(FEEDBACK) FORMULA DRIFT LONG BEACH l 2010

[INFO]

Please post your feedback on this thread

[numovementz]

The stands were packed with fans, the sun was out and the skies were clear. From media day to the final winning round it was a fantastic first event for 2010. The competition was so intense that it set the tone for the year that it is definately anyones game out there. And it isn't over yet we still have team drift next weekend which is always a crowd pleaser during the grand prix. Can't wait to see what Atlanta will bring

[Sakesoba]

Drifting.com booth was awesome, I bought two shirts for a great deal...

If only the booth was in a more open location.

I'm all for saving the planet, but general admission seats were mostly behind a big tree blocking the action.

Cut down a tree ? Or simply move bleachers to a better location (behind turn 1 & 2 where the jumbo screen was). The set-up was better 4, or so many, years ago where seats were on both sides of turn 1 & 2.

Overall I had fun and I will go back for future events like I always do.

[e-manansala.com]

the live feed was dope ...

[AtomikJDM]

Fredrick and his Supra were awesome.

[tougekids]

Sakesoba:
"I'm all for saving the planet, but general admission seats were mostly behind a big tree blocking the action.

Cut down a tree ? Or simply move bleachers to a better location (behind turn 1 & 2 where the jumbo screen was). The set-up was better 4, or so many, years ago where seats were on both sides of turn 1 & 2."


That's very true I noticed that too, they should change that for next years Long Beach Event. But, you should have gotten your tickets earlier, to avoid that problem. I was seating in Grand Stand 18 and the seating was awsome you could see the track really good and see the drivers coming in and out of the corners.

[SCTrojans]

Supra got ROBBED....dude's got tremendous skillz

[tougekids]

Formula D Long Beach 2010 was GREAT. It was my first time going to a Long Beach Event. The course was really cool and the whole senerio was crazy. I like how the use the actual "Streets Of Long Beach", I think this is what seperates this event/course from the other 6 events and tracks that go on. What a great way to start of the Season! Vaughn did a great job in his NEW sponsored Monster Mustang. Fredrick almost could have eliminated him though. Vaughn Vs. Fredrick, was a really good battle (Fredrick being a rookie). The fans were kinda upset and pissed of when they announced that Vaughn Gitten Jr. had won the match between Fredrick (They Should have gone ONE MORE TIME). Patrick Mordaunt did really GOOD too. It sucked to see him mess up and loose. I was really confident that he could have made it to the podium in Long Beach since he was doing so good. He spun out twice, I wonder what happend, like if his car wasen't doing so good or had a problem. I was actually siting behind Pat's Mom and she was telling me "that's my son" and when he lost she said that "that was his best he's done so far". Fredrick the rookie was just kicking but, this time at Long Beach. Long Beach was really fun and I can't wait to come next year but, mean while I can't wait for the next Formula D, even though I'm not going to be there because it's all the way in Atlanta, thanks to the NEW AMAZING Live streaming, I'm going to be able to watch it. YEAH!

[Hach1r0k1d03]

the event was great. the weather was great. james deane is the man!!! he scraped that wall the same way everytime. it was awesome.

buying tickets and seating were the only problems i had but they were small ones. it would be better if online you could see where you would be seating but ticketmaster didnt show a map.

also i wanted to buy my friend a ticket last minute but since you couldnt choose a seat they were supposed to sit far away from me but i sat next them anyways. everybody seemed to be doing this which was kinda a problem for some people. maybe next time they should just sell tickets by the section and not the seat and just make sure to limit the people going in each section to make sure people have a spot.

[alex]

great event, everyone that I invited feels the same

the live-feed is so important and I am thankful that this is finally available

[girlie ninja]

Long Beach was simply amazing. This year's turn out was great with lots of new fans and familiar faces. I was way stoked that it wasn't so hot like the previous years so that was a plus especially sitting in the stands. Everyone brought their A game which made the competition nail biting and fun to watch. One of my favorites was Forrest Wang since he has been in Formula D but such a bummer at the start of top 32! Guess we'll have to see what happens in the ATL. The most exciting battle for me was between Ryan and Ryuji who happen to be my two favorites! Definitely tough since it was a buddy verses one of my heroes. Ryan had an incredible season last year and I absolutely admire the style of drifting Ryuji throws down, and he happens to drive my dream car... In the end, Ryan had a cleaner run and moved on. Congrats to team Falken and JR for taking home the win since I have been hearing a lot of buzz about them in the pre season, and to see a new face (James Dean) hang with all the alumni. Overall, I think yesterday was the sign that this season is going to be by far the most insane and exciting season. If you missed it, you missed a hell of a show! Can't wait for Atlanta Round 2!! ^_^

[Slapshotnerd]

Wow, what an event!!

The whole event ran on time, partially because there weren't too many OMT's (and the ones that went OMT were deserved!). I'm glad the judges can make a decision, right or wrong, and keep the event moving. Although I couldn't see the full runs from where I was shooting photos from, I didn't hear any major complaints about the judging. Sure, 1 or 2 runs could have gone either way, but this is a HUGE testament to the job Ernie, Andy, and Tony are doing! Great work all around!

I'm glad to see the rookies do so well - Freddie, James Deane, and Dean Kearney aren't exactly rookies in the international sense, but they rightfully showed why they belong in FD at one of the toughest tracks on the schedule. Great work!! Also, a huge congrats goes out to the likes of Jeff Abbott, Forrest Wang, Charles Ng, and Dennis Mertezanis who not only qualified at their first FD event but showed the crowd that they could hang with the big boys. This was the toughest Top 32 tandem round to date!

I'm so pumped for Atlanta!!

[Bebop]

My 2010 long beach experience.
Friday
First and foremost thank you to the city of Long Beach for letting formula D host this event for another year. Most events I always show up early sit down and watch the whole event front to back. Thursday night I broke my phone so I had to get a replacement. Second, I had to make the finishing touches on my top 10 list. I really wanted to put that out there before long beach. With that being said I got a late start on the day and miss most of qualifying, was not that angry because I knew I still had open practice coming up. Sometime during the day I met up with the folks of our own drifting.com. Got to meat Ali from Ali’s Drift Garage, he was a nice guy. Got to meet Amanda as well, she was real cool… they all seemed like good down to earth folks. They tried to get me to get an interview with someone in the hankook camp haha but I took off, seemed like I literally had a target on my back. And I really felt bad because the cars weren’t ready and I kind of called it. Didn’t want to rub it in there face in a “shoot” interview. Later did a cool interview with Jim Liaw…hopefully you guys can see that soon. I can’t comment much about the action on Friday other then the 4 and 5 car tandems were pretty dope/funny. Tony Angelo was sitting in front of me at one point and it was cool to see a pro/judge dude that still likes to sit down and enjoy the show like a regular jackoff. Also had a quick conversation with Ed Bergenholtz, the B-Holtz brothers are some of the nicest dudes in the business… that’s all I gotta say about that.

Saturday

Friday night I decided to get wasted and go to the club and get my swerve on…. I get horrible drunk and the next thing I remember I was drinking a hot coco at a Denny’s at like 4 am. Get like 3 hours sleep, go to home girl's house who wanted to see drifting. Needless to say she was in the same condition as me but I have an alarm clock lol. Tell her to get her ish together so we can leave…. Hop on the freeway at like 11 lmao and didn’t get in the gates until like 12:45 because some lady in an explorer decides to hit some poor triumph street triple rider. Needless to say I missed top 32 tandem… was too hungover to be mad. Enough about my effed up day.

Thoughts on Fredric Aasbo and James Dean

Where did these guys come from? But to really think about it we shouldn’t really be surprised. Both of these guys looked decent at the RBDWC in 08. Aasbo came out to Irwindale at the end of 09 but the car had been sitting in storage here in the states for like 11 months…. Both of these guys looked great, they need a big team or some big sponsors ASAP. Falken better not let go of Dean, he was the last one Repping the Teal and Blue when it was all said and done. Funny fact, when Eric O'Sullivan entered FD in 09 he went up against D-Mac and Lost. James Dean shows up and gets put up against whom else but D-Mac again… but Dean gets the better of this one. Do we have a little tradition going Formula D?

Fredric Vs Fors….wow, Fredric really made the Formula D champion look like the Rookie. It was no contest, no thoughts of a OMT or nothing of that matter just a plain vulgar display of growing skill. He also went on to beat Pat Mordaunt who was having a damn good weekend, was this his best weekend ever as well? I seriously can’t remember. OK, so was I the only one booing the outcome of JR vs. Aasbo… of course not lmao. From my point of view in section C (great seats by the way) it looked like Vaughn ran a really shallow line while chasing. I thought it was going to go OMT, but it went to JR…. it sucks but it kind of had to happen. Aasbo had to be the sacrificial lamb for the weekend it looked like.

Finals
I don’t know how many of you know how important the finals were. This was seriously formula D history. How many motorsports has all of the big three as title sponsors of teams? Not very many… I think AMA supercross, and the Lucas Truck Series and that’s about it domestically…Someone correct me if I’m wrong. How many times has the big 3 finish 1,2,3,???? I can think maybe a few times in AMA but that’s it. After Tanner caught his second win to beat Aasbo, the match between Rhys and JR was one of the most memorable FD moments in history. For those of you who weren’t there on JRs chase run, they were dead tight… somehow some contact happened and the next thing you knew JR is forcing a pass on Rhys like its legal lol. Next run… I seriously need to see a replay. Rhys understeered, then spun, then also went rear first into the tire wall. I know it makes no sense, but somehow it happened. After JR did a bunch of burnouts and they went to the front of the main grandstand… I was honestly thinking “please don’t get into a fight”. I thought mad skillz was going to throw a punch or a push…. He just seems like that type of fellow, and JR seems like the type who would finish it lol. But no they gave each other a big hug, the crowd went crazy it was a true display of sportsmanship.

Odds and ends
Did anyone notice the lack of Japanese talent at FD. No Ueo/driftspeed, no Yamanaka, no Hayashida/Signal, no Yaz Kondo. Ueo is probably in Japan doing his own thing, Hayashida probably ran out of money driving his own S15 last season, and Yaz’s corolla might still be under construction. But Yamanaka was supposed to be running with Bridgeway(? )Motorsports. And this was announced back before SEMA IIRC. And was it me but are the sponsors back?!?! It seems like there wasn’t even half the banners along the walls and the gate last year. This year they were all filled up. Glad new companies like Metro PCS and Yo Parts are stepping in. I hope more companies realize that this is racing for cheap! People have no clue but FD are giving out sponsorship packages that are fraction the price of some of these other racing series coughamericanlemanscough. Ask the folks with monster did they get there moneys worth, I bet they will say yes and plus some.

Overall awesome event, I came to some conclusions over the weekend. Long Beach is my favorite round for tandem. And don’t drink the night before an event…..to much lol.

[Bebop]

Short version

I show up late

Met cool people

Did a interview

Watched practice

Went home

Got Drunk

Showed up late

Go Aasbo, Dean, and Pat

Go Sponsors!

Great Event, Proud to call FD my series.

Oh yea, and there was a B list celebrity in the crowd, but I'm not going to blast him off because he was kinda talking trash about the sport.

[boxmod]

Wow, what an event!!

The whole event ran on time, partially because there weren't too many OMT's (and the ones that went OMT were deserved!). I'm glad the judges can make a decision, right or wrong, and keep the event moving. Although I couldn't see the full runs from where I was shooting photos from, I didn't hear any major complaints about the judging. Sure, 1 or 2 runs could have gone either way, but this is a HUGE testament to the job Ernie, Andy, and Tony are doing! Great work all around!

I'm glad to see the rookies do so well - Freddie, James Deane, and Dean Kearney aren't exactly rookies in the international sense, but they rightfully showed why they belong in FD at one of the toughest tracks on the schedule. Great work!! Also, a huge congrats goes out to the likes of Jeff Abbott, Forrest Wang, Charles Ng, and Dennis Mertezanis who not only qualified at their first FD event but showed the crowd that they could hang with the big boys. This was the toughest Top 32 tandem round to date!

I'm so pumped for Atlanta!!

forrest has been to FD before, he actually crashed last year at Long beach (i think it was 09, maybe 08?), but wasnt bad, he recovered and was able to keep driving. he stuffed the nose into tires on turn 1.