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The asterisk next to the Summit Point round indicates that it's a new venue.
The asterisk next to the Summit Point round indicates that it's a new venue.


Formula D has somewhat of a partnership with the [[Champ Car World Series]], holding demonstration events at Champ Car race weekends, most prominently, the [[Long Beach Grand Prix]]. In 2007, there will be five demonstration events, but they will count for something. 2007 is the first year of the '''Formula Drift Team Drift Championship''', meaning that events will count for points in a championship separate from the one used for standalone events. Here are the four events that will make up the inaugural Team Drift Championship:
Formula D has somewhat of a partnership with the [[Champ Car World Series]], holding demonstration events at Champ Car race weekends, most prominently, the [[Long Beach Grand Prix]]. In 2007, there will be four demonstration events, but they will count for something. 2007 is the first year of the '''Formula Drift Team Drift Championship''', meaning that events will count for points in a championship separate from the one used for standalone events. Here are the four events that will make up the inaugural Team Drift Championship:
*Long Beach Grand Prix ([[April 15]])
*Long Beach Grand Prix ([[April 15]])
*[[Portland International Raceway]] ([[June 10]])
*[[Portland International Raceway]] ([[June 10]])

Revision as of 02:58, 25 March 2007

File:Oldfdlogo.jpg
First Formula D logo, in use from 2004 to 2006

Formula D is the United States' drifting series. It is the American equivalent of drifting's premier championship in Japan, the D1 Grand Prix.

The series is sponsored by the popular video game series, Need for Speed. Its official name is Need for Speed Formula Drift Presented by Circuit City. It was inaugurated in 2004, and is a division of the Sports Car Club of America.

The 2007 series schedule has seven official rounds, each at a different track. These are the locations Formula D will visit next year:

The asterisk next to the Summit Point round indicates that it's a new venue.

Formula D has somewhat of a partnership with the Champ Car World Series, holding demonstration events at Champ Car race weekends, most prominently, the Long Beach Grand Prix. In 2007, there will be four demonstration events, but they will count for something. 2007 is the first year of the Formula Drift Team Drift Championship, meaning that events will count for points in a championship separate from the one used for standalone events. Here are the four events that will make up the inaugural Team Drift Championship:

There is also a Formula D in Australia, which was announced in June 2005. The three tracks Formula D Australia visited in 2005 are Mallala Motorsport Park in South Australia, Oran Park Raceway in New South Wales, and Winton Raceway in Victoria. The series is held in conjunction with the DRIFT AUSTRALIA Championship.

The American Formula D series has more tire manufacturers than any other motor racing series in the world, with nine manufacturers (Nitto Tires, Toyo Tires, Bridgestone Tires, Maxxiss Tires, Federal Tires, Falken Tires, Cooper Tires, Dunlop Tires, Hankook Tires, and Kumho Tires) and tend to attract Japanese ex-D1GP drivers.

Formula D television coverage

Former Fox Soccer USA host Brandon Johnson hosted the Formula D show for G4 in 2006. Rossi Morreale was the show's host in 2005. Johnson was joined by Attack of the Show co-host Olivia Munn who covered the pits and drivers during the events and drifting expert Adam Matthews who provided commentary and insight on the tandem battles. G4 aired each round on a tape-delayed basis. Jarod DeAnda is the public address announcer at each event, earning him the moniker, "The Voice of Formula D." In 2005, G4 used DeAnda's event commentary track, but for 2006, used Johnson and Matthews calling each battle like a typical play-by-play/color commentator combination. Johnson and Matthews were on-site for each event, but it sounded as if they had taped their commentary after the event had already taken place. This practice is not uncommon in the motorsports business; an article in the December 2006 issue of Car and Driver revealed that longtime motorsports announcer Rick Benjamin uses this same method when calling USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series races. Benjamin travels to Atlanta, views a tape of the most recent event, makes notes, then tapes his commentary.

In the 2005 season, there were two people working the pits — driver interviewer Mayleen Ramey, who was a roving reporter for the half-hour episodes, and a second anchor, who patrolled around the car show at each event. In 2005, G4 used three reporters for this job. From the round in Wall to the round in Houston, actor Emeka held the job. At the Infineon round, Attack of the Show co-host Kevin Pereira took the duties, while Street Fury host Big C finished things out in Chicago and Irwindale. Also, G4 showed half-hour episodes in-between rounds, most of which focused on the network having its own drift car built from scratch, with other segments focusing on the aspects of drifting. One of the first half-hour episodes in 2005 had one Formula D competitor, Chris Forsberg go to Japan, and meet up with another competitor, Daijiro Yoshihara, to explore the country and get more perspective on the birth of drifting. Episodes that featured event coverage lasted an hour-and-a-half, and featured the top 16 tandem rounds, including those that needed to be run again, because the judges deemed them too close to call. These episodes aired the night after the next round in the series had already taken place.

In 2006, however, coverage was dramatically different. The half-hour episodes were gone, and event coverage was reduced to an hour, and their scheduling was quite random. The Long Beach and Atlanta rounds premiered on June 18, with the Chicago round airing on July 2, and the Sonoma round airing a week after it took place. During the Sonoma round, G4 noted that the Seattle round would premiere on September 10, but that date was changed to October 8, with the last two rounds (Wall and Irwindale) airing every other week afterward. These episodes featured more interviews and driver profiles, many of which would've been placed in a half-hour show last year, and many of the tandem battles have been cut out, and any battle that needed to be run again has not had its second run shown. This has led to some criticism from those in the drifting community, including fans and some Formula D drivers.

At the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Formula D co-founders Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage announced that the series would have a new television partner in 2007. That partner will be ESPN2. Airdates have yet to be announced.

List of competing drivers in Formula D

Al Lagura (Dunlop Tires / Techno Toy Tuning / Toyota Corolla AE86 Coupe)
Tony Angelo (Cooper Tire/DA FD3S Mazda RX-7)
Taka Aono (Falken AE86 Corolla)
Casper Canul (Cooper Tire)
Ernie Fixmer
Chris Forsberg (Sears 350z Roadster)
Vaughn Gittin, Jr. (Falken/DA Ford Mustang)
Ken Gushi 具志健士郎(Toyo Tires Ford Mustang)
Ryan Hampton (Falken/DA 1969 Chevrolet Camaro)
Samuel Hubinette (Mopar Dodge Viper)
Benson Hsu (privateer Nissan Sileighty)
Tyler Mcquarrie Toyota Supra
Rhys Millen (Rhys Millen Racing Pontiac Solstice)
Bryan Norris
Stephan Papadakis (AEM Honda S2000)
Ross Petty (180sx (RB powered))
Tyler Mcquarrie (RS*R Honda S2000)
Hiro Sumida (Falken s15)
Rob Fleming (Cooper Tire/Enjuku Racing Nissan 240SX S13.5)
John Yim (Enjuku Racing Nissan 240SX S13.4)
Calvin Wan (Falken Infiniti G35)
Daijiro Yoshihara (Rockstar/Nitto Nissan S13)
Tanner Foust (AEM 350z)
Todd Ho (FC3S)
Seigo Yamamoto (Falken/Garage-S/OS-Giken Toyota Chaser)

Formula D Champions

US

Australia

All-time Formula D event winners list

  1. Samuel Hubinette - 8 wins (2004 at Road Atlanta, Houston, and Infineon; 2005 at Road Atlanta and Chicago; 2006 at Long Beach, Chicago and Wall)
  2. Rhys Millen - 3 wins (2004 at Irwindale; 2005 at Wall; 2006 at Infineon)
  3. Chris Forsberg (2005 at Irwindale)
  4. Ken Gushi (2005 at Houston)
  5. Calvin Wan (2005 at Infineon)
  6. Tanner Foust (2006 at Road Atlanta)
  7. Yukinobu Okubo (2006 at Seattle)
  8. Daijiro Yoshihara (2006 at Irwindale)

External links

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