COVERAGE> Formula Drift Las Vegas Highlights
When it comes to Formula D Las Vegas, what can I say that hasn't been already mentioned? It was hot. Damn hot. Too hot to be outside without air conditioning. I don't understand how Las Vegas locals can handle the incredible heat over there, but they say they're just used to it now. Getting used to it is one thing... but I wonder if they like it though?
Just like the gypsy camps in the days of old, this year's Las Vegas round of Formula Drift brought thieves out of the woodwork. I was really surprised to find out that former Formula D judge (and current Tanaka Racing Corvette driver) Alex Pfeiffer's helmet was stolen. I suppose someone was a fan of Alex's Hawaiian print helmet, which had the traditional Hawaiian plumeria flowers painted on one side. The only question I have about that is... Okay, thieves. Now that you have Alex's helmet, what the hell are you going to do with it? Read more...
Just like the gypsy camps in the days of old, this year's Las Vegas round of Formula Drift brought thieves out of the woodwork. I was really surprised to find out that former Formula D judge (and current Tanaka Racing Corvette driver) Alex Pfeiffer's helmet was stolen. I suppose someone was a fan of Alex's Hawaiian print helmet, which had the traditional Hawaiian plumeria flowers painted on one side. The only question I have about that is... Okay, thieves. Now that you have Alex's helmet, what the hell are you going to do with it? Read more...
COVERAGE> Big Guns at Formula D New Jersey
Formula Drift at Wall Speedway in New Jersey was definitely fun to watch. For me, it's always fun to travel and attend all the events in the tour, but this past weekend, I had some other commitments and couldn't make it to New Jersey. Luckily for us all, Larry Chen was out in New Jersey representing MotorMavens and capturing all the action!
Thanks to our friends at YoParts and Belle 1 Communications, we were able to watch Formula D live; the DriftStream live feed was really fun and entertaining! It was like an old school AOL chat room with tons of drifting fans blurting out information and opinions; I was impressed at how many people got involved in the live chat, cheering for (and sometimes clowning) drivers and teams! All in all, it was super fun - and I quite honestly was pretty disappointed that I had to shut down my computer in the middle of the Top 16 so that I could drive to my friend's house for a party/bbq (it was my fault - I should have just driven over there early so I could watch the entire thing at his house).
Wall Speedway is a pretty interesting track. It was originally built for circle track cars, but somehow was able to re-purpose itself for drifting, thanks to a lot of phone calls, legwork, and planning by the Formula Drift staff. Wall Speedway is also the most extreme banking that Formula Drift competition cars run on, with the most extreme sections of the track being 30 degrees - a really big difference in comparison to Irwindale Speedway's 18 degrees of incline. Read more...
Thanks to our friends at YoParts and Belle 1 Communications, we were able to watch Formula D live; the DriftStream live feed was really fun and entertaining! It was like an old school AOL chat room with tons of drifting fans blurting out information and opinions; I was impressed at how many people got involved in the live chat, cheering for (and sometimes clowning) drivers and teams! All in all, it was super fun - and I quite honestly was pretty disappointed that I had to shut down my computer in the middle of the Top 16 so that I could drive to my friend's house for a party/bbq (it was my fault - I should have just driven over there early so I could watch the entire thing at his house).
Wall Speedway is a pretty interesting track. It was originally built for circle track cars, but somehow was able to re-purpose itself for drifting, thanks to a lot of phone calls, legwork, and planning by the Formula Drift staff. Wall Speedway is also the most extreme banking that Formula Drift competition cars run on, with the most extreme sections of the track being 30 degrees - a really big difference in comparison to Irwindale Speedway's 18 degrees of incline. Read more...
COVERAGE> Insider’s Look at FD Long Beach
It's hard to believe that it has already been a week since Formula Drift took over the Streets of Long Beach. This weekend, the famous street course is still home to many a race fan. However this time, Long Beach has been taken over with open wheel racing fans that have been going to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for years and years. Since we don't really cover open wheel racing on Motor Mavens, I thought it would be good to post up some more photos from our experiences at Long Beach last weekend. (I know, some of you are thinking, it's about damn time!)
The first photo in our series is from one of the practice sessions. I think the practice sessions were actually a lot cooler and funner to watch at times than some of the tandem bouts, because it felt like freestyle drifting chaos within the confines of the white cement barriers and tire stacks that lined the streets of the LBC. Read more...
The first photo in our series is from one of the practice sessions. I think the practice sessions were actually a lot cooler and funner to watch at times than some of the tandem bouts, because it felt like freestyle drifting chaos within the confines of the white cement barriers and tire stacks that lined the streets of the LBC. Read more...
COVERAGE> Formula D Fun at Long Beach
I know, everyone has been waiting to see our first installment of Formula D Long Beach pics. So have I! We just had to get some other deadlines out of the way before we could begin posting our images from this weekend's Formula Drift event on the Streets of Long Beach!
This past weekend was certainly an exciting one. I was excited to see all the new cars that were debuting at Long Beach, as well as seeing a lot of good friends from different parts of the world, even if it would be only for a brief moment. Unfortunately, when you're working at the event like I am, you're usually hustling about, going from one spot to the next, and you don't have as much time as you'd like to just chill and spend time with good friends. This event was definitely like that for me.
I was trying to juggle shooting photos for the website while overseeing the Motor Mavens Crew's event promotions efforts. Not an easy task! Also, on the Saturday of the event, I was asked to help out with the filming of The Grid, which is a UK-based motorsports television show that airs in 120 countries around the world! And... on top of all that, we debuted the new MotorMavens X DSTROYR "Follow The Leader" shirt at our booth, which was managed by super designer Jon Chase, the creative genius behind the brands DSTROYR and Famous Stars and Straps. I and the entire Motor Mavens Crew definitely had our hustle mode switched ON this weekend! Read more...
This past weekend was certainly an exciting one. I was excited to see all the new cars that were debuting at Long Beach, as well as seeing a lot of good friends from different parts of the world, even if it would be only for a brief moment. Unfortunately, when you're working at the event like I am, you're usually hustling about, going from one spot to the next, and you don't have as much time as you'd like to just chill and spend time with good friends. This event was definitely like that for me.
I was trying to juggle shooting photos for the website while overseeing the Motor Mavens Crew's event promotions efforts. Not an easy task! Also, on the Saturday of the event, I was asked to help out with the filming of The Grid, which is a UK-based motorsports television show that airs in 120 countries around the world! And... on top of all that, we debuted the new MotorMavens X DSTROYR "Follow The Leader" shirt at our booth, which was managed by super designer Jon Chase, the creative genius behind the brands DSTROYR and Famous Stars and Straps. I and the entire Motor Mavens Crew definitely had our hustle mode switched ON this weekend! Read more...
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
COVERAGE> Autódromo El Jabalí in El Salvador
Without a doubt most of you are very much aware of the car scene in the USA, Japan, and the UK. Some of you are probably also somewhat familiar with automotive happenings within the boundaries of the other member states of the EU as well. However I'm willing to be that most of you are almost completely unfamiliar with the incredible scene that exists in that other America – the one in the Southern Hemisphere – specifically in El Salvador. Therefore, because we Motor Mavens like to expose our readers to the people, places, and automotive happenings that aren't necessarily mainstream, we would like to take a moment to introduce you to a particular AE86er named Pedro Velado - a man after our own Japanese Nostalgic Car loving hearts. This is his very first story with us, and we hope to have many more stories from him in the future! And to you Pedro – bienvenida!
::::::::::::::::::::::::: First, a little background info on myself. I've been a car lover ever since I was a little boy, helping my dad fix his Fiat station wagon. I grew up loving cars, but not really doing much about it until I finished University. After that, I started to learn about the wonderful world of JDM parts and style. It was in 2003, through a combination of my new knowledge and love for Japanese motoring and the process of building my Civic EF, that the idea formed with me and two of my friends to start the show circuit in El Salvador. Since then, I've been doing the CarShow every year, and getting more and more involved with cars as well. Read more...
::::::::::::::::::::::::: First, a little background info on myself. I've been a car lover ever since I was a little boy, helping my dad fix his Fiat station wagon. I grew up loving cars, but not really doing much about it until I finished University. After that, I started to learn about the wonderful world of JDM parts and style. It was in 2003, through a combination of my new knowledge and love for Japanese motoring and the process of building my Civic EF, that the idea formed with me and two of my friends to start the show circuit in El Salvador. Since then, I've been doing the CarShow every year, and getting more and more involved with cars as well. Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> 2010 Camaro Enters Formula Drift
You heard it FIRST from MotorMavens.com!!! Some of our readers may remember Luke Loneberger's Chevy LS1 turbo-engined S14 from our All Star Bash and Megan Racing Competition stories. Well, apparently we were just given the green light to release the big news that we've been keeping under our hats for the past couple months! Los Gatos, California based Luke Loneberger will be building Conrad Grunewald's new competition car for the 2010 Formula Drift season - a brand new Chevrolet Camaro SS, with Hankook as the tire sponsor.
Apparently all of Conrad's work as a driving instructor at Skip Barber Racing School and his unmistakable presence when driving the Tanaka Racing Corvette in Formula D last year has finally paid off. Let's also not forget - Conrad isn't a stranger to the Formula D podium! We have photos to prove it!
Thanks to Andrew and Conrad from CG Racing, we're able to present you with these sneak peek photos! Read more...
Apparently all of Conrad's work as a driving instructor at Skip Barber Racing School and his unmistakable presence when driving the Tanaka Racing Corvette in Formula D last year has finally paid off. Let's also not forget - Conrad isn't a stranger to the Formula D podium! We have photos to prove it!
Thanks to Andrew and Conrad from CG Racing, we're able to present you with these sneak peek photos! Read more...
