Our never-ending interest in the upcoming U.S. Top Gear has us usually thinking of Tanner Foust as a television host, so we often forget that he has another day job sliding a Nissan 350Z around racetracks in the Formula Drift series. Tanner came into the final round this weekend at Irwindale Speedway at the top of the points race, and he needed to stay ahead of Sam Hubinette in his Dodge Viper and Rhys Millen in his Pontiac Solstice to capture his second straight championship. He did just that, finishing in second place behind Vaughn Gitten Jr., who captured his first win in the series in his Falken Tire Ford Mustang. The top 16 drivers from the event also qualified for the upcoming Red Bull Drifting World Championship next month in Long Beach.
It won't do anything to bolster her "green" credentials, but the fact that Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, can hold her 240SX in a glorious sideways slide as long as you please strikes us not only as surprising, but, well, a little off the hook. It seems the McCain clan likes high-horsepower pastimes, be it trains, planes or automobiles, though the trains part might only be for whistlestop campaigns. A few years back, Cindy and son Jack were intrigued by drifting after catching television coverage of the sport. Rather than just look it up on Wikipedia, Cindy McCain -- who is an avowed lifelong gearhead -- headed to Japan, birthplace of drifting, to learn the practice from a sensei. Mom and son Jack dove wholeheartedly into drifting, building a 240SX drift car and competing as a team in amateur competition. Motorsports and high-performance driving also played a restorative role when McCain was temporarily felled by a stroke. In an odd choice of physical therapy facilities, McCain was at Bob Bondurant's Executive Protection course a mere six weeks after the health event, rebuilding her skill. While the plot sounds like a treatment for "The Drifting Kid" or some other kind of Hollywood dreck, it's exciting to think that a first lady might be able to out-drive her Secret Service detail.
It always seems a bit presumptuous when a "world champion" is declared for a sporting event played in America. After all, other countries have leagues for baseball, basketball, football, etc. Formula Drift, the most well known drifting association in the United States, isn't about to declare world superiority in the art of maneuvering a car sideways through a course, but it does want to find out who's the best. Partnering with Red Bull Energy Drink, Formula Drift will be bringing together the best drifters from around the world to compete head to head in one single event. The competition will be held in November on the docks in Long Beach, CA and will feature a purpose-built course that will test the limits of each driver's skills. With a few of us located in Los Angeles, you can be sure that Autoblog will be bringing you live coverage of the event.
Professional drifting series, Formula D, is trying to quickly win over fans and competitors in order to become one of the top forms of motorsport in the United States. As folks have learned in the markets this past year, though, rapid growth does not come without some giant bumps in the road. It looks like Formula D has now slid into a wall with a few of its teams. Confusion surrounding the series rule book has come to a head in discussions at Drifting.com. The rules state that any change to a vehicle's OEM suspension design must be approved by Formula D. Of course, a visual inspection of every car lined up for a run at a Formula D event proves that no one is utilizing 100% OEM suspension components. Aftermarket coilovers, adjustable control arms and urethane bushings are all-too-,common modifications seen throughout the pits. Therefore, there must be a list available to competitors outlining the approved components for all competing vehicles. No such list is available, however. That means teams have no method of verifying that other competitors are following the rules, other than the fact an entry passed Formula D's own tech inspection. Current discussion is making a case for the use of vehicle technical sheets as found in series such as SCCA Speed World Challenge to list all allowable modifications for approved competition vehicles.
One particular team lies behind the call for rule revisions, while other concerned competitors back up their request for clarification. The vocal team is the group behind the Super Autobacs Nissan Skyline, which was recently deemed ineligible for competition by Formula D. The series organizers claim the Skyline features illegal front suspension modifications by using the OEM parts off a Nissan Laurel. However, the RWD Scion tC campaigning in the series is eligible despite also using suspension parts from another Toyota vehicle that shares the same chassis. The rules become particularly unclear when other vehicles are allowed to run with obviously altered suspension setups. 350Zs have altered the mounting points of their rear axles and Chevrolet Corvettes have converted from leaf springs to coilovers. Hopefully, Formula D can learn from this tussle and develop a fair and documented method of approving vehicle,s rather than leaving everyone in the dark.
When you're winging a vehicle as expensive and powerful as a purpose-built Dodge Viper drift car, being fearful will only lead to a bad ending. Sam Hubinette doesn't have any such compunctions while sliding sideways at 90 miles per hour. Should he inadvertently hit the wall, whoops. Fretting over potential contact will likely only make it inevitable. The hairy-chested car guys over at 0-60 were hanging out at the third round of Formula Drift competition in Englishtown, NJ, and caught up with the Skidding Swede for a few minutes while shooting a larger video of the competition. The smoky event saw Hubinette's Viper place second to Tanner Foust's Nissan 350Z. Foust, you'll recall, is one of the hosts of NBC's domestic "Top Gear." Good to know he can drive. Now's your chance to take shots at drifting and complain about how it's not racing, and doesn't require any skill, though we assure you it is, and it does. You still don't have to like it.
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The new website encompassing all things sport compact, RiceBoyTV.com, has put together a web-based reality series following 17-year-old drifter Patrick Mordaunt. The video content follows Mordaunt through the trials and tribulations of his rookie season as a driver in the Formula Drift series. The show is currently on the second webisode, with the third waiting in the wings and many more to come as the season progresses. Patrick Mordaunt may not already be a name with which most casual drift fans are familiar, but he is certainly working hard to make sure things don't stay that way for long. His story is one of interest, as the talented young driver has a lot of heart.
Those in the sport compact industry first came to know Patrick Mordaunt when he was hardly a teenager. The avid Japanese Option video watcher was a regular attendee at any and all Southern California events remotely related to drifting. Patrick then began hitting the local test events with his '85 Toyota Corolla before he could even legally drive on the street. His thirst to learn quickly earned him immense respect in the pits, while his passion and tenacity stood out, causing industry insiders to take notice. Add in his uncanny ability to rack up the professional drifting licenses, with three in all, and It's no surprise that many folks, such as the crew at RiceBoyTV.com, want to help the guy achieve his dreams.
