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Team Need for Speed brings the heat to Road Atlanta for Formula Drift Round 2
ATLANTA, Georgia – May 11, 2010 – Team Need for Speed rolled into Road Atlanta over the weekend for Formula Drift Round 2: Road to the Championship. Formula Drift has invaded this venue for seven seasons straight and this event was no different, bringing out thousands of wild fans to catch all the drifting action, meet their favorite drivers, and check out the many other attractions.
For the Need for Speed drifting duo, Mad Mike Whiddett and Matt Powers, Friday consisted of practice, qualifying, and a huge autograph session with hundreds of fans waiting to snag an autograph and a picture.
Mad Mike was prepared to do battle at this event with Badbul, the Need for Speed/ Redbull RX-8. With missing the top 32 by only one spot at Round One, Mike was determined to make the show on Saturday in Atlanta. He accomplished his goal and put down a solid run which secured him a spot in the main day’s competition. Click http://www.facebook.com/video/video....4454783&ref=mf to watch Mike’s qualifying run that put him in the top thirty-two.
Matt also qualified in the top 32 on Friday, and wanted to take it up a notch during practice Friday night. Unfortunately, he took his Need for Speed/ Nitto Tires S14 into the wall towards the end of practice, but luckily the damage would be repairable by drive-time the following day. “I had said after Long Beach that I was gonna drive really hard and I did to the point that I crashed during practice, destroying the right side of my car,” says Matt. “I am very happy that I was still able to put down solid runs during the top thirty-two without even considering the crash, late night of repairs, and absence of practice until competition.” Click http://www.facebook.com/video/video....3733765&ref=mf to watch Matt’s qualifying run that put him in the top thirty-two.
Saturday’s main day event brought cooler temps than the previous day, as well as a huge crowd of die-hard fans – some who came before gates opened ready to mark their “spots” by setting up their chairs and easy-ups surrounding the track for the long day of fun ahead. All day long the Need for Speed Electro Lounge remained packed with people checking out the NFS drift cars, the NFS drivers and crew, the SHIFT gaming, the beats of DJ Miki Taka, and NFS spokes-model Courtney Day.
"Atlanta was absolutely, undoubtedly, hot hot hot!” says Courtney. “With Need for Speed SHIFT games, as well as shirts and posters up for grabs, the Need for Speed Electro Lounge was slammed. Miki threw down 80’s dance-off’s, and a non-stop flow of gamers eagerly attempted to beat Vaughn [Gittin, Jr.], Darren [McNamara], and Joon [Maeng]’s ‘Time Attack and Drifting Face-Off’ top scores. Our boys Matt Powers and Mad Mike had the unruly crowds on their feet, taking their ridiculously unmistakable cars into the top thirty-two. But my favorite antic from the entire weekend? Jumping sky-high over Mad Mike and his crew from the roof of his RX-8. Sorry bout the scratches, but it was all worth the fun!"
Mike was the first up from the NFS Team to battle in the top 32 – his competitor was Formula Drift veteran Daijiro Yoshihara. Mike pushed to put the pressure on Yoshihara when following, but unfortunately missed a gear going down the start straight causing a huge gap. He was able to close it up again, but it was just not enough to give him the advantage. When leading, Mike fought hard to keep a wide line with massive angle in the horseshoe, but ended up taking the Need for Speed/ Redbull RX-8 off-course by two wheels. Yoshihara was awarded the win and would move on become the winner of Round Two, with Vaughn Gittin Jr. coming in second, and Chris Forsberg in third.
“Round Three was another real test for the team and myself,” says Mike. “Going into practice plagued with problems and battling against the heat, the RX-8 was not keen to play nice. Paired up against Dai for top thirty-two, I knew it was going to be hard. But I was stoked that he went on to win the day, making my loss that much easier to swallow.”
Mike continues, “For New Jersey, I'll have a new tune that will compensate for the differences between here and New Zealand, hopefully making it more reliable and rev clean. Each round we are making progress and the next round can only get better! A huge thanks to Team Need for Speed and Redbull for their support.”
Matt was matched with Robbie Nishida for his battle of the top thirty-two. He gave chase first and kept close to his competition throughout the course. He led next and was able to pull away from Nishida, maintaining good line, speed, and angle the entire run. But the judges called for a one-more-time.
During the OMT battle, Nishida led first, and like in the previous run, Matt was able to maintain a close chase. Matt led next, and unfortunately took his line a little too shallow into the horseshoe. Nishida was awarded the win and would move on to compete in the top sixteen.
“Being able to compete with a car of such magnitude as Robbie’s shows me that the work and ideas I have been putting into my car and program are in the right direction, which I plan to continue progressing to keep becoming more competitive every round,” says Matt. “I'm looking forward to New Jersey and plan on doing some exciting tandem there.”
The Team Need for Speed action continues June 4-5, 2010 for Formula Drift Round 3: The Gauntlet at Wall Speedway in New Jersey. For more information on Team Need for Speed visit NeedForSpeed.com, become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/NeedForSpeed, or follow on Twitter @NeedforSpeed. Press can download assets at http://info.ea.com.
ATLANTA, Georgia – May 11, 2010 – Team Need for Speed rolled into Road Atlanta over the weekend for Formula Drift Round 2: Road to the Championship. Formula Drift has invaded this venue for seven seasons straight and this event was no different, bringing out thousands of wild fans to catch all the drifting action, meet their favorite drivers, and check out the many other attractions.
For the Need for Speed drifting duo, Mad Mike Whiddett and Matt Powers, Friday consisted of practice, qualifying, and a huge autograph session with hundreds of fans waiting to snag an autograph and a picture.
Mad Mike was prepared to do battle at this event with Badbul, the Need for Speed/ Redbull RX-8. With missing the top 32 by only one spot at Round One, Mike was determined to make the show on Saturday in Atlanta. He accomplished his goal and put down a solid run which secured him a spot in the main day’s competition. Click http://www.facebook.com/video/video....4454783&ref=mf to watch Mike’s qualifying run that put him in the top thirty-two.
Matt also qualified in the top 32 on Friday, and wanted to take it up a notch during practice Friday night. Unfortunately, he took his Need for Speed/ Nitto Tires S14 into the wall towards the end of practice, but luckily the damage would be repairable by drive-time the following day. “I had said after Long Beach that I was gonna drive really hard and I did to the point that I crashed during practice, destroying the right side of my car,” says Matt. “I am very happy that I was still able to put down solid runs during the top thirty-two without even considering the crash, late night of repairs, and absence of practice until competition.” Click http://www.facebook.com/video/video....3733765&ref=mf to watch Matt’s qualifying run that put him in the top thirty-two.
Saturday’s main day event brought cooler temps than the previous day, as well as a huge crowd of die-hard fans – some who came before gates opened ready to mark their “spots” by setting up their chairs and easy-ups surrounding the track for the long day of fun ahead. All day long the Need for Speed Electro Lounge remained packed with people checking out the NFS drift cars, the NFS drivers and crew, the SHIFT gaming, the beats of DJ Miki Taka, and NFS spokes-model Courtney Day.
"Atlanta was absolutely, undoubtedly, hot hot hot!” says Courtney. “With Need for Speed SHIFT games, as well as shirts and posters up for grabs, the Need for Speed Electro Lounge was slammed. Miki threw down 80’s dance-off’s, and a non-stop flow of gamers eagerly attempted to beat Vaughn [Gittin, Jr.], Darren [McNamara], and Joon [Maeng]’s ‘Time Attack and Drifting Face-Off’ top scores. Our boys Matt Powers and Mad Mike had the unruly crowds on their feet, taking their ridiculously unmistakable cars into the top thirty-two. But my favorite antic from the entire weekend? Jumping sky-high over Mad Mike and his crew from the roof of his RX-8. Sorry bout the scratches, but it was all worth the fun!"
Mike was the first up from the NFS Team to battle in the top 32 – his competitor was Formula Drift veteran Daijiro Yoshihara. Mike pushed to put the pressure on Yoshihara when following, but unfortunately missed a gear going down the start straight causing a huge gap. He was able to close it up again, but it was just not enough to give him the advantage. When leading, Mike fought hard to keep a wide line with massive angle in the horseshoe, but ended up taking the Need for Speed/ Redbull RX-8 off-course by two wheels. Yoshihara was awarded the win and would move on become the winner of Round Two, with Vaughn Gittin Jr. coming in second, and Chris Forsberg in third.
“Round Three was another real test for the team and myself,” says Mike. “Going into practice plagued with problems and battling against the heat, the RX-8 was not keen to play nice. Paired up against Dai for top thirty-two, I knew it was going to be hard. But I was stoked that he went on to win the day, making my loss that much easier to swallow.”
Mike continues, “For New Jersey, I'll have a new tune that will compensate for the differences between here and New Zealand, hopefully making it more reliable and rev clean. Each round we are making progress and the next round can only get better! A huge thanks to Team Need for Speed and Redbull for their support.”
Matt was matched with Robbie Nishida for his battle of the top thirty-two. He gave chase first and kept close to his competition throughout the course. He led next and was able to pull away from Nishida, maintaining good line, speed, and angle the entire run. But the judges called for a one-more-time.
During the OMT battle, Nishida led first, and like in the previous run, Matt was able to maintain a close chase. Matt led next, and unfortunately took his line a little too shallow into the horseshoe. Nishida was awarded the win and would move on to compete in the top sixteen.
“Being able to compete with a car of such magnitude as Robbie’s shows me that the work and ideas I have been putting into my car and program are in the right direction, which I plan to continue progressing to keep becoming more competitive every round,” says Matt. “I'm looking forward to New Jersey and plan on doing some exciting tandem there.”
The Team Need for Speed action continues June 4-5, 2010 for Formula Drift Round 3: The Gauntlet at Wall Speedway in New Jersey. For more information on Team Need for Speed visit NeedForSpeed.com, become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/NeedForSpeed, or follow on Twitter @NeedforSpeed. Press can download assets at http://info.ea.com.