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STILLEN Event Tracking

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Formula Drift Round 1: The Streets of Long Beach

April 1, 2017

By Richard Fong

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On the streets of Long Beach, April 1st was no Fool’s Day. Drivers waged fierce battles in the first round of the Formula Drift Championship, leaving no room for anyone faint of heart or too timid to push beyond the limit.

 

Now in its fourteenth year, Formula Drift kicked off the 2017 season on a moderate spring day in Long Beach. The weather could not have been more conducive for a day of tire-smoking fun and enjoyment for all. Attendees could walk through the competitor pits while also checking out the expanded vendor row that occupied the area adjacent to the pits as well as the infield behind the bleachers with the AutoCon Car Show.

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Bye, Bye, Bye

As fans of drifting, we were bummed about the number of bye runs that kicked off the Top 32 eliminations. The top five drivers enjoyed automatic advances into the sweet 16 round for a couple of reasons. First, the usual attrition that comes with drifting, K-rails and tire barriers and, second, a reduction in the number of qualified drivers on the Pro roster. There just weren’t enough to fill a field of 32. We are hopeful that more drivers will see the opportunity to compete and fill the driver list in the near future.

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Upsets Abound

Despite the number of bye runs, the 2017 season kicked off with a shake-up of the norm as numerous upsets throughout the eliminations by up-and-coming drivers sidelined veterans and champions alike. Top qualifier Vaughn Gittin Jr. faced elimination in the Top 16 round at the hands of Dean “Karnage” Kearney.

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Former champions Dai Yoshihara and Michael Essa faced off in the first round. Yoshihara suffered an unfortunate mishap when he snapped a power steering belt just before finishing turn 10. This caused him to straighten out and almost collide with the K-rail, suffering a loss.

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The 2015 champion Fredric Aasbo competed in his new Toyota Corolla iM drift car as if he’d been driving it for years. After his first round bye run, he beat Kristaps Bluss to move on to the Great 8 against Alex Heilbrunn. Heilbrunn also enjoyed a first round bye before beating Juha Rintanen to advance to his match up with Aasbo. Heilbrunn upset the Norwegian Hammer and advanced to the Final 4.

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Three-time champion Chris Forsberg defeated Alec Hohnadell in the first round before facing Ken Gushi in a too-close-to-call second match. Forsberg and Gushi delivered a great battle that many felt could have gone for a one-more-time rebattle, but the judges ruled in Forsberg’s favor to the dismay of the crowd, who chanted a chorus of “One-More-Time” as the judges’ decision was posted on the Jumbotron. Forsberg faced elimination by the number two qualifier, James Deane in the Great 8. Deane enjoyed a bye run before defeating Essa on his way to face Forsberg. Deane’s victory over Forsberg put him into the Final 4.

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First Time Finalists

Bakchis has competed for seven years and podiumed six times, while Tuerck has thirteen years in Formula Drift competition and twelve podiums to his credit, according to driftstats.com. By comparison, Heilbrunn has just one year in Formula Drift Pro2 and one year in the Pro Championship. Deane competed at four rounds of Formula Drift competition back in 2010 and returned for the first time since to compete in the USA at Long Beach. Bakchis paired with Heilbrunn while Tuerck matched up with Deane.  The sophomore drivers each prevailed, putting both into the finals for the first time. When the smoke cleared and the contenders lined up in front of the grandstands, the judges awarded James Deane his first Formula Drift event victory as Heilbrunn proudly claimed his first podium as runner up. Since Tuerck qualified higher than Bakchis, he was awarded third spot on the podium.

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With the first round in the books, Formula Drift and its roster of drivers prepare to make the trek across the US of A to Round 2 at Orlando Speed World. On the weekend of April 28-29, the state of Florida will feel the thunder as both the Pro and Pro2 divisions lay down rubber to the tarmac. This season is already shaping up to be an exciting one so be sure to keep your eyes focused on the Formula Drift Championship!

STILLEN Event TrackingIMG_1986

Boost Festival 2017 by Honeywell Garrett

February  25, 2017

By Richard Fong

 

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Only the excitement of going to the track can get me up at 5am with enthusiasm. The STILLEN crew rose before the sun to make the trek out to Willow Springs International Raceway for the Boost Festival 2017 by Honeywell Garrett event. This multi-faceted event was run in conjunction with Global Time Attack, Just Drift and Drift 101. For the time attack fans, GTA conducted its first round for 2017 on the Streets of Willow, while JustDrift took over the Horse Thief Mile track where participants smoked some tires. For those interested in learning to drift or seeking to improve their drifting skills, class was in session at the Balcony as Drift 101 conducted lessons on how to get slideways.

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On Horse Thief Mile, JustDrift participants practiced drifting as Drift 101 instructed its students up at the Balcony.

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Global Time Attack Round 1 Results:

 

CLASS            Time               Driver                            #       Car                               Team

Unltd RWD     01:22.577      Hessam Toudiee           458   Ferrari 458 Italia      Rules of Traction

Unltd RWD     01:22.692     Jason Sharek                   63     Mercedes C63 AMG   Jason Sharek

Unltd RWD     01:22.988    Will Wattanawongkiri  107     BMW M3                    WWR Racing

Unltd RWD     01:36.505     Matt Perkins                   166    Honda S2000         Gryphon AutoLab

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Unltd FWD     01:28.789     Martin Gonzales            73      Infiniti G20               MotoIQ

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Unltd AWD     01:18.717     David Haagsma            422      Nissan GT-R            SP Engineering

 

CLASS            Time               Driver                            #       Car                               Team

Street RWD     01:23.617     Clement Kwong            6      Honda S2000            Raceline USA

Street RWD     01:24.531     Henry Lam                   29     Mazda RX7                lucky7racing

Street RWD     01:25.353     Karla Pestotnik           54      Honda S2000   Karla Pestotnik Racing

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Street FWD      01:29.177     Bradley Herrock         3       Honda Civic Si          Herrock Racing

Street FWD      01:29.193    Chris Hofmann         501     Chevrolet Cobalt LT    Foximus Motorsports

Street FWD      01:33.400   Jack Thomas               19       Fiat 500 Abarth   R1Concepts/Jolly Club

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Street AWD      01:20.637    Markos Mylonas       555     Subaru WRX                Snail Perf.

Street AWD      01:22.791    Johnny Hernandez    30      Subaru WRX STI         lido labs

Street AWD      01:26.028   Sally McNulty            412     Subaru WRX                Snail Perf.

Street AWD      01:26.540   Jaime Jacquez             51      Subaru WRX STI         Unleashed Racing

Street AWD      01:27.497   Cody Nicot                   44      Subaru Legacy GT       Nicot Racing

 

Pro/Comp        01:19.600   Richard Buckingham  28      Ariel Atom SRA          R. Buckingham

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CLASS            Time               Driver                            #       Car                               Team

Ltd RWD         01:21.445      Ken Xu                         88       Mazda RX7            Diamond Hills Coll.

Ltd RWD         01:23.904     Joshua Haddox           20       BMW E90 M3            Racewerkz Eng.

Ltd RWD         01:25.297     Jon Rook/Ravi Tomerli  8    Acura NSX                  WDL Racing/SPN

Ltd RWD         01:25.402    Jerome Silvers            427      Chevy Camaro           Snail Perf.

Ltd RWD         01:27.652    Travis Barnes               24       Ford Mustang GT350  Snail Perf.

Ltd RWD         01:27.764    Michael Sutton            36         BMW M3                EDGE Motorworks

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Ltd AWD         01:19.445      Steven Chan              720      Nissan GT-R            RD Engineering

Ltd AWD         01:24.915      Alan Bidgoli               55        Nissan GT-R            Abiddyy

Ltd AWD         01:25.397      Nick Bright                  7         Subaru WRX STI    Prolific Auto

Ltd AWD         01:25.408      Daniel Albrecht        117       Subaru 2.5RS          Albrecht Racing

Ltd AWD         01:27.748       Scott Santellan          53       Lambo. Huracan   Caliber Customs

Ltd AWD         01:29.667       Lars Wolfe                23         VW Golf R               Lars Wolfe Racing

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CLASS            Time               Driver                            #       Car                               Team

Enth RWD      01:26.912       Hessam Toudiee         77      BMW M3                 Rules of Traction

Enth RWD      01:28.249       Mike Kang                  248     Subaru BRZ             CounterSpace Garage

Enth RWD      01:29.311       Ariel Salazar                5       Mazda Miata           SBGarage

Enth RWD      01:32.368       Giuseppe De Vivo      50      Alfa Romeo 4C        Caliber Customs

Enth RWD      01:32.650       Vincent Anatra          89      BMW M3                 Hoonigan

Enth RWD      01:37.391       Bret Nicoletti              10      Mazda Miata          Rooney Speed Racing

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Enth FWD      01:30.107       Efrain Flores            17       Ford Fiesta ST          FloresRacing

Enth FWD      01:31.373        Daniel Barker        805     Mazdaspeed 3            Durp Squad

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Enth AWD      01:28.190       Taylor Libolt          42        Subaru WRX STI         Libolt Racing

Enth AWD      01:29.294       Chris Hain             813       Subaru WRX                  Hain Racing

Enth AWD      01:30.091       Team Snail            124       Subaru Impreza 2.5RS    Snail Perf.

Enth AWD      01:35.564       Istvan Klag            214       Subaru WRX STI     Nightmotorsport

 

 

 

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While we have a strong racing heritage here at STILLEN, it’s not as well known that we also have an appreciation for drift cars. STILLEN founder, Steve Millen and the Millen family have quite the history hooning RWD cars before we ever called it ‘drifting’. Steve Millen and his brother, Rod Millen, were actually some of the first to drift on national TV with their 1989 Nissan 240SX TV commercial, and later Rod’s son, Rhys Millen, was one of the first professionals Drifting in the USA. As most brothers tend to be, Steve and Rod have always been very competitive, even having raced professionally against each other, which makes the title “Me and My Shadow” especially fitting.

For those of you that haven’t seen it, check out the video below:

Quantum Auto Sport’s Drifter 370Z Supercharger Install

With this history at STILLEN, you can imagine our excitement when we heard one of our vendors, Quantum Auto Sport, was installing a STILLEN supercharger on 370Z drift car. We have a long history with Quantum Auto Sport and they are one of our premier supercharger installers in Europe. Their team has actually installed most of the STILLEN 350Z superchargers in Germany and are Uprev Pro Dealers, so it’s great to see them continuing the tradition with the 370Z. Even with such a long history of working together, it’s always exciting to know that another STILLEN supercharger will be tearing up the streets overseas.

Check out the Quantum Auto Sport video on their Facebook page to see how the dyno testing went after the supercharger install!

As you can see, 370Z drifter is making a ton of power with its new STILLEN supercharger – even enough to move the suction pipe (approximately minute 0:48)! The results of the dyno showed that the 370Z drifter made 460 horsepower with the STILLEN supercharger kit installed. Now, we can’t wait to see the video of this 370Z drifting after the supercharger install!

Ready for Your STILLEN Supercharger?

If you live in Europe and are looking for an authorized STILLEN installer, be sure to stop by the Quantum Auto Sport shop. With over 10 years’ experience working with high performance cars, they are very knowledgeable and are extremely qualified. To get a hold of them, call them at +49 6102-837760 or stop by their shop which is located at Dornhofstr. 32 Gebäude, 63263 Neu-Isenburg, Germany.