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BRIDGESTONE GETS THE DRIFT
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire drifts into the first competition of 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 30, 2006) - Amid the smoke and smells of burning rubber, Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) jumps into action for its debut performance as a sponsor of the 2006 Need for Speed™ Formula Drift (Formula D) race this Sunday, April 2nd at the Streets of Long Beach in California.
The Bridgestone® brand has an impressive track record of success at the highest levels of motorsports with numerous victories in Formula One, Champ Car and Grand Prix racing. This is an exciting time to move into the fast growing sport of drifting which is wildly popular in Japan and is starting to generate an enormous amount of buzz and excitement among motorsports enthusiasts and tuners in the United States.
BFNT is also excited to announce its sponsorship of three new teams and one demo driver. Rhys Millen Racing (RMR), Team Grenade and RealTime Drift will compete on Bridgestone tires, and demo driver, Tarzan Yamada will join Bridgestone-sponsored Papa Gushi of Team Kingpin Performance / Gushi Auto as a part of BFNT’s drifting program.
“I am very excited to have the Bridgestone brand as one of our key partners and supporters,” Papa said. “In our sport great tires are the keys to a team’s success,” Papa concluded.
BFNT will supply its drivers with Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R tires. The high performance street and track tire delivers the advanced grip and handling performance essential in professional drift competition. “Teaming up with Bridgestone Firestone has great potential. We know that they produce a superior product because the tires have performed exceptionally well in our practice runs. I look forward to hitting the track for our first Formula D competition,” said Rhys Millen of RMR.
The drivers and their teams
Papa Gushi has driven in competitive events for more than 20 years. He began his career in Japan as a rally driver on the country’s signature mountain roads. Since moving to the United States, Gushi has participated in previous Formula D events, Solo 2, Club 4AG and Drift Association Drift Days events, as well as a variety of time attack and speed trial challenges. Beyond his driving expertise, Gushi is an accomplished performance vehicle builder.
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In 2005, Gushi’s son, Kenshiro, captured third place overall in the Formula D Championship Series driving a 2005 Ford Mustang GT built by his father and by Ford Racing. Father and son will compete against each other during the upcoming Long Beach, Calif., race.
Rhys Millen with Team RMR Pontiac is one of the world's top competitors in drifting. Millen became just the second champion in the short history of the United States' top drifting series; Formula D. Rhys has two wins in his Formula D career: the 2004 season finale at the Irwindale Speedway and the 2005 season opener at the Wall Speedway in Wall Township, N. J. Rhys Millen will return to the track for the second consecutive year against his father, Rod Millen of Team Grenade.
Rod Millen has a long history within the motorsports arena filled with rally, road, and off-road racing titles on two continents. To many, he may be best known for his record climbs up 14,110 ft. high Pikes Peak in 1,000 hp cars. Rod's son, Rhys Millen, is the current Formula Drift series champion. Another father and son battle has just begun! Another member of Team Grenade, Kyle Mohan, will debut his performance for the ’06 series in a custom built Nissan 240SX. Although Kyle is a new comer to the Formula D series, he is greatly involved within the drifting community.
RealTime Drift team will have three-time SPEED Touring Car Champion Pierre Kleinubing piloting its car, a Vortech-supercharged Honda S2000. Kleinubing is now in his tenth season with RealTime Racing’s SCCA World Challenge team and will compete in two drifting events this season, in Atlanta and Chicago.
“Formula Drift is the most exciting series to hit North America in years,” enthused Kleinubing. “The Bridgestone RE-01R tires have been incredible in testing and my whole team can’t wait for the debut of our Honda in Atlanta!”
Rounding out the Bridgestone team is Tarzan Yamada, a Japanese professional racecar driver who competes primarily in the Japan Grand Touring Circuit but also in numerous Time Attack competitions. Sponsored by several automotive manufacturers and performance shops, he drives a variety of tuner-built cars, including the notorious Team Taisan Viper. Yamada will be demo-driving at several of this year’s Formula D races.
About Formula Drift:
Entering its third season, Formula Drift, produced and wholly owned by Irvine, Calif.-based Formula Drift, Inc., continues to expand into new markets as the first and only sanctioned and recognized North American professional drifting championship series (sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing). A well-established sport in Japan for more than a decade, Formula Drift, Inc. and its sister-company Slipstream Global Marketing, Inc. were instrumental in bringing the first official competition to the United States in 2003 at the Irwindale Speedway (Irwindale, Calif.)
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire drifts into the first competition of 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 30, 2006) - Amid the smoke and smells of burning rubber, Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) jumps into action for its debut performance as a sponsor of the 2006 Need for Speed™ Formula Drift (Formula D) race this Sunday, April 2nd at the Streets of Long Beach in California.
The Bridgestone® brand has an impressive track record of success at the highest levels of motorsports with numerous victories in Formula One, Champ Car and Grand Prix racing. This is an exciting time to move into the fast growing sport of drifting which is wildly popular in Japan and is starting to generate an enormous amount of buzz and excitement among motorsports enthusiasts and tuners in the United States.
BFNT is also excited to announce its sponsorship of three new teams and one demo driver. Rhys Millen Racing (RMR), Team Grenade and RealTime Drift will compete on Bridgestone tires, and demo driver, Tarzan Yamada will join Bridgestone-sponsored Papa Gushi of Team Kingpin Performance / Gushi Auto as a part of BFNT’s drifting program.
“I am very excited to have the Bridgestone brand as one of our key partners and supporters,” Papa said. “In our sport great tires are the keys to a team’s success,” Papa concluded.
BFNT will supply its drivers with Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R tires. The high performance street and track tire delivers the advanced grip and handling performance essential in professional drift competition. “Teaming up with Bridgestone Firestone has great potential. We know that they produce a superior product because the tires have performed exceptionally well in our practice runs. I look forward to hitting the track for our first Formula D competition,” said Rhys Millen of RMR.
The drivers and their teams
Papa Gushi has driven in competitive events for more than 20 years. He began his career in Japan as a rally driver on the country’s signature mountain roads. Since moving to the United States, Gushi has participated in previous Formula D events, Solo 2, Club 4AG and Drift Association Drift Days events, as well as a variety of time attack and speed trial challenges. Beyond his driving expertise, Gushi is an accomplished performance vehicle builder.
- more -
In 2005, Gushi’s son, Kenshiro, captured third place overall in the Formula D Championship Series driving a 2005 Ford Mustang GT built by his father and by Ford Racing. Father and son will compete against each other during the upcoming Long Beach, Calif., race.
Rhys Millen with Team RMR Pontiac is one of the world's top competitors in drifting. Millen became just the second champion in the short history of the United States' top drifting series; Formula D. Rhys has two wins in his Formula D career: the 2004 season finale at the Irwindale Speedway and the 2005 season opener at the Wall Speedway in Wall Township, N. J. Rhys Millen will return to the track for the second consecutive year against his father, Rod Millen of Team Grenade.
Rod Millen has a long history within the motorsports arena filled with rally, road, and off-road racing titles on two continents. To many, he may be best known for his record climbs up 14,110 ft. high Pikes Peak in 1,000 hp cars. Rod's son, Rhys Millen, is the current Formula Drift series champion. Another father and son battle has just begun! Another member of Team Grenade, Kyle Mohan, will debut his performance for the ’06 series in a custom built Nissan 240SX. Although Kyle is a new comer to the Formula D series, he is greatly involved within the drifting community.
RealTime Drift team will have three-time SPEED Touring Car Champion Pierre Kleinubing piloting its car, a Vortech-supercharged Honda S2000. Kleinubing is now in his tenth season with RealTime Racing’s SCCA World Challenge team and will compete in two drifting events this season, in Atlanta and Chicago.
“Formula Drift is the most exciting series to hit North America in years,” enthused Kleinubing. “The Bridgestone RE-01R tires have been incredible in testing and my whole team can’t wait for the debut of our Honda in Atlanta!”
Rounding out the Bridgestone team is Tarzan Yamada, a Japanese professional racecar driver who competes primarily in the Japan Grand Touring Circuit but also in numerous Time Attack competitions. Sponsored by several automotive manufacturers and performance shops, he drives a variety of tuner-built cars, including the notorious Team Taisan Viper. Yamada will be demo-driving at several of this year’s Formula D races.
About Formula Drift:
Entering its third season, Formula Drift, produced and wholly owned by Irvine, Calif.-based Formula Drift, Inc., continues to expand into new markets as the first and only sanctioned and recognized North American professional drifting championship series (sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing). A well-established sport in Japan for more than a decade, Formula Drift, Inc. and its sister-company Slipstream Global Marketing, Inc. were instrumental in bringing the first official competition to the United States in 2003 at the Irwindale Speedway (Irwindale, Calif.)
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