Formula Drift 2010 – Long Beach
By Brian Jones, Photography by Duane Uyeda
Quite literally our “home” track and one of our favorites, the temporary Long Beach street course annually plays host to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the Long Beach Grand Prix (LBGP) has played host to Formula One, Champ Car, IndyCar, Trans Am, World Challenge and the ALMS.
Its combination of dangerously close safety rails, Southern California beach scenery and twisty layout usually makes for some action-packed racing. When Formula Drift arrives at the circuit, one week ahead of the ALMS, it’s no different.
Now in its fifth straight year visiting the Long Beach Grand Prix, Formula Drift uses the street course as its season kick-off. The LBGP course itself is carved out of the regular city streets in downtown Long Beach, using k-rails and safety barriers to convert Shoreline Drive and the area surrounding the Long Beach Aquarium into a tight racetrack.
The Formula D competition uses only Turns 9, 10 and 11 from the street course, a 90-degree right, left and then hairpin, which normally leads onto the long front straight. With a short straight before Turn 9, Formula D competitors are able to gather up some serious speed for high-speed drifts through Turns 9 and 10.
Turn 11’s incredibly tight radius is also a great way to test drivers, who have to connect all the turns and varying entry speeds.
Formula D’s recipe is simple – throw in some tandem door-to-door runs, monster 500hp+ machines, championship-level drivers and you’ve got yourself a very close competition. Many drivers came out for competition, eager to make their way into the Top 32. With a tight schedule to keep and lot of cars to run through, the qualifying session rewarded drivers with adaptability or Long Beach experience.
The Top 32 featured many familiar Formula Drift faces such as Rhys Millen, Tanner Foust, Dai Yoshihara, Vaughn Gittin, Jr., Taka Aono, Sam Hubinette and Tyler McQuarrie. Other less known but still very skilled drivers, such as Charles Ng, made the cut as well.
As the course cut down on competitors, the smoke cleared to leave Rhys Millen’s Hyundai Genesis, Tanner Foust’s Scion tC, Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s new Ford Mustang and Fredric Aasbo’s Nordic Toyota Supra left standing.
Aasbo’s red turbocharged Supra would end up in 4th place and Foust would again have to settle for 3rd place. Millen and Gittin went toe-to-toe in the final round, with Gittin taking the first win of 2010 using his brand new Monster-themed Ford Mustang GT.
Source
Formula Drift
www.formulad.com
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