook friends have been talking about this for a couple days already… but I just figured I should probably post this on the website too, since there are a lot of people out there who read our blog, but aren’t necessarily in the know about the latest news in the world of Formula Drift. Yes again… contrary to popular belief, there are still people out there who aren’t checking Facebook every five seconds. It suddenly dawned on me when I casually mentioned the FC’s return to a friend of mine today, and he was like, “Whaaaaaaat?! No wayyyyy!”
I just got off the phone with Justin Pawlak, the driver of this awesome green rotary monster. Even though he and Bergenholtz Racing have parted ways in the professional drifting world, Justin is quick to dispel any rumors in the mill by saying, “Ron and I are definitely still cool. In fact, I just spoke to him on the phone earlier today. We just have different ideas and figured it would be best to go split the team up.”
While their timing is certainly less than perfect, with the 2010 Formula D season approaching very, very quickly… I’m sure both JTP and Ron B will make it happen for both of their respective drift teams. Justin says, “Ya know what? I just realized I had more qualifying points than anyone else in the 2009 Formula D season.” He’s sure to make a strong statement this year, whether he has solid financial backing or not.
And Ron Bergenholtz? Well, if anyone has any doubts about Bergenholtz Racing’s ability to have a strong presence in Formula D this year, let me just remind you that he (and his brother Ed) didn’t win all those NHRA Wally awards and get inducted into the NHRA Museum for nothing. In professional drag racing, Bergenholtz Racing proved that an underdog actually can compete against (and beat) competitors with big dollar corporate funding. As long as there’s a will, there’s a way.
Bergenholtz Racing will be revealing their official plans for 2010 on Thursday, along with publicly announcing the new driver they’ve signed to pilot their blue Mazdaspeed RX8.
If you’re a fan of JTP and his FC3S, and you want to help him find sponsors for the 2010 season, please visit Justin Pawlak’s Official Blog by clicking this link. Justin says, “Please don’t mind the ghetto GoDaddy banner, cause my webpage was FREE. haha. I might have a ghetto banner on my blog, but at least I got REAL VOLKS on my car.”
Hell yeah, Justin. Word.
:: Antonio Alvendia
NEWSWORTHY> WSTO's BMW Project1 V1.2
NEWSWORTHY> Attend Our Christmas Party Tonight!
***** THIS JUST IN!!!
Apparently, some aftermarket car parts companies have decided to participate in the Schikane Clothing x Tokyo Drive Productions x Driftwell x Motor Mavens Christmas Party tonight! COME TO THE PARTY and win a radiator from Mishimoto, some goods from Buddy Club USA, and a bunch of oil from Eneos!
—–>Our friends at JACK DANIELS and JAGERMEISTER have just confirmed that they will come out to the party and give away a bunch of gifts too! Hell yeahhhhh! I want a bottle of Gentleman Jack and a Jagermeister Porsche! =)
To all friends and family of Motor Mavens in the Los Angeles area! We’re having a party tonight, and we’d like you to come! This was originally planned as a small, close knit Christmas party between my personal close friends (it’s an annual thing)… but earlier today, we talked about it, and said hell… we consider anyone and everyone who has supported us this year as our friends… so let’s just invite everyone!
If you’re local to Southern Cali, come down to the Schikane Clothing x Tokyo Drive Productions x Driftwell x Motor Mavens Christmas Party tonight!
This is not going to be one of those pretentious “dress shoes and VIP wristband required” events. Everyone is invited! Act like Nirvana, and come as you are… this will be a cool opportunity to “meet and greet” many of our industry friends and many of the people behind this blog!
Here’s the info!
CORNER BAR
924 S. San Fernando Rd
Burbank CA 91502
TIME: From 9pm until the bar closes!
Dress code strictly enforced. No dress shoes allowed. Hats, sneakers and other fashionable attire are encouraged. (A message to the Ladies only: No shirt, No shoes, No problem!)
Comment this post to let us know if you’re coming!
:: Motor Mavens
NEWSWORTHY> GReddy Garage Sale on SAT!
If you’re trying to figure out what to do this upcoming weekend, here’s an idea for you… Forget wasting time and money at the mall for your Christmas shopping… instead, get some FAT discounts on parts at the GReddy Garage Sale in Irvine CA, happening this Saturday Dec 12, 2009 from 9am-4pm.
Stock up on exhaust systems, electronics, oil filter relocation kits, turbo systems, or suspension pieces! I’m thinking of heading down there as well, because I’m curious to see what they’re gonna be blowing out over there. I could use a set of AE86 coilovers for the new car I’m building, and probably an oil filter relocation kit.
If you guys make it out to the sale, please make sure to tell them you saw this post on Motor Mavens!
The good folks at GReddy have just updated their Official GReddy Blog with more details on the stuff they’ll be selling. Click through for the flyer with more event details, address, and other info after the jump!






























