For Immediate Release
Long Beach, Calif. April 6, 2014 Formula DRIFT presented by GoPro kicked-off the first event of the 2014 season with Round 1: Streets of Long Beach to a sold out crowd. Chris Forsberg in the Hankook Tire Nissan 370 Z takes the victory and the lead in the chase for the championship.
Round 1: Streets of Long Beach started off the eleventh season of Formula DRIFT to a sell out crowd. Over 20,000 fans gathered to experience the drifting action and excitement on the famous Streets of Long Beach Grand Prix course. The Dailymotion Livestream partnership saw over 230,000 unique viewers watch the Driftstream over the event weekend with over 1 million views in a 24 hour period.
It is truly a fantastic feeling to see not only the live event attendance grow steadily year after year, but also the global Driftstream audience, says Jim Liaw, President of Formula DRIFT. We pride ourselves in being able to provide entertainment to such a young, engaged and tech-savvy audience.
Consistent driving helped propel Chris Forsberg to the top of the podium to earn the seasons first victory and championship points lead. Forsberg faced Norways Kenny Moen in the Bridges Racing Nissan 240SX in the final battle and after a close decision the judges awarded Forsberg the win. The top qualifier and 2013 defending champion, Michael Essa in the Essa Autosport / Yokohama Tire BMW M3 rounded out the podium with third place.
It feels amazing to be on top of the podium, especially here at the first round of the eleventh season of Formula DRIFT, said Chris Forsberg, winner of Round 1: Streets of Long Beach. We will try to keep the momentum with our new changes and take the championship home.
The 2014 Formula DRIFT season continues with Round 2: Road to the Championship on May 9-10 at Road Atlanta. For more information visit: www.formuladrift.com and find Formula DRIFT on Instagram @formulad, Facebook www.facebook.com/formuladriftand Twitter @FormulaD.
| Formula DRIFT Championship Presented by GoPro 2014 Standings After One Round | ||
| 1. Forsberg, Chris | Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z | 104.50 Points |
| 2. Moen, Kenneth | Bridges Racing Nissan 240SX | 84.50 Points |
| 3. Essa, Michael | Essa Autosport / Yokohama BMW M3 | 74.00 Points |
| 4. Pawlak, Justin | Falken Tire Ford Mustang | 68.50 Points |
| 5. Aasbo, Fredric | Hankook Tire Scion Racing tC | 52.50 Points |
| 6. Wang, Forrest | Get Nuts Lab / Hankook Tire / STR Racing Nissan S14 | 51.00 Points |
| 7. Bakchis, Aurimas | Feal Suspension / Nitto Tire Nissan 240SX | 51.00 Points |
| 8. McNamara, Darren | Falken Tire Nissan S14 | 51.00 Points |
| 9. Gittin Jr., Vaughn | Monster Energy / Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR | 39.50 Points |
| 10. McQuarrie, Tyler | GoPro / Mobil 1 Chevrolet Camaro | 38.00 Points |
| 11. Goodin, Pat | Enjuku Racing Nissan 240SX | 35.00 Points |
| 12. Tuerck, Ryan | Retaks / Maxxis Tires / Air Force Scion FR-S | 35.00 Points |
| 12. Grunewald, Conrad | Megan Racing / Top 1 Oil / BRE Chevrolet Camaro | 35.00 Points |
| 13. Mohan, Kyle | GT Radial / Energy-X Mazdatrix RX-8 | 35.00 Points |
| 15. Baribeau, Mats | Gold in the Net Toyota Mark II | 33.50 Points |
| 16. Mertzanis, Dennis | Hyundai Genesis Legato AR1 | 33.50 Points |
| 17. DeNofa, Chelsea | BC Racing / Nitto Tire BMW 3-Series | 20.50 Points |
| 18. Mordaunt, Patrick | Hyundai Genesis Legato AR7 | 19.00 Points |
| 19. Kearney, Dean | ORACLE Lighting SRT Viper | 17.50 Points |
| 20. Gushi, Ken | GReddy Performance / Scion Racing Drift FR-S V2 | 17.50 Points |
| 21. Nishida, Robbie | Achilles Radial / Bridges Racing Lexus SC300 | 17.50 Points |
| 22. Castro, Jhonnattan | Progreso Nissan 370Z | 17.50 Points |
| 23. Hohnadell, Alec | Enjuku Racing Nissan S14 | 17.50 Points |
| 24. Saito, Daigo | Achilles Radial Lexus SC430 | 17.50 Points |
| 25. Rydquist, Carl | Road Race Engineering / Berk Nissan 350Z | 17.50 Points |
| 26. Yoshihara, Daijiro | Falken Tire / Discount Tire Subaru BRZ | 17.50 Points |
| 27. Jones, Jeff | CX Racing Nissan S14 | 17.50 Points |
| 28. Landreville, Marc | Marc Landreville Racing Nissan S14 | 17.50 Points |
| 29. Stoneback, Geoff | GSR Nissan S14 | 17.50 Points |
| 30. Angelo, Tony | Tangelo Racing Scion FR-S | 17.50 Points |
| 31. Briggs, Dave | Achilles Radial / Turbo by Garrett Nissan S14 | 17.50 Points |
| 32. Richter, Jeremy | Jeremy Richter Racing Nissan S13 | 17.50 Points |
| Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Event Results | ||
| 1. Forsberg, Chris | Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z | Winner |
| 2. Moen, Kenneth | Bridges Racing Nissan 240SX | 2nd Place |
| 3. Essa, Michael | Essa Autosport / Yokohama BMW M3 | 3rd Place |
| Manufacturers Championship Standings After One Round | ||
| 1. Nissan | 122.00 Points | |
| 2. Ford | 108.00 Points | |
| 3. BMW | 94.50 Points | |
| 4. Scion | 87.50 Points | |
| 5. Chevrolet | 73.00 Points | |
| 6. Lexus | 35.00 Points | |
| 6. Mazda | 35.00 Points | |
| 8. Toyota | 33.50 Points | |
| 9. Hyundai | 19.00 Points | |
| 10. Dodge | 17.50 Points | |
| Tire Championship Standings After One Round | ||
| 1. Hankook | 157.00 Points | |
| 2. Falken | 119.50 Points | |
| 3. Achilles | 102.00 Points | |
| 4. Nitto | 90.50 Points | |
| 5. Yokohama | 74.00 Points | |
| 6. Kenda | 52.50 Points | |
| 7. GT Radial | 35.00 Points | |
| 7. Maxxis | 35.00 Points | |