Tag Archives: formula drift

August 24, 2012 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – Mazda rotary engines are loud. But Kyle Mohan’s Nexen / Energy-X Mazda RX-8 just got louder.

With the help of Mazdatrix, the KMR team has developed a Bridgeport version of the 13B engine that Mohan has used during the last three seasons in Formula Drift. The resulting power increase – and the distinctive Bridgeport sound – has Mohan excited for this weekend’s Formula Drift ‘After Dark’ at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“There was definitely a feeling of disappointment when we lost our engine during practice at Seattle,” said Mohan. “It was a freak failure that we traced to a fuel pump going bad. But, we took the opportunity to go back to the drawing board and come back with something different. I think we had pushed the power and reliability of our old setup as far as we could, so it made sense to try a Bridgeport to see what it can do. So far, we’ve been very impressed with the power, torque, and response that we are seeing. It also sounds awesome!”

Mohan will be looking for better memories at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after his crash in the top-16 during last year’s After Dark. Brake failure at 103mph led Mohan to have the biggest crash of the season in Formula Drift and sent him to the hospital – luckily, only for precautionary reasons and some strong painkillers. The Mazda bounced back from the crash – literally – and was on-track for the season finale at Irwindale Speedway.

“Last I checked, videos of the crash added up to something like 15,000 views on YouTube,” said Mohan. “So it was a win for my sponsors but a big fail for me. We don’t want to do the same thing this year – we want a really good result so we can forget about all the bad luck and bad results we’ve had so far. I’m excited about the new track layout. It looks like it will be a better layout for the teams and all of the spectators that come out. Las Vegas is a great crowd and they always have a ton of energy. I can’t wait.”

Formula Drift After Dark will begin with qualifying on Friday at 9:00 PM PST. On Saturday, the Top-32 tandem competition will begin at 6:30 PM PST, with the Top-16 Main Competition running from 10:30 PM – 12:30 AM PST. All of qualifying and the tandem competition will be streamed live online atFormuladrift.com/live.

Fans of Kyle Mohan can follow him on twitter (@kylemohan) and Facebook (facebook.com/kylemohanracing.)