Give Francesco Conti a like on Facebook and show him some eDRIFT love. We can’t wait to see what he has in-store for us in the New Year.
Give Francesco Conti a like on Facebook and show him some eDRIFT love. We can’t wait to see what he has in-store for us in the New Year.
Ford Mustang driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. battling for podium finish in Formula DRIFT series
Along with former champion Gittin Jr., past winner and Mustang driver Justin Pawlak also competing
Ford will announce Drift with Ford sweepstakes winner of custom EcoBoost®-powered Fiesta ST after final 2014 Formula DRIFT event
Long Beach, Calif. September 23, 2014 With only one race left in the 2014 Formula DRIFT season, Ford Motor Company heads to Irwindale Speedway in California looking to finish strong in the season finale there. Vaughn Gittin Jr., in third place, and Justin Pawlak, in seventh, will compete in customized Ford Mustangs Oct. 10-11, in the final fight of the seven-event series.
“Im really pumped to be heading into the final fight of 2014 at Irwindale Speedway, said Gittin Jr. While we are no longer battling for the championship, we plan to hold our ground and take third overall in the series.
This is something Im really excited about, given the challenges we had to overcome this season, he added. The progression of drifting never ceases to amaze me, and this year has been insane with regard to the level of competition. Our Ford Mustang RTR has been fully up to the task and continues to be a performance bar-setting machine, round after round. We are looking forward to fighting hard and ending the season on the top step.
Over the weekend, Vaughn Gittin Jr. and the Monster Energy Nitto Tire Ford Mustang RTR took 1st place at the final round of King of Europe Drift. This was Vaughn’s first time competing in Europe, and this event took place at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, a famous Moto GP track in Valencia, Spain. Not only did Vaughn take the win, but he also qualified 1st out of 33 drivers, and won the award for highest finishing team along with his Monster Energy teammate Steve “Baggsy” Biagioni.
It’s amazing to think that King of Europe is already celebrating 10 years of existence, and it’s equally as amazing to think that the 10th anniversary season is already coming to an end, after finishing Round 6 in Tokol Airport this past weekend.
All the top drivers in the ProSeries were aware of the fact that the moment when the King will be crowned is not far, and that they’d have to do their best in order to further secure their positions on top of the rankings. Tokol Airport has been, for many years, an important venue for drifting in Eastern Europe, thanks to the generous surface available and the multiple layouts that
could be configured for competition.
2010 was by far the best year in the successful career of Formula Drift Champion, Vaughn Gittin Jr. When the season ended, Vaughn had podiumed an incredible 6 out of 7 Formula Drift events. He started the season out with a win at Round 1 in Long Beach, and then took second place at both Round 2 in Atlanta and Round 3 in New Jersey. At Round 5 in Las Vegas, he took third place in the Falken Tire podium sweep, and at Round 6 in Sonoma, he once again took the win. At the final event of the season at Irwindale Speedway, Vaughn podiumed one last time when he took the second place spot. Vaughn and his team’s consistency, passion, and hard work earned them their first Formula Drift Championship; a goal Vaughn has been chasing for the past seven years.
Always wanting to test himself, Vaughn dabbled in a few other motorsports in 2011. He teamed up with fellow Monster Energy athlete, Casey Currie, to drive in the TORC Off Road series. More recently, Vaughn teamed up with Ken Block and the Monster Rally Team to compete in the first-ever Gymkhana GRID Invitational at Irwindale Speedway. Vaughn proved successful in Ken’s 1978 Ford Escort MKII, and had a lot of fun in the process.
Vaughn’s highly-anticipated ’69 Mustang project, the Need for Speed RTR-X, debuted at SEMA in Las Vegas and was quite a hit, attracting attention from media and car enthusiasts alike. Vaughn is pumped to get in the driver’s seat in 2011 and let the world see this incredible machine in action.
Vaughn continued to tour world-wide spreading drifting awareness and creating new fans at events like NASCAR, X-Games, Barrett Jackson, SEMA, Rob Dyrdek’s Skateboard Street League, Kolher International at Road America, Shelby Mid-America Meet, Mustangs of the Queen Mary meet, and the International Motor Show.
With a new year ahead, Vaughn hopes to take his momentum into 2011 and pursue another Formula Drift Championship while continuing to take his traveling smoke show world-wide in hopes of turning more automotive enthusiasts into drift fans. He will still be rocking the Monster Energy Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang that has proven quite a successful machine.
Check out Vaughn’s newly designed website (VaughnGittin.com) to see more from the past year, and be sure to check back frequently for updates. Happy Holidays and best wishes in the New Year to all of Vaughn’s supporters, fans, and friends. It’s going to be hard for him to top 2010, but you can bet Vaughn will try!