Formula DRIFT Round 4: High Stakes; Toshiki Yoshioka Takes Win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway

For Immediate Release

July 15, 2008

Formula DRIFT Round 4: High Stakes;
Toshiki Yoshioka Takes Win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Long Beach, Calif. – July 15, 2008 – Formula DRIFT entered Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time for Round 4: High Stakes and rookie Toshiki Yoshioka took home the victory. This event also marked the 2nd event of the Tires.com Triple Crown bonus prize with Rhys Millen holding the lead over teammate Daijiro Yoshihara.

Entering Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time the Formula DRIFT Championship presented by Circuit City came back to the West Coast. The course became the fastest on the circuit with multiple drivers topping the high 90 mph range with their initial drift through the challenging track. The competition was as tough as ever with many new faces and vehicles entering the competition.

The event showcased one of the most diverse fields in Formula DRIFT history with the world’s best drivers from around the world participating at the event. Drivers such as Toshiki Yoshioka from Japan, Christian Pickering from Australia, JT Wharerau from New Zealand, and world renowned Japanese racing star Manabu “Max” Orido made his Formula DRIFT debut. Japan came out on top with both Daijiro Yoshihara in his Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac Solstice GXP and Toshiki Yoshioka in his ASpec / Works Bell Toyota Sprinter Trueno making it to the finals. After a hard fought battle, Formula DRIFT rookie, Toshiki Yoshioka took home top honors in only his 2nd Formula DRIFT appearance.

“The diversity of the series was proven with drivers coming from around the world to compete in Formula DRIFT competition,” said Jim Liaw, President and Co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “You never know who will come out on top as we had a different winner each round so far. It was also proof of our diversity with three pre-1986 Toyota Corollas making it to the head-to-head round and upsetting some of the higher horsepower vehicles.”

At the halfway point of the season the competition for the Castrol SYNTEC Power Cup is as tight as ever with 2007 Formula DRIFT Champion Tanner Foust and his Rockstar / AEM Nissan 350Z leading the way and with less than 15 points separating Foust from 2-time Formula DRIFT champion Samuel Hubinette in his Nuformz Racing / Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10 is 2nd in points and top contender Daijiro Yoshihara in his Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO following in 3rd, it will be a hard fought battle to the end. This event also marked the 2nd event for the Tires.com Triple Crown bonus prize and Rhys Millen leads the way by 4 points over teammate Daijiro Yoshihara. Formula DRIFT action continues on August 9 at the Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA.

Castrol SYNTEC Power Cup 2008 Point Standings

1. Foust 2. Hubinette 3. Yoshihara 4. Forsberg 5. Takatori 6. Tuerck 6. Millen 8. Gittin, Jr. 9. Grunewald 10. McNamara 11. Verdier 12. Miki 13. Nishida 14. Gushi 15. Yamanaka 16. Yoshioka

Rockstar / AEM Nissan 350Z Nuformz Racing Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10 Bridgestone /RMR Pontiac GTO NOS Energy Drink Nissan 350Z Super Autobacs Nissan Skyline R34 Gardella Racing / Mobil1 Pontiac Solstice Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP Falken / Ford Racing Mustang Nitto / Tanaka Racing Chevrolet Corvette Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky Cooper / Crawford Performance Subaru STI APEXi / Nitto Mazda RX7 Hankook / Peak Performance Nissan 350Z RS*R Scion tC Signal / Maziora Nissan S14 Aspec / Works Bell Toyota Sprinter Trueno

321 Points 313 Points 308 Points 282 Points 265 Points 254 Points 254 Points 182.25 Points 173.25 Points 172 Points 169.25 Points 119.50 Points 117.25 Points 111.50 Points 110.25 Points 104.25 Points

 Tires.com Triple Crown 2008 Point Standings

1. Millen 2. Yoshihara 3. Takatori

Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO Super Autobacs Nissan Skyline R34

170 Points 166 Points 157 Points

Formula DRIFT Round 4: High Stakes Event Results

1. Yoshioka 2. Yoshihara 3. Hubinette

Aspec / Works Bell Toyota Sprinter Trueno Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO Nuformz Racing Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10

104.25 Points 308 Points 313 Points

Full official standings available on: www.formuladrift.com

For more information contact:
John Pangilinan
The ID Agency
562.491.7503
john@theidagency.com

ABOUT FORMULA DRIFT

Entering its fifth season, Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship series. Established on the streets of Japan, drifting has involved into a worldwide competitive sport that challenges each racer’s driving ability and vehicle control. Formula DRIFT provides a forum for North American professionals to demonstrate their skills against the world’s top drifters. As the first official series in North America, Formula DRIFT has taken competitive motorsports to the extreme attracting fans and car enthusiasts from all walks of life. For a race schedule and ticket information, visit: www.formuladrift.com.

About IMG

IMG is the world’s premier Sports, Entertainment and Media Company. IMG is a diversified global business with two major business segments: IMG Sports & Entertainment, and IMG Media. IMG employs over 2,500 people in 30 countries. Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.

IMG Sports & Entertainment includes: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, European football, rugby, cricket, motorsports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. In addition, IMG Academies are the world’s largest and most advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport training and educational facility, delivering world-class sports training experiences to over 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult and professional athletes each year.

IMG Media, which includes our content production subsidiaries TWI, Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) and Tiger Aspect Productions (TAP), is recognized as a global leader in the delivery of traditional and new media content and services, with Internet, broadband and mobile expertise, transforming how audiences access and interact with content.

IMG Media produces and distributes over 10,000 hours of sports, documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children’s content annually, over multiple platforms across 200 countries, including award-winning television and radio programming. It also represents the broadcast rights to many of the world’s premier sporting events and has the world’s biggest sports archive with more than 200,000 hours of footage.

More information about IMG is available at www.imgworld.com.