April 17, 2012 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – For the second year in a row, Long Beach native Kyle Mohan stood in the famous Victory Lane at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as the winner of the Formula Drift Team Drift Challenge. Mohan partnered with fellow Nexen Tires driver in the Formula Drift Pro Championship, Aurimas ‘Odi’ Bakchis, to make up Team Nexen.
Mohan and Bakchis impressed a judging panel including Formula Drift judge Andy Yen, 2011 champion Daijiro Yoshihara, and two-time Formula Drift champion Tanner Foust to take the victory over five other tandem pairs. Taking to the streets of Long Beach right after the IndyCar Series race, a packed house saw Mohan and Bakchis execute near-perfect runs through the judged section of turns 9, 10, and 11 of the Grand Prix circuit.
With the victory, Mohan and Bakchis were able to spray champagne in the famous Victory Circle on Shoreline Blvd.
“The Team Drift Challenge is always a really fun experience, but Odi and I really thought about it and planned things out because we really wanted to win,” said Mohan. “We tried a lot of different things during practice and whether he led or I led, we were confident that we would put down a strong run in the judged section.”
Even though the rest of the 1.9 mile Long Beach Grand Prix circuit is not judged, Mohan and Bakchis entertained the crowd throughout the circuit.
“We knew there were fans in all the grandstands, down around the fountain turn, and on both sides of the fence down Pine Ave.,” said Mohan. “We did our best to entertain them and put on a good show, we waved at the crazy crowd in turn one and turn eight, but we made sure to save enough of our Nexen tires for the judged section. It was a really great time, I’m really happy to win this two years in a row! Thanks to my teammate, Odi, and everyone at KMR, Mazdatrix, and Nexen that came out and supported us this weekend.”
Mohan will compete next in the second round of the Formula Drift Pro Championship, at Road Atlanta near Atlanta, Georgia on May 11-12.
Yep, Kyle is the man when it comes to toyota drifting. I have watched many of the highlights online from this season and he has done so well.