(Downey, CA) The salty sea air fills up the Hankook Tires / JIC USA’s drift team as they stepped on to the blacktop of the Long Beach Grand Prix course for the Formula Drift Round 1 event. The weather proved to be very easy on the crew and the vehicles as clouds covered up most of the day with cool air. Friday was a day for practice and fine tuning the Nissan Silvia S14 and S15. Both Kenji Yamanaka and Tyler McQuarrie suited up in their brand new Hankook Tire racing suits and took off onto turns 8, 9, and 10 of the Long Beach Grand Prix course.
Kenji and Tyler dazzled the judges as they were coming into the main corner at speeds of 59mph which was among the top drivers. Many minor adjustments had to be made to make the car go a little faster in the corners but throughout practice, Kenji and Tyler kept on driving the course as if they’ve done the same thing for years.
On Saturday, the main event day, Tyler went out first to be qualified in front of a capacity crowd of over 12,000 screaming drift fans. Tyler proved that it was not difficult to be a top driver coming with overall score of 90.85 with an entry speed of 58mph. After a few other drivers, Kenji went out and showed an aggressive style with a heavy foot. After Kenji’s run, the judges gave him an overall score of 90.25, right behind Tyler for the Top 16. Tyler qualified overall 9th and Kenji right behind him with 10th.
During the intermission, Kenji and Tyler took time out to talk, shake hands, pose with their cars, and sign autographs with the many fans that came up to them. One fan even had a radio controlled replica of the Hankook Tire / JIC USA Nissan S15! After the autograph session was complete, it was back to business for the busy drivers for the top 16 tandem runs!
Kenji Yamanaka was paired up with Samuel Hubinette in his Team Mopar Dodge Charger and Tyler McQuarrie was paired with Rich Rutherford in the Tool Motorsports’ Mitsubishi Evo. First up was Tyler against Rich Rutherford. Tyler was given a bye run as Rich suffered mechanical trouble which took him out of the competition. Tyler automatically moved onto the Great 8. Kenji, on the other hand was about to face Samuel Hubinette and the Dodge Charger. The Silvia bolted down the straight-away and the massive Dodge Charger stayed within close proximity. The advantage went to Samuel due to the skill displayed by staying close to Kenji. The second run, Kenji made a valiant effort to stay as close to the large Dodge but that with such a large car, Kenji had to keep his distance. With a very close score, Kenji lost to the Mopar team by a mere two points. The crowd cheered as they noted the battle being very close and very note worthy.
Tyler McQuarrie made his way to the starting line again as he would face fellow Time Attack teammate, Tanner Foust in the AEM Nissan 350Z. Friends in the pits, fierce competitors on the track, they both took off in a flurry of smoke Tanner lead the first round as Tyler followed behind. Both showed an outstanding example of what a textbook drifting round should look like. The advantage went to Tanner for the first battle. Tyler lead in the second round. Both drivers came into the main corner with lightening fast speeds and Tyler kept a very well defined defensive drift line but Tanner was able to keep close to Tyler, giving Tanner the win.
Although the team would have loved to gone further into the competition, the series is anyone’s right now and this leaves room for improvements that can be made with the team to help us win the next round. With some fine tuning the season can be easily belong to the Hankook Tire / JIC USA. Currently, the team stands within the top 10. Tyler McQuarrie sits in 8th Place as Kenji follows right behind him at 10th Place. JIC USA would like to thank our sponsors: Hankook Tire USA (http://www.hankooktireusa.com), A-SPEC, Works Bell, ECKO UNLTD, Tomei Powered, Exedy Clutches, Vertex T&E, Cobra Seats (Sube Sports), Meguiar’s, Stoptech, Turbo by Garrett, and Sparco USA.
      
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