Hankook Looks to Take Home-Town Event at Formula Drift Race This Weekend in New Jersey
Formula Drift Round Three “The Gauntlet” hits Wall Speedway
WAYNE, N.J. June 5, 2009 – With only seven rounds in the Formula Drift season, drivers need to make a big impact in the standings by the end of Round Three which creates an exciting backdrop for this weekend’s Formula Drift event at Wall Speedway in Wall Township, N.J. With Hankook Tire’s North American Headquarters located nearby in Wayne, N.J., Hankook’s sponsored drivers have extra incentive to make their mark this weekend.
Looking to not only defend his 2008 Formula Drift Championship, Papadakis Racing’s Tanner Foust is also looking to keep a hold on his New Jersey title as the defending champion from last year’s event. Foust is currently sitting in 5th place overall in points and a podium finish by the Rockstar/Scion tC this weekend could easily vault him to the top of the standings.
Dynamic Autosport’s Robbie Nishida is currently in 6th place and only a few points behind Foust. Nishida is coming off an impressive Top 8 finish at Road Atlanta and is primed to get the Hankook Tire/Dynamic Autosport 350Z into the winner’s circle this weekend.
Also from Dynamic Autosport is Ryuji Miki who is currently in 25th place in the standings but moving forward strongly after an impressive Top 16 finish in Atlanta Round Two. Miki also has a good history in New Jersey with a Top 8 finish in 2008, and appears to have the Hankook Mazda RX-7 dialed in for this event.
European drifting champion Eric O’Sullivan is currently in 35th place in the standings with the Rockstar Subaru WRX Sti and is looking to make a move this weekend after some adjustments to the car. The fan favorite O’Sullivan had a great start at the Long Beach event and is looking to get back on track this weekend.
Hankook’s Formula Drift drivers will be racing with the new Ventus R-S3, a successor to the track-proven Ventus R-S2 and compliment to the Ventus Z214 racing tires. The brand has applied its latest motorsports technology to improve dry-grip performance by 30 percent, further enhancing the tire’s handling capabilities and maximizing the footprint contact patch.
“We are certainly looking forward to the competition this weekend,” said Bill Bainbridge, director of brand communications, Hankook Tire America Corp. “We’re confident that our teams are going to put on a good show for our hometown drift fans of New Jersey.”
For more complete event and ticket information please visit: www.formuladrift.com