FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mohan’s RX-8 is fastest at Wall, in top-32 again
June 12, 2009 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – With the rain that cancelled Friday practice at Wall Speedway for the third round of the Formula Drift Pro Championship, most teams were happy that they had the chance to practice the day before, especially considering that Formula Drift had not been to Wall Speedway since 2007.
Transporter issues delayed the delivery of several cars to Wall Speedway, including the 2009 Mazda RX-8 of Kyle Mohan. Mohan was one of the few drivers who had not been to Wall Speedway before, and with the cancellation of Friday’s practice, would only have the short Saturday session to get things figured out before qualifying.
“Well, the situation definitely wasn’t ideal,” said Mohan. “But there isn’t much we can do about it. We’ll just learn the track as best as we can, do some safe runs in qualifying, and see what happens in tandem.”
Mohan’s two qualifying runs, held on a damp-but-drying track, were good enough to put him solidly in the field as he eventually wound up in 19th position. However, Mohan’s RX-8 registered the fastest speed in the speed trap during qualifying.
Top-32 would see him go against Robbie Nishida. Nishida led on the first run, but as the two cars transitioned off the banking, Mohan’s RX-8 spun. On the next run, with Mohan leading and Nishida giving chase, Mohan put in a strong run but Nishida made no major mistakes and moved on to the top-16.
“Robbie is a great driver and I knew that going against him wouldn’t be easy,” said Mohan afterwards. “And, to be honest, we were just caught out a bit on the track conditions. That was our first time on the track in the dry, and we were getting way more grip out of our Cooper Tires than I expected. And, as we saw in qualifying, the car is making plenty of power and was really flying.”
Mohan will now set his sights on the next Formula Drift round, July 12 and 13 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
About Kyle Mohan Racing
Kyle Mohan Racing competes in the Formula Drift Pro Championship aboard a 2009 Mazda RX-8, with support from Mazda USA, Mazdatrix, Cooper Tires, Exedy, WPC, Idemitsu, Turbonetics, Mishimoto, JIC Magic, TCSportline, KAAZ, F&L Racing Fuel and XXR wheels. For more information, visit www.kylemohanracing.com.