With all the great things I’ve been hearing about last week’s Formula Drift Seattle event, it’s getting me amped to see what will happen at the Las Vegas round of the championship series. I’ve been checking out a lot of our video footage from the event, but I remain drawn to the great POV (point-of-view) footage that Justin Shreeve captured with a ContourHDmountable/wearable video camera.
This particular video clip shows former D1GP Series Champ Ryuji Miki drifting his newly built Lexus SC430 on the banking at Evergreen Speedway. For those who havent driven or ridden along on the Evergreen Speedway course, this video is a great way to check the track out – from a driver’s perspective.
We’ve got more clips and we’ll be showing some of our favorite POV footage from time to time. Meanwhile click this link to see other shots from Formula D Seattle and Formula D Irwindale, as featured on the new MotorMavens Channel on ContourHD’s website.
Often overlooked, the Bay Area has always had a thriving car scene. As of late, there have been some crews coming out that are really bringing attention the cars being built in Northern California. One such crew is the @PO Crew (pronounced ‘at-po’). Starting out as a group of friends hanging out and getting into cars, the @PO Crew has now come to represent the embodiment of clean cars with proper stance and wheel offsets. And if you are wondering where the name comes from, @PO stands for ‘attract police’, which I’m sure they do when they get together.
Often overlooked, the Bay Area has always had a thriving car scene. As of late, there have been some crews coming out that are really bringing attention the cars being built in Northern California. One such crew is the @PO Crew (pronounced ‘at-po’). Starting out as a group of friends hanging out and getting into cars, the @PO Crew has now come to represent the embodiment of clean cars with proper stance and wheel offsets. And if you are wondering where the name comes from, @PO stands for ‘attract police’, which I’m sure they do when they get together. Read more...
Sunday morning came quickly and, even though I hate waking up early, the pre-drift event excitement on my mind was enough to make me drag myself out of bed. I arrived at the track and headed over to the new paddock where everyone was setting up. The weather had taken a turn for the worse compared to the previous day's roasting hot sun. The wind had picked up a lot. So much, in fact, that it was blowing tents into the air and whatever else wasn't nailed to the ground. A quick glance up at the sky confirmed that the weather wouldn't be getting any better...But I wasn't about to go home because of a little bad weather and neither was anyone else! Bad weather is what we do best here in the UK so, either way, we were gonna make this an awesome event! Read more...
Last weekend’s Formula Drift Seattle event at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington was unforgettable. Tons of familiar faces and unusually warm weather made for the best FD experience I’ve ever had. Since I’ve been shooting at this location so much lately, I was able to take my time and really enjoy the event, rather than scrambling to get shots.
Last weekend also marked a milestone for me, as it had been one year since shooting my first FD event with a media pass. FD Seattle ’09 was also when I met quite a few friends in the industry, such as Antonio Alvendia, Larry Chen, Drew Fishbein, Ross Fairfield, Will Roegge, and Josh Herron, among many others. Last year around this time, I knew next to no one and now I can comfortably say I feel at home in the professional and grassroots drifting communities.
With this video, I chose to take a much lighter approach than last year as a representation of the comfort and relaxation I now feel among my fellow videographers, photographers, and drivers who congregate for these great events.
This year, I also met a guy named Jason from ContourHD/VHoldr, who was nice enough to let me test out a couple of his HD 1080p wearable/mountable POV cameras for some of the shots!
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me along the way, especially the MotorMavens Crew, Formula Drift, Evergreen Drift, and KP Race. Without all the love, it just wouldn’t be worth it.
Formula D at Evergreen Speedway near Seattle is well underway, and they’ve got Driftstream up and running for those of us who are stuck watching it at home. Don’t forget to also check out the Driftstream chat, in case you find yourself needing to be entertained inbetween runs. Saturday drifting will be starting at 12:30 PM PST (That’s 3:30 PM EST), so make sure you check it out and don’t miss any of the action!
I remember four years ago when Formula Drift first came to Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington. It was like we had won the lottery because, for the previous years, the closest FD ever came was California. If you have ever attended the Seattle FD event, you know how nuts it can get. I have heard that the crowd is among the loudest if not the loudest of all the stops on the tour. I'd like to attribute that to the large group of local drifters who sat right under the Judges booth that first year and got the crowd pumped up - even doing the wave! The next year they gave us cow bells - Big Mistake.
What I am getting at is simply that Formula D is a big thing here in the North West. This year FD has formally made the event a two day spectacle where you can come on Friday and witness the practice and qualifying - But, really, we've been going to the track on Friday to watch these pros rip it up on our home track for about three years now. Did they start the Friday thing this year because of us? Probably not, but it's awesome for the fans to get the full picture of the field of drivers that so desperately want to make it in the big Saturday show.
Now, for the first time since Seattle has been a stop on the pro drift series, we have our home team: Nikolay Konstantinov, Ian Fournier, Victor Moore and last, but certainly not least, Roland Gallagher. Four local guys we can cheer on and share in their glory and accomplishments. It's hard to believe these guys are stepping up to a national stage - ready to make their dreams come true and, whatever the outcome, the NW is proud of them. Read more...
Last night Antonio and a few of the MotorMavens crew were chillin’ with our friends from Apex’i and Lexus at a pretty sick party they were hosting. In anticipation of this weekend’s FD event and to celebrate Ryuji Miki’s new Lexus SC430, they showed this video – “Lexus Drift”.
A highlight for me was the POV footage using the ContourHD camera. I first discovered this company and camera last year when looking for a great POV camera. We had our first opportunity to use the camera at last year’s Formula Drift Championships at Irwindale. We captured some killer footage! My favorite part was seeing Justin Pawlak as he scraped the wall. Super dope!
So enjoy this video from Apex’i, Lexus and Kevin Lee. Don’t forget to check out our live feed tomorrow. Be on the look out for MotorMavens’ epic coverage of the event. Make sure you check out our video highlights. We’ll being using our ContourHDs, so you KNOW its going be SIIIIICK!
Just four days after the fantastic JDM Allstars Round 2, it was already time for me and video dude extraordinaire Josh Allen to hit the road again and head on up north to the city of Sunderland for Round 3. One long journey on probably the most boring road in the UK later and we finally arrived at our destination - The Nissan Factory.
The fact that Nissan itself was down to hold a drift event outside one of its factories was pretty cool. But the actual location to me was even cooler. Set on a section of land that usually holds hundreds and hundreds of freshly built Nissans, we were surrounded by factory buildings and trees with giant wind turbines looming over head. It's a testament to the JDM Allstars team that they can turn something as bland as a car park into an exciting place to hold their competition. Read more...
This is it! We're pretty sure everyone has been thinking, "wait, so ASBX is over, and all you're giving us is a lousy fireworks photo?!" Hehe, thank you for your patience! At big events like Formula Drift and/or All Star Bash, many times we end up taking so many photos, it takes us forever to sort through them all!
This week is an extremely busy one for the MotorMavens Crew. As I type this, telephoto sniper Larry Chen is already on his way up to Seattle WA, while I've been extremely busy working on a production run of our new MotorMavens Northwest shirts trying to get everything sorted and organized for our booth at Formula D Seattle this weekend! It's been hectic; nonstop work and meetings and phone calls and errands and editing photos and uploading and drafting stories and... *breathe*
Enough about that. Let's get down to business - All Star Bash 2010 was off the chain! Everyone who has ever heard of the JustDrift/Ziptied All Star Bash knows that it's like woodstock for drifters. All Star Bash is pretty much the West Coast's premier event that brings together the grassroots drifting community.
Want to talk about demographics for a minute? All Star Bash attracts people who are really passionate about drifting. You won't find corporate bigwigs at an event like this; people who are in the professional drifting scene to profit off its youth demographic do not come to All Star Bash. Are you kidding me? Sitting around in the high desert with the heat baking your skin, with wind blowing the tire dust into every crevasse of your vehicle and ingraining it into your pores? Corporate types are not down with that. You won't find marketing departments with matching outfits, fancy leather couches and big screen tvs at All Star Bash. You won't find corporate big rigs with free lanyards and posters at All Star Bash either. You won't find free energy drink samples, DJ booths, big magazine editors, PR agencies or snobby corporate douchebags at All Star Bash either. All those things do not exist in the desert when people gather for All Star Bash. When people get together for the annual Ziptied/JustDrift All Star Bash, the only thing that matters is DRIFTING. Read more...
I always feel a strong sense of pride when I go to a hot rod show. Hot rodding is as American as you can get - home grown and originating fully here in the States. Starting with young servicemen after World War II, restless and full of testosterone, the whole sub-culture that has emerged from it has even influenced styles for clothing, current cars, and music. So, I'm pretty sure you would be hard pressed to find a car enthusiast who didn't like old American rods - there is just an appreciation for the whole lifestyle.
Yoshi Shindo and I were able to make the trek down to Chehalis, WA on June 26th to attend the third annual Billetproof Hotrod and Custom Car Show, which bills itself as the "World's Least Important Car Show!". Sounds a bit self-deprecating to me as it is one of my favorite hot rod shows and, since this marks the second year I have attended, it's clearly important to me.
The show is a bit different from most current hotrod shows, as you can guess by its name, because no cars with billet are allowed to participate. You might ask why, since so many parts are now being produced with this technology specifically for the custom car industry, but it's because the technology didn't exist back in the classic days of hotrodding. Only cars that are traditionally modified and those that precede 1964 are allowed to attend. Read more...
