Long Beach, Calif. – April 18, 2007 – Formula DRIFT held the first of five, Team Drift competitions at this year’s 33rd Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and Team “Fast & Furious 3� came out on top. Fans helped determine the winner via Verizon Wireless’ “Text2Vote� system.
“The Formula DRIFT Team Drift competition is very exciting as the fans were able to participate in the judging process, making for a very interactive and entertaining time at the track. With all the cars drifting on the entire 1.968 mile street course and over 180,000 fans during the weekend there was never a dull moment,� said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT.
Six teams of three or more drivers competed over the three days of the race weekend. The winning team, “Fast & Furious 3� consisting of Samuel Hubinette, Rhys Millen, and Tanner Foust received the most “text� votes by the fans on Saturday. The team name was a result of the 3 drivers working together on the movie, The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift, on which they have also been nominated for a prestigious Taurus World Stunt Award for “Best Work with a Vehicle.�
Judging was based 75% by the judges and 25% by text vote. The judges looked for the teams to drift in unison, the distance between cars, and the cars to switch positions while maintaining a drift. Fans were asked to “text� their vote for their favorite teams throughout the weekend.
Other teams participating in Team Drift consisted of: Team Super Ramen All Stars (Nishida, Petty, and Ly), Team Drift Alliance (Gittin, Tuerck, and Forsberg), Team Shake and Bake (Yoshihara, McQuarrie, and Yamanaka), Team Drift Pro (Shuyama, Sumida, and Aono), and Team Milano (Milano, Young, and Pina).
The Formula DRIFT Team Drift competition continues this season in Portland on June 10, Cleveland on June 24 and San Jose on July 29, with a fifth and finale event to be announced at a later date.