COVERAGE> JDM Allstars Wembley Stadium
Wembley is THE event to go to in the JDM Allstars calendar. Drifters from all over Europe and even outside of Europe flock to Wembley to step up to the plate and show their talents in the competition. So bright and early (way too early) Saturday morning, I headed down into London to check out what was going on.
Usually I like to hang around the pits for a while to chat with drivers and friends, but with briefings to attend to and with the large amount of drivers competing, practice had to get underway pretty sharpish and I didn't want to miss out on any of the action. So I made a move out to the track and started shooting. So here are some photos from practice and qualifying! Read more...
VIDEO> The Spirit of Formula D Las Vegas
My recent trip to Las Vegas for round 5 of Formula Drift was one of minimal luxuries. Joe Ayala and I could only afford one night in a hotel and a rental car was out of the question. Day one, we got up around noon, grabbed some “breakfast” at the Blueberry Hill next to the hotel, and began our journey to the track at around two. The trek consisted of roughly 2-3 miles, on foot, in 108 degree weather. Luckily for us, we found a shopping cart to carry our backpacks, camera cases, laptop bags, and of course my skateboard. Before long, we had covered the cart in MotorMavens cards (gotta represent) and found fun stuff to do on the way, such as drifting and dirt dropping the cart on the side of Las Vegas Blvd. Joe and I had fun overall, but boy were we glad when an old woman (with a legit mustache) stopped and asked us if we needed a ride. She drove us about a quarter of a mile to the gift shop of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, complaining the whole time about how she would be late to work. Haha!
Anyone will tell you that there’s really no way to describe a trip to FD Vegas other than “hot.” I had a great time making new acquaintances, like when my buddy Josh Herron took us by Forrest Wang‘s shop to BS and look at all his rad cars. I also had fun catching up with friends, like when the amazing Drew Fishbein and Ross Fairfield from OMGDrift let Joe and I stay in their hotel room because 18andFamous Abbitt Wilkerson was too busy napping to answer his door. Haha!
Regarding the video, I apologize for taking so long to finish it. The song I chose has a small introduction that requires specific footage to go with the audio. Hobo and I had arranged beforehand to film what I needed while in Vegas. Unfortunately, the lovely security team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was very strict about when and who could drive in or out of the gates, so we just couldn’t make it happen. That being said, I had to acquire the help of up-and-coming photographer, videographer, actor, and stunt driver Joe Ayala to finish the timeline.
Special thanks to Jason at ContourHD for hooking us up with the cameras. These things are a blast to use! Definitely one of the most fun moments of the trip was running around the grid, sticking cameras on cars. Thanks again!
Enjoy! 
:: Justin Shreeve
PERSPECTIVE> Drifting Changed My Life
That's why this story by Jonathan McWhorter was so compelling to me. It's not about the money or the fame. It's not about your company budget or your connections. It's not even how long you've been in the industry. Those are not the things that make this industry so awesome. I could tell you but Jon did such a great job - I'll leave it in his capable hands. After all, he reminded me. So, without further ado... Read more...
DRIVER SEAT> Comrades To Invade Formula D Seattle!
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...
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars Rd.3 – 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...
VIDEO> KP Race LSx14 Debut
To be completely honest, up until earlier this year, I knew next to nothing of KP Race. I knew it was an auto shop located somewhere in Washington (With names like Snoqualmie and Skookumchuck, the towns all seem to blend together in my mind). That was, until I received a call from a guy who goes by the name of “Victor Moore.” Hey, I’d have an alias, too, if I were him. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me, Tiger. Haha! Anyway, the conversation consisted of a request to travel the US with Victor, Chris Jeanneret, and Matt Brandow as they work their way up the Formula Drift Ranks in 2010. How could I resist?! Free rides all over the country and food along the way! Say no more; I’m in!
Traveling with these fine young gentlemen took me back to a simpler time in life. A time when all that mattered was having fun. A time when you jumped in a 1988 Ford Probe and drove all day, just to bomb a hill in San Francisco or skate a new park in Vancouver, BC. From late night In-N-Out runs, to shenanigans at Hooters in Long Beach, drifting was far from the best part of the journey, for me. That’s probably why I love it so much! Just like skateboarding in my younger years, drifting has given me the opportunity to meet literally hundreds of new people who share a common love.
This video documents the adventures of KP Race as they fight for the Formula Drift podium. Despite a privateer budget and terribly timed mechanical failure, these guys are always upbeat and having a good time. Don’t get me wrong, though. These guys are seriously dedicated to the sport and have the drive and motivation necessary to reach the top. Expect to see plenty more of KP Race in the 2010 season!
:: Justin Shreeve
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars Rd.2 – Donington Alpine!
I later heard that the plan was to hold it on something called the Donington Alpine Circuit. I had no clue what that was until I came along to the shoot of the promotional video a few weeks back. Then it all became clear. On the outskirts of the main track and the Launch Pad is a fast, wide, almost mountain road-like track that the JDM Crew decided to use. It's made up of four corners and a steep uphill straight where the cars seemingly come out of nowhere and fly over the top. There's a right transition into the second turn, aiming for a clipping point close to the deadly armco, then a transition left into the third turn where you plant the throttle and bring the rear of the car to the armco on the straight, leading to another transition right into the final hairpin turn.
Fast corners, armco barriers on all sides and beautiful scenery all around. This was looking to be one of the most unique and exciting drift events in the JDM Allstars calendar. Read more...
VIDEO> Formula D Atlanta Part 2
Experience Atlanta | FD Round 2 | Part 2 from Justin Shreeve Films on Vimeo.
Formula D Round 2 Atlanta has been a subject of the past now, but our boy Justin Shreeve had extra footage and decided to make a sequel to his original FD Atlanta video. In my opinion Justin did a great job showing the great experience a Formula D event can have on someone. These events are more than just the cars and drifting to me. It’s about the people, friends, vendors, and of course the girls! I’m not going to lie though, that clip of Daijiro Yoshihara dirt dropping was sick! Great job Justin Michael Shreeve!
::Yoshi Shindo
COVERAGE> Comrades Invade Pacific Grand Prix
For those that don't know, Comrades started from humble beginnings when four local drift teams decided to unite under one banner years ago. Now that banner has grown to include all NW grassroots drifters from Oregon to Canada.
May 15th set a new benchmark for drifting in the NW when the Comrades were invited to tear up the track at Pacific Grand Prix in Kent, WA. New Pros and old schoolers came out to drive on this newly created track, owned and operated by Paul Zalud, that spans a little less than a mile with a layout "that kinda gives you that Bihoku vibe."(Haha, it's a reference to a Japanese race track, Bihoku Highland)
The Mighty MotorMavens Crew was out in full force as well. Covering the entire event from the driving (by me), video from Abbit Wilkerson and Justin Shreeve to, of course, photos from Yoshi Shindo and new comer Jeff Santiago - both armed to the teeth with their new Canon EOS 7D cameras. Read more...
VIDEO> Pacific Grand Prix Drift Invitational
Pacific Grand Prix | Drift Invitational
The first Pacific Grand Prix Drift Invitational was a blast! So many good people, live DJ, beer garden, skateboarding, dirt drops, four car tandems. What’s not to love? If you haven’t been to this track, make plans to attend a future event. This thing is beautiful! Super clean grass; I can’t believe dudes were dirt dropping in this shit!
Filming, on the other hand, was quite a challenge. With only a 15mm F/2.8 and a 50mm F/1.4, the strict media regulations made it difficult to shoot good footage without breaking the rules. The super bright sun half the day didn’t help either.
It is what it is. Enjoy.
:: Justin Shreeve
Justin Shreeve Films
More Motor Mavens coverage from Pacific Grand Prix
COVERAGE> The Underdogs of Formula D Atlanta
I feel even more of a connection to the grassroots/underdog drivers sometimes, because I think that if the MotorMavens Crew were a drift team, it would be exactly like a team of privateers that's striving to elevate its game to a big time level. The members of the MotorMavens Crew are extremely driven and passionate about car culture. Even though some of us might have backgrounds that include professional experience (working with big print magazines, newspapers, video production companies, or larger blog sites) in our particular niches, we have come together to join our collective talents and build something we truly believe in.
MotorMavens is not a big company with major sponsors and an expense account. Unlike some of the big magazines or corporate-financed automotive blogs, we can't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on our travel, marketing, and camera equipment. Hell, almost all of the members of the MotorMavens Crew work other jobs and spend hard earned personal money to travel to the different events we cover for the site. For this past Atlanta event, we didn't even have the budget to stay in the official Formula D hotel with the rest of the people on the tour. Instead, we gratefully crashed on the floors and couches of our good friends in Atlanta (Thanks to Erik Jacobs from DG Trials, Cody Wellons from S3 Magazine, and Andy Sapp from MotorMavens) in order to make this trip happen with the small budget we had to work with.
The grassroots drivers that showed their skills at Road Atlanta's Formula D Pro Am definitely impressed me. I'll be honest... I wasn't necessarily impressed with how all the cars looked or performed... it was very obvious that many of the cars were grassroots "budget builds" and that's just fine. However, what impressed me about the drivers from the South was how much heart they had. They definitely wore their hearts on their sleeves as they drove in the intense mid-day heat of their Friday practice sessions. Pro Am qualifying took place at around 8:00pm on that Friday night, while most of the drifting fans at Road Atlanta packed up and went home. I'm sure it must have been somewhat disconcerting that many of the people in the audience didn't care enough to stay and watch them, but the grassroots drifters of the South were their own support group. They watched their friends and competitors intently from the top of Road A's famous hill, clapping and cheering for each other as each driver took their turn running the course. I suppose some people may just say it's Southern hospitality, but I was honestly impressed that the Southeast drifters seemed to be such a tightly knit group. Now that's the spirit... at least, that's what the real spirit of drifting is all about. Read more...
COVERAGE> Drifting at Mineral Wells, Texas
The drifting is held in a lot located just behind the runway at the Mineral Wells Airport. It was built over sixty years ago as a Cold War helicopter landing pad and decommissioned shortly afterward - sitting empty for years until automotive enthusiasts began renting it out for grassroots events. What makes this venue so incredible is the vast expanse of open area. With enough cones, you can build a course easily capable of triple digit entry speeds. You won't find a faster venue in the state. The large size also allows plenty of room for trucks, trailers, and tents as well.
Aaron Losey of Fabricated Motorsports (the guy in the striped shirt and beanie) is the man behind the majority of the drift events in Texas. His events are always very well organized and safe, with a fun and laid back atmosphere. The attendance level is usually very good, with driver experience ranging from some of the best talent in the nation to absolute rookies with no driving time whatsoever. Luckily, the more experienced drivers are always willing to offer assistance and Aaron usually spends the majority of his time giving hands-on training. Read more...
VIDEO> One Of One Show at Long Beach
Fatlace OneOfOne Showcase | FD Long Beach Extra Footage
So yesterday I was sitting at my desk, cleaning up my external hard drive. I realized I’ve got TONS of extra footage of Formula Drift Long Beach and quite a bit of footage from the Fatlace OneOfOne Showcase that didn’t make it into the final edit.
My girl had the car for the day, and I wasn’t getting anything else done… so I decided to make another edit. This one has a much lighter vibe than the first, with no color grading and very little audio work; just lots of familiar faces, pretty cars, and loud engines.
Enjoy.
:: Justin Shreeve
Vimeo.com/JustinShreeve
YouTube.com/Shreeveco
More Formula D Long Beach 2010 stories on MOTORMAVENS
VIDEO> World Drift Series China 2009
World Drift Series China 2009 from Larry Chen on Vimeo.
Once a year drivers from all over the world gather in China to drive the shit out of crappy cars. No rules. No limits. And sometimes no seatbelts.
This is the World Drift Series. Drifting is very new in the land of communism… but every year, American and Japanese drifters show the Chinese drifters how to do some REAL drifting. In 2008 and 2009, the main event, “WDS Hang Zhou” had a sellout crowd of 45,000 people.
This year, along with the American and Japanese drivers, there were quite a few drivers from Mainland China and Hong Kong as well. There was even a Russian drifter who came down for two events.
I had the privilege of traveling with the American team. I was given $1500 to purchase 4 sh!tty cameras and 3 sh!tty on-car mounts (I don’t really shoot video). This short film is what I ended up with. I tried to concentrate more on the drivers, since I had an opportunity to live and travel with them for 2 weeks. Every part showcases a different driver and their unique personalities. Enjoy!
:: Larry Chen
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars Rd. 1 – Manchester, UK
Like Wembley and Newcastle before, the track would be a street based circuit in one of the overflow car parks outside the Trafford Centre , a shopping centre that looks like a cross between the inside of the Titanic, Ancient Rome and a giant US mall! When I arrived on Friday, I was blown away by the scale of the track and surrounding area. I had a feeling, with all the hype and build up, that the empty space I was looking at would be packed over the weekend!
Saturday morning came and it was looking like my feelings would be proven right. With the track ready, the crowds pouring in, and a whole heap of new cars, practice got under way. So here's a few photos from day one of a truly awesome drift event... Read more...
COVERAGE> Drifting at Houston’s Import Reactor
One of the great things about this event was that it brought together the drift enthusiasts and the show scene here in Texas. The guys at Import Reactor had the brilliant idea to allow car show teams to sponsor a driver. Each team had a driver whose entry they paid, while the driver ran their sticker on his car. It was great to the drifters bringing their cars to the event, only to be greeted by 20+ members of the team that sponsored them - cheering them on the entire time! Read more...
CARSPOTTING> Purple People Eater RPS13
Don't be confused, this just isn't a "welcome back to the site" for me. Oh no, this is a huge welcome back to fresh cars built by cool people on real world budgets. Welcome back to grassroots drifting and sick street cars, which is what this site was built upon and the whole reason why we keep pushing forward. Like a skilled surgeon, Mike Burns and company have suited up in their drifting scrubs to save the all important life of grassroots drifting; but instead a sharpened scalpel, his finely tuned instrument is this super rad RPS13 Nissan 240SX. Read more...
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars at Silverstone!
While fellow MotorMavens crew members Antonio Alvendia and Edward Uche were out baking in the Californian sunshine at the XDC event in Irwindale, I was getting soaked to my skin in Northamptonshire, England, at the home of British Motorsport, Silverstone Circuit. Here, JDM Allstars were holding an invitation-only driver search day to give the selected drivers a shot at gaining a provisional entry to compete in this year's series. Also, with only 26 days to go until JDM Allstars takes over Manchester City for Round 1, it gave some of the current competitors in the series a chance to give their updated and freshly built cars a good shakedown!
Silverstone has been a home for UK drifting since the early days. The OPT Drift Club used to hold practice days there and some of the old UK D1 rounds were also held there. It was even the stage for the D1GP Exhibition Rounds (one in October 2005 and the other in 2006) when the Japanese came over to show us what it was all about - pushing our drivers to become even better. Since then it's been home to various drift championships such as the European Drift Championship (EDC) and the defunct, D1GB. Back in 2009, it was JDM Allstars' turn and there they hosted the final round of the series on the famous GP Circuit. This year Silverstone will play host to the final round yet again and it will be bigger and even better. I'm seriously looking forward to it - just as long as it's not raining!
Anyway, on to the Driver Search... Read more...
VIDEO> Evergreen Drifting by Justin Shreeve
“Nothin’ to Worry About” – Evergreen Invitational (MotorMavens) from Justin Shreeve Films on Vimeo.
Even a broken foot and multiple equipment issues didn’t keep me from running around Evergreen Speedway last Sunday. Evergreen Drift’s invite-only season opener was a great success, despite several wrecks… and even fires. Tires were destroyed on track, while old friends caught up with one another in the uncharacteristic warmth of the Washington sun.
This event was a testament to the true nature of drifting. Pushing through misfortune to create something beautiful, all the while having the collective time of our lives. I find it ironic that although times may be hard, when we come together to share what we love, we find a feeling of euphoria. (more…)
WEBMINING> Snaps from Vegas Pro Am
In the Pacific Southwest, many dedicated grassroots drifters made the trek to the very first installment of the Vegas Pro Am Series. I was sick this weekend, and couldn't make it out, but thankfully, I received a link to some event photos on SAV Photo's Flickr page from Sin City local Nick Dizon. Many people know Nick as one of the main movers and shakers of the VegasDrift community, but the Vegas Pro Am brought out drivers from all sorts of places - from Arizona to Pennsylvania, all the way to Canada! Read more...
COVERAGE> Evergreen Drift Season Opener
March 14th marked the triumphant return of some of the Northwest’s most seasoned veterans. An invite-only drift event was held last Sunday to start off the 2010 season with a bang. It was a great mix of old school friends, with up and coming drivers all the way from Canada to Oregon. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, with a steady 70 degrees all day with almost no clouds in the sky. It was as if God himself found favor in the boys from Evergreen Drift. Read more...
