Conrad Does Us Proud In Formula D

[Susan Addison]

Braselton, GA, May 6, 7, 2005 - Conrad Grunewald, Western Series Skippy Coach, is a rising star in Formula Drift. In Round 1, he advanced to the top 16, showing excellent form and skill. Round 2 at Road Atlanta was not as good to him, but he still showed he has what it takes. Conrad is running the Motorsports Dynamic Car
for the season. Even though he is down on power, I think he can show these guys a thing or two.

Formula Drift is antithetical to everything we know about driving a car. The object is to maintain a controlled slide, smoke the tires, and maintain speed while maneuvering a series of turns. Contestants are judged not by time, but by skills.
They are required to hold the right angle entering the corner, control the slide through
the corner, and quickly switch entry angle and slide for the next corner. It is an exercise in car control and style. They are judged on entry angle, length of slide,
transition to next corner, and flow and speed while doing all of this. Thirty-two cars are narrowed to 16, then 8, then 4. They run tandem runs of two. Each getting to lead once. If the winner is not clear they may be asked to go again in another two lap run. They are each scored on a scale of 1-10 points. A spin automatically gives the advantage to the other car. A pass on the other car gives you the advantage.

My first impression was I had walked onto the movie set of "The Fast and The Furious." It was just like the street rally scenes including Rap music, engines gunning, show car paint jobs right out of NOPI Tunervision. The guys paraded to the start line above Turn 10, revving up engines, smoking tires, and hanging out of the windows while driving. It is real theater and action. Kuhmo tires debuted a new tire which gave off colored red smoke. The hotter the tire got, the stronger the color of red. I have never seen so much burning rubber, and all on purpose.

Drifting is originally a Japanese Sport. All of the cars are rear wheel drive cars, and a lot of the drivers are Japanese. Interestingly, after one year of competition in the US, none of the foreign car manufacturers have managed a win. The field has been dominated by the Dodge Viper of Sam Hubinnette (Swede), and the Pontiac GTO of Rhys Millen (New Zealander).

The average age of the crowd is probably 17 or 18 year old guys. The vocabulary takes some getting used to, they use words like "sick" to describe "cool," and "bad" is something "good." Yes, guys, there is plenty of silicone and skin for you. Although the nipple rings on one guy were painful for me to see. Check it out at formulaD.com. If you go, be prepared to walk away with a snoot full of tire smoke, and dust, shaking your head in amazement.

Susan Addison

[MJAmok]

That sounds rad! Or, as Matt Varsha would say... sketch!


I gotta check that out... I hope it comes to NY soon!

[sydude]

Check out this great drifting video I put up a while ago:

http://www.teamjuicyracing.com/forum...ighlight=video