Tracksyde Photography » Drifting

2009 Formula Drift Round 7: Irwindale.. Judgment Day

Tracksyde Photography — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:05:42 +0000

It was another action packed event at the House of Drift, Toyota Speedway, in Irwindale, California. Chris Forsberg clinched the 2009 Championship after winning his Top 16 round.

Tyler McQuarrie looked all set to take the top podium spot, but due to an uncharacteristic correction on the inner sweeper, Ryan Tuerck took the round giving him the First Place spot.

Tanner Foust was his ever consistent self with a huge Scion crowd on hand to watch him take the Third Place position for the final event of the season. The combination of Tanner’s Toyota V8 powered tC and a lack of any breeze made for huge plumes of Hankook tire smoke.

Here’s a small sampling of the images captured from the event. See you next season!

2009 Formula Drift Round 4: Las Vegas.. All In!

Tracksyde Photography — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:38:02 +0000

It was an exciting event that saw a lot of heartache and a few command performances. Tanner Foust, after suffering a major set back in New Jersey, laid down the rubber with a vengence to reclaim the top spot on the podium. Defeated by Tanner Foust, Ryuji Miki dug deep, rekindling the flame that helped him claim the D1GP title in 2004, to claim the 2nd spot. Chris Forsberg and Tanner Foust dueled each other in their convertible 350Z Z33s with Chris Forsberg emerging as the 3rd place winner for the evening.

2009 Formula Drift Championship points leader Darren McNamera was plagued with car problems and was unable to qualify, even after commandeering Calvin Wan’s Falken Tires Nissan Silvia S15. Vaughn Gitten Jr. crashed in practice, yet scrambled all night to qualify the following day. However, his dreams of the podium would be cut short after tapping the wall during his characteristic high-speed entry. And despite qualifying in the #1 spot, Robbie Nishida’s aggressive driving caused him to spin while trying to follow the slower, yet massively torquier V8 in Tyler McQuarrie’s Falken 350Z.

Here are some more images from the evening:

2009 Formula Drift Round 4: Las Vegas Teaser

Tracksyde Photography — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:17:33 +0000

We made the trek to Las Vegas, NV for Round 4 of the 2009 Formula Drift Pro Drift Championship. With the power of the Canon EOS 50D and its inflated 15MP RAW images, we captured almost 50GB of images. So as you can imagine, we have a fair amount of images to go through and post-process. But here’s are a few of our favorites to whet your appetite. We had an interesting vantage point during the Top 16 and 32 battles.. Keep checking back for updates! Thanks!

Congratulations to Tanner Foust for making it back to the top of the podium. Ryuji Miki also demonstrated why he was a former D1GP Champion and fought his way back to the podium for a 2nd place finish.

(In the lead photo, Tyler McQuarrie and Tanner Foust battle it to the finish line. This was the race that led Tanner to the final round of the evening. Tyler McQuarrie would later succumb to the overpowering style of Chris Forsberg to take 4th place for the evening.)

Ryuji Miki in his Apex/Hankook Mazda RX-7 FD3S

2009 Formula Drift Round 4 Winner Tanner Foust laying down the Hankook Tire smoke in his Toyota V8 powered Rockstar/Hankook Scion tC

2009 Formula Drift Round 1: Long Beach, CA Part II

Tracksyde Photography — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:44:53 +0000

It happens.. you shoot 45GB of images and after sifting through everything, 6 weeks later, you wind up with a handful of images you cant help but to post up for everyone’s viewing pleasure. Enjoy.. oh and to answer your questions, how do you shoot 45GB? its easy when one of the shooters is packin’ a Canon EOS 50D, shooting full JPEG + RAW and he’s trigger happy.

Ross Petty puts on his game face as he prepares for the infamous Long Beach hairpin

Robbie Nishida leaves behind a trail of smokey goodness

Tanner Foust's Scion tC is englufed by Robbie Nishida's tire smoke

Dai Yoshihara demonstrates his skills by pitching his Falken IS350 sideways before the hairpin turn

Hankook's OTHER winning team, the 2009 Hankook Tire Umbrella Girls standing in front of some car.. err, the Apex/Hankook Tire Mazda RX-7 FD3S, I mean

No, that is NOT The Stig. It's Robbie Nishida as he surveys his position, while getting up close and personal with the wall

2009 D1GP USA Round 1: Anaheim, CA

Tracksyde Photography — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:08:12 +0000

With the D1GP cars and drivers from Japan, against the backdrop of Angels Stadium, the stage was set for a drift event like no other. However, the real treat was watching the 2008 D1GP Champion, Daigo Saito, take the top podium spot.