Rookie of the year?! Vankirk FDSTL recap!!!

Rookie of the year?! Vankirk FDSTL recap!!!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

FORMULA DRIFT St. Louis, LA – ROUND 6 | August 10th and 11th

Vankirk takes on the Gateway Motorsports Park grid and brings the heat at Formula Drift St. Louis! Still in the lead for “Rookie of the Year”, Matt tells us how it all goes down at FDSTL! Check it out and hope you enjoy…

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Formula Drift St.Louis held at Gateway Motorsports Park is a new track to the series! With it being a new track and us in our rookie year with half of the tracks being new to the team, I felt like we had more of a fair fight coming into this round than the others. Before the event we had the track made into Assetto Corsa and was able to try out the car in it to see how our gearing will do etc before we made the venture to the East Coast. Formula Drift saw us on our livestream drifting the track in the game and contacted us to help them with clipping points etc. We thought it was awesome that FD used our car and simulator to help them prepare for St.Louis as they have never seen the track in person. The team and I were excited coming in to this track and left Seattle looking forward to the upcoming weekend!

Before we knew it we were lined up on grid ready for our first practice run on Thursday! After doing half a lap I knew right away there was something wrong with the car especially since how fast this track was, any minor changes in alignment or with the car will feel drastic. After going back to the pit we noticed that the right rear wheel had toe in a quarter of an inch while the driver wheel was zeroed out. Crazily enough I believe it has been like this since right after Atlanta when we hit a wall during a grassroots event we stopped by at Lanier. Lesson learned, we will be checking alignment before every event from now on. After we aligned the car to the best of our abilities we went back on track and completed our first lap! Wow did an alignment make the worlds difference, the car felt a lot more stable and controllable. After our first lap we learned one thing, this track is fast!! After a few more laps and communication between our spotter Craig we were able to dial our line in and enjoyed the fast speed drifting in a few tandems while also adjusting tire pressure. Thursday we ended up doing about 9 laps and decided to call it quits so we don’t run out of our 16 laps before qualifying.

Coming into Friday we decided to focus on our lead runs and make sure we can consistently put down a near 100 point run for the judges. After a few laps we let the car cool down and chatted with some fans before our first qualifying lap. Going into qualifying I was feeling pretty confident, there was only one part of the track I was having troubles with so all my focus was going towards the outer touch in go and transitioning to the last outside zone and keeping the car close to the edge of the track on the last turn. After qualifying we didn’t get the results we wanted but we scored a 78 which put us into the show! We headed to autograph session and that night the team and I talked about what we can do regarding the last turn which the car kept wanting to fall off with the amount of grip we had dialed in the car.

The main event was here and we were facing Chris “The Force” Forsberg! Forsberg is one of the best in the series and has three championship trophies under his belt. We knew this was going to be a tough battle but I was looking forward to it and was glad we got paired up against a great driver. I was looking forward to going against Forsberg because I knew I can drive all out against him with no hesitations and also to prove ourselves that we can compete among the best in the world. Chris and I lined up to the starting grid and my heart was racing. The lights turned on and as they turned off I took off following Forsberg into the first turn as I initiated he straightened up and I almost slid right into him. My spotter and I thought we were going to get the win as we did not see any cones hit or restart flag. I pulled back to the grid and it was a restart so I am assuming he must of hit a cone or jumped the light. On our second start I got a good jump off the line and stayed right next to him going into the initiation. Chris and I were door to door through the first inside clip and also through the second clip going into the straight. I did not let off the entire time and gave everything our car had to keep up with Forsberg on that big fast manji. Going into the outside zone Chris’s line was slightly off and he had to ebrake to bring his car out a bit away from the inside clip, this gave us the opportunity to surge in and get right back on his door through the last turn. Coming out of the last turn I was completely blind in the smoke but we ended up coming out unscaved and what I thought was a great follow run against one of the best!

Knowing we had a good follow I was completely focused and putting an even better lead run in. After following Chris I knew between the first two clips into the straight I can pull away as I had to let off when I followed him. As we came to the entry I initiated and when the car got settled I stayed completely floored through the first and second clips without letting off and went down the straight faster than we have all weekend. We hit all the clips and stayed high on the final turn which we had troubles all weekend doing. Finishing the lap we pulled up to the finish to find out who won the battle. I thought forsure it was going to be at least a one more time after watching the big screen next to us but Forsberg ended up getting the win unanimously which put an end to our weekend. Even though we had lost our battle I could not of been more proud of the team and everyone involved. We put on a great show and an awesome fight against Forsberg and the crowd loved it! We are currently still leading rookie of the year and these next two rounds are going to be crucial for us. I want to thank everyone involved and all the new fans and people we got to meet in St.Louis that are rooting for us! The team and I are looking forward to a great round in Texas!

Cheers,
MVK Racing

Matt is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25mm front and 18×10.5 et 25 rear in Race Bronze. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Podium finish for Travis Reeder at FDATL 2018!

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FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 ATLANTA, GA – ROUND 1 | May 11th and 12th

New year, new team and a whole new energy. Coming into the 2018 formula drift pro 2 Season, I was uncontrollably excited, anxious and hungrier than ever. After an extremely successful 2017 pro 2 season and a relatively uneventful off season I was more than ready to jump in the car and throw down at my favorite track in the formula drift series, Road Atlanta.

Coming into our first practice of the season the team and I had our data from last year collected and set up the car quickly. We immediately found out that having previous experience at a racetrack, especially one this challenging was more valuable than anything in this sport and it showed after executing a very strong first few laps in practice. The car was fast, settled and extremely drivable right out of the box, which allowed us to really dial in and fine tune the setup efficiently as well as develop a good strategy for the weekend.

With qualifying coming up quickly Thursday night, I knew I needed to improve on how I performed last year drastically considering only a few qualifying points had cost the team and I a championship in 2017. My first qualifying run was a conservative one, only to try and guarantee a spot in the big show Friday night. I had been a little shallow in outer zone 2 in the keyhole but hit all my clips, touch-and-go’s and zone the rest of the run. We were given a 91 and a second position seeding at that time which guaranteed the team a top 16 showing the next day. On qualifying run 2 we pushed harder as we had nothing to lose. I was deeper into the 2nd outer zone and was extremely committed and on throttle 99% of the lap as well as hitting all my clips with angle. The judges awarded the team and I a 95, which earned us the top qualifying position for the event!

After practice and opening ceremonies, the team and I were excited for top 16 and to put on a good show for all the awesome fans Road Atlanta attracts. My first battle was uneventful as I was set to battle Crick Fillipi but he had unfortunately broke minutes before, giving me a free ride into the top 8. So, I had taken advantage of the opportunity to practice putting down my closest rendition of a perfect qualifying run. On to the top 8!

Kelsey Rowlings was our opponent for the top 8. I lead first and put down a solid lead with minimal corrections and had pulled a bit of a gap on her after the first front clip. Going into the second run I was in the chase position and new I had to apply consistent pressure and maintain proximity to get the team into the final 4. Rowling’s was on fire for her lead run, which allowed me to really attack in the chase. I followed close with great proximity and it was enough to give me the win, the final 4 was set!

Our final 4 Battle was against Ola Jaeger, who was on an absolute war path all weekend. I led first and had a killer lead run hitting all my clips with angle and smoke and only sacrificed a few points in outer zone 2, as well as pulling a couple car lengths away from Ola in the chase. Going into the second run I knew he had a unique and difficult entry style to adjust to, so I had to try my best to match and apply pressure in the chase position and not lose ground. I was close on entry and on his door after our first transition up the hill, but he was fast and pulling away. I sacrificed angle and line slightly to gain proximity in the keyhole and throughout the rest of the run. Blazing across the finish line a foot off his door we came to a stop at the top of the hill. After review from the judges they had concluded that my correction in the chase position had outweighed Ola’s falling back during my lead run and he was awarded the win and moved on to the finals.

Thankfully, by qualifying p1 in the event, I was guaranteed a 3rd place podium finish if I had made it to the final 4. So not only were we the top qualifier but we were still able to go home with a carbon fiber trophy! I can’t complain about one thing over the whole entire weekend. The car ran flawlessly as did my crew! With round one being in the books, and the team and I in the chase for the championship, I can’t wait for St. Louis as well as more great times at the track.
I want to give a massive thank you to all my family, friends, fans and amazing sponsors for the support to chase a crazy dream that is professional drifting. Without you all I wouldn’t be able to do it. Period!

Travis is running Konig Ultraforms in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25mm rear. The Konig Ultraforms is Flow Formed.

Vankirk recounts FDATL ’18!!!

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FORMULA DRIFT Atlanta, GA – ROUND 3 | May 11th and 12th

Formula Drift Round three this year was held at Road Atlanta, one of our favorite tracks of the series! Road Atlanta is a very iconic track and I am more than stoked to compete against the best drifters in the world on it! Last year we had great success on this track finishing in 2nd place for Pro 2. With a tiny bit of more power than we had last year and the same suspension set up, the team felt confident going into this round.

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Thursdays practice came with a few hurdles. After doing a few laps I realized the same issue we had in Long Beach is also affecting us here in Atlanta. Coming up the hill I was throwing a lot of angle in the car to set me up for going into the horseshoe. However, doing this was making our car’s steering lock up and understeer causing the vehicle to go off course. With it being Thursday, grip levels were not at its peak yet and after talking to some teams it sounded like they were understeering in the same spot as well. We decided to make a few adjustments to the car and the fact it didn’t do this every lap we decided to see how things go the following day. Other than that, we got our entry location down as well as our line throughout the course and the team felt good after Thursday’s practice session.

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Friday’s practice before qualifying went extremely well compared to Thursday’s practice. The car had a lot more grip without changing any tire pressure or suspension settings. The weather was a bit hotter and there was a lot more rubber down on the track. We did roughly 6 laps before qualifying and the car’s steering only locked up once and it was on our first run. The team and I figured the car was good to go as our front tires were not warmed up yet on our first run and the remaining laps we did the car felt great. Going into qualifying I felt really strongly about our vehicle setup and this track and was ready to put down a very solid run. On my First qualifying lap I initiated a lot deeper than I have all weekend, the tires rode the rumble strip and we had a good amount of angle going into the first inner clip. After passing the first inner clip we transitioned up the hill, full throttle and was coming up to the horseshoe fast. I chucked the steering wheel to throw a lot of angle at the car. The car angled out and when I downshifted into 2nd to power through into the horseshoe the steering once again locked up and unfortunately we understeered off course. This was very unfortunate as this was my first qualifying run and knowing we had only one more lap to make it into the main event our nerves were high as there was an obvious problem with the car. I drove back to the pits and talked with the team about what was going on with our s13. Matt Coffman came by our pits to see how things were going and I showed him a video of what happened on our qualifying run. We jacked up the front end and he quickly pointed out that we were missing the bump stop for our Wisefab angle kit. Every time I drove the car aggressively and threw a lot of angle at the car our steering was over centering which was causing my steering wheel to lock up and the front end to wash out. Since we didn’t have any time to properly fix this our crew chief Greg Leone made a temporary bump stop with duct tape. Knowing this was my only chance to qualify and knowing the vehicle still had the issue my nerves were very high. During our 2nd qualifying pass I hit all the clips just like our first run but coming into the horseshoe I took it very conservative and did not angle out like our previous run. The car did not understeer this time around and we finished off the course strongly. Due to use being conservative through the horseshoe the team scored an 80 on our second qualifying pass and we were in the show for top 32. After qualifying we ended up buying a Wisefab bump stop from Faruk Kugay and fixed our over centering issue. Knowing the car was fixed we were excited for competition on Saturday.

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Our qualifying result paired us to go against 2017 3rd place champion Odi Bakchis for our top 32 battle. Odi is a great driver and is one of the fastest cars on grid and we were looking forward to do battle with him. Our goal for Saturday’s practice was to get as many follow laps as possible. This quickly came to an end, on our 2nd practice run of the day we snapped a stub shaft exiting the last turn. Knowing we didn’t have a spare and that top32 was close to starting, I frantically ran through the pits looking for a team with a spare stub shaft for our s13 differential. Luckily Enjuku Racing was kind enough to lend us their spare. Funny thing is we actually broke an axle last year in Atlanta and Enjuku Racing also helped us out, big shout out to the guys over at Enjuku! Since the stub shaft broke inside the differential we were unable to get it out and ended up swapping the differential with a spare that we brought. This took quite some time as top 32 started and we were about 75% of the way done. Our battle was the fourth battle in the bracket so we ended up having to call our competition 5 minute timeout. With 30 seconds left on the clock we finished installing the new differential and stub shaft and headed to line up against Odi. I knew we would have to give it our all for this battle. We initiated with Odi and kept great proximity through the first inside clip. Coming up the hill we surged forward on him into the horseshoe, I had to check up pretty good and when we hit the throttle the car was out of its power band and I sustained drift but started to shallow out. After the 3rd clutch kick we got the rear tires spinning again and transitioned to go back down the hill. Unfortunately this put me and an awkward line and I just fell into Odi’s tire smoke. We were in Odi’s smoke for about 3 seconds which felt like eternity when going those speeds not being able to see a thing. I was contemplating on when to transition and did not want to transition late due to that outside wall taking out a few vehicles this weekend. When I ended up transitioning we were just a tad too soon and I ended up going tires off and hitting the inside clip. On our lead I knew we had to give it everything we had. I laid down what I thought would have been a 100 point qualifying run. We hit all our clips and even through tons of angle going into the horseshoe. Coming down the hill we actually pulled a few car lengths away from Odi but unfortunately that wasn’t enough to upset our mistake.

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The next day we went to the local event at Lanier Speedway across the street and had a blast driving with some of the local guys. It was also Mother’s day and I was able to give my Mom some ride alongs which was awesome! The team and I learned a lot this weekend and we all worked together to get the car fixed just in time for our top 32 battle. I could not have been prouder of everyone and we look forward to driving at Wall Speedway for the first time next round!

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Matt is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25mm front and 18×10.5 et 25 rear in Race Bronze. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Knapik makes top 16 at FDATL 2018!

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FORMULA DRIFT PRO 2 ATLANTA, GA – ROUND 1 | May 11th and 12th

Round One of the Formula Drift Pro2 Series is finished and in the books and it was definitely not with out some challenges. About a week before needing to leave for Atlanta our built LS2 suffered a catastrophic failure during testing. A flaw in the block gave in, and the block cracked (let that be a lesson, always have the block x-rayed for flaws). So with no time to spare, and our engine builder not being able to crank out a bottom end in that short of a time frame my crew chief, Adrian Quiroz, and I went for a hail Mary. Scouring craigslist we found a used LQ9 with about 150k miles on it for a good deal and swapped it into the S14, chucked the Edelbrock supercharger on it, gave it mild tune of 500 HP so that it wouldn’t (hopefully) explode and set off on our cross country road trip from California to Atlanta!

The drive went great and we made really good time. So good in fact that we where able to get the car teched a day early so that we wouldn’t have to be rushed the morning of practice. During practice though is when some gremlins would start rearing there heads. The oil pressure started to drop below safety perimeters and would cut power to the car to save the motor. We lowered the perimeters a bit to get in some runs with out the car cutting, but then the oil pressure only kept dropping. After practice we went through the car to check for leaks but came up empty, so we decided to change the oil to something thicker thinking maybe the oil was oiling over and thinning out. The thicker oil helped but the pressure would keep dropping, and we came to the conclusion that the oil pump was possibly on its way out. With not time to be able to swap oil pumps, I decided to turn off all the perimeters and send it, as qualifying was coming up. As luck would have it the moment I line up for the first qualifying run, it begins to rain. I put down a safe run to at least get some points on the board, scoring a 76. On my second qualifying run, coming up the hill the clutch pedal gets stuck on the floor and because of no drive, the car straightens. So the first run or 76 would have to do. We sat anxiously waiting to see if the 76 would hold up while all the other drivers finish off their 2nd passes. After the smoke had settled the score was good enough to get us into the show with a 15th qualifying spot and pairing us up with the 2nd place qualifier Dylan Hughes. After watching some replays of his qualifying and practice runs (and he did get 2nd) I knew he was a solid driver that wouldn’t play any games.

The day of competition always has a practice session before and our oil pressure was still a major concern, and now our motor is running a bit hot as well. But we had made it this far so we decided that we would go for it. I decided to only do one practice run to save the motor as much as I could, not even letting it idle, the team would push the car up to the starting line. Dylan and I had a hard fought battle for our first run, each making some minor mistakes. The judges deemed it was too close to call and we would go on to a One More Time decision. On our second battle it was another close call with the judges needing to review the replays a few times but after some time they would call Dylan the winner.

After all the ups and downs the team and I are happy with the outcome. We put some points up on the board and are pumped for Round 2 coming up in St. Louis, Missouri. This is a new track for Formula Drift so we’ll see what challenges it throws at us! Now its time to pull out the motor (again) and get to work on something with a bit more confidence. See you guys at Round 2!

Adam is running Konig Rennforms in 18×9 et 23 all the way around. The Konig Rennforms is Flow Formed.

Matt Vankirk makes TOP 16 at FDORL!!!

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FORMULA DRIFT Orlando, FL – ROUND 2 | April 27th and 28th

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With going out in top 32 at Long Beach Rd.1 by point’s leader Fredric Aasbo on our rookie debut, we came into Round 2 at Orlando Speed world with determination for a better outcome. The Team and I felt strong about Orlando, it was a track that we drove at last year for Pro 2 so we were familiar with the venue and what was needed to be successful. We arrived Wednesday the 25th to set up our pits and make some last minute adjustments to the vehicle before we hit practice hard the following day!

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Thursday practice was a successful day! Last year we had some issues at Orlando, on initiation we had some struggle getting the car into drift on time due to running a stock engine and not being able to change our gear ratio. Thankfully with our Brian Crower built head this season we had no issues getting the car settled quickly into drift. We took it very conservative on our first run and after 4 laps the team and I felt great about the car and our runs. We felt like we could lay down a good qualifying run the next day so we made a group decision to conserve the car and use our remaining practice laps before qualifying the next day.

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Going into Friday we knew we had to throw down. Right before my first qualifying pass I was quite nervous and was watching Kazuya Taguchi’s run and the way he initiated set it him up perfectly on the wall for the rest of his run. After he finished we lined up to lay down our first qualifying pass. I had Taguchi’s run in my head and decided to initiate like he did as it set him up for a great run. When I initiated along the wall as he did, the front of my car washed out on initiation and was understeering right for the wall. Luckily I reacted quickly and reinitiated the car and finished off the run. Unfortunately due to the mistake on initiation we received a 66. As the team and I knew we had points on the board and most of the nerves have settled I was ready to clear my head and drive how we normally do. As we approached the bank on my 2nd qualifying run we did an aggressive manji into the bank which set the car perfectly up against the wall. After riding the wall the entire way around the bank we dove into the first inside clip and transitioned through power alley at full speed. After coming off the 2nd inside clip and setting the angle of the car to finish the last turn I knew in my head we just put down a great qualifying run and I couldn’t have been more ecstatic. Pulling into the pits after our run the team was very stoked and they were proud to say we laid down a 89 point run. At the end of the day this put us at 16th place which is the upper half of the field of drivers.

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It was time for the big event! Saturday was here and we hit practice in the morning focusing on tandeming only as we felt like our lead runs were solid. After a few tandem practices we quickly realized how quick our car really was. We were able to keep up with some of the fastest cars out on the grid such as Dean Kearney’s viper and the notorious NGK E92 Eurofighter. A problem we quickly noticed however was when we had to slow down following a car on the bank we lost all our momentum and the car was very difficult to get back on throttle with the tires still spinning. We are currently at 580hp with not much low end torque, which is the lowest in Pro 1 this season. My spotter, Justin Woodard and I strategized a game plan to allow a tiny bit of distance on the initiation then to real the cars in so we wouldn’t get choked up on the bank. Unfortunately this is not how we like to drive but it was the only thing that seemed reasonable to do at the time. Our first battle was with Michael Essa in the top 32. Shortly before top 32 had begun Essa ended up crashing his vehicle into the bank wall and his team was scrambling to get his car put back together. After a 5 minute competition timeout they showed up to the grid and we lined up for our first battle. As we qualified higher we lead first. On initiation Essa straightened out resulting in a zero for his follow run. Essa’s team decided to call it quits and returned his car to the pits. Essa stated he had no power steering and deemed he felt it was not safe to run and was not worth the risk. We didn’t want to win this way as Essa is a great driver and we were looking forward to a good fight but we were more than stoked to advance into our first ever top 16. After opening ceremonies our battle was the first of top 16 against number one qualifier Fredric Aasbo. Aasbo is no stranger to us, I have been watching him drift for many years as I have always looked up to him as a person and as a driver. We knew this was going to be a hard fought battle but we were thrilled to go against the Norwegian Hammer again this season. Aasbo led first and as mentioned before we decided to give him some distance on initiation and real him in. Unfortunately he pulled a little further than I was hoping on initiation but we reeled him in by the end of the bank. Coming down from the steep bank to the flat infield is a pretty drastic bump especially for our lowered cars. We never had an issue all weekend but following Aasbo into it he had a lot less angle than we have been going into that spot with and unfortunately even though I had the throttle fully down when we hit that bump our car completely straightened out. I instantly reinitiated and followed Aasbo for the rest of the run but I knew that would cost us in the end. As we lined up for our lead run I knew I was going to have to do my best run that entire weekend and we did just that! On our lead run we had a very aggressive manji which set us up to scrape the bank wall all the way around to power alley! Coming off the bank into power alley we actually left Aasbo a decent ways and he had to pull a lot of angle out of his car to keep up with us for the rest of the course. It definitely was not enough to secure the victory but we laid down a very solid run in top 16 and showed everyone that we are capable of becoming a very successful Formula Drift team! I could not have been more proud of my team and family this weekend. We have been progressing more and more each round, this round we made top 16 and I am looking forward to what Atlanta has in store for us! None of this would have been possible without the help from each and every one of you so I appreciate all of you in believing in us and we are thrilled to see what is in store for the future, thank you!

Matt is running Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25mm front and 18×10.5 et 25 rear in Race Bronze. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Lawrence debuts in FD PRO with back-up car

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FORMULA DRIFT LONG BEACH, CA – ROUND 1 | August 8th and 9th

What’s up everybody! Kevin here with my recap of the Formula D season opener at Longbeach, CA.

After losing the engine in my S14.3 on the dyno just a few days before leaving to Long Beach, The team and I revised our plans and decided to run Enjuku Racing’s R32 Demo car as this was our quickest option to have a car ready for Long Beach. We scrambled to bring the R32 up to tech regulations for Formula D competition as well as swapped over my last seasons nitrous kit and Garrett 3582 turbo to try and get some more power out of the R32. After a last minute trip to Tampa, FL to see my tuner Martin from RS-Enthalpy we were table to turn the R32s power up to 685whp from 505whp and off we went to make it out to Long Beach. After the 2.5 days travel filled with traffic stops and loosing parts of the roof of my trailer we finally arrived to the venue and loaded in for tech inspection, we passed tech with flying colors and then we were ready for practice and qualifying the next day.

FRIDAY

Friday morning after warming up the car in the pits I headed off to get in line to take my first practice pass. However after entering the burn out box and doing a few circles I heard a pop and realized my left rear axle had snapped. I scrambled back to our pits where the team confirmed the axle was broken and we got to work swapping it out. Unfortunately the spares we brought were a different length and would not just swap right in, we had to swap the outter stub that broke from the new axle to the old one in order to get the car back out to make a pass. This took a bit of time but we finally got it done and back out. After waiting in line again I was up next for a pass, this time no pop in the burn out box so I pulled up to the start line. Off I went and entered into the first turn of the tight course, I probably went into this pass with way more trust than I should have but I did alright for the first turn. Coming into the second one I pass the touch and go and then realize im going in too deep towards the Judges wall. I pitched more angle and pinned the car to try and dig out away from the turn but the impact was still going to happen. I tagged the rear wall which in return pulled the front of the car into it as well. I got the car back to the pits for evaluation of the damage and was suprised to find that other than all the cosmetics of the car the only suspension
part to really take the hit was the front lower control arm. We swapped that out as well as hammered out the chassis as best we could to keep the fenders from rubbing the rear tire and I rushed to try and get in a pass before qualifying. Unfortunately practice was called when I was about 3 positions back from making a pass so I would move on to qualifying with out making a full complete pass.

Pulling up to the line to take my first qualifying lap also my first ever full pass at long beach it felt as if there was a building sitting on my chest. I did my best to put all that aside and was able to take a very conservative pass and not hit any walls and earn a score of a 68. Knowing that was good enough to put me in the show I did what I could on my second pass to tidy it up a bit which worked and netted me a score of a 71. After the qualifying meeting I was informed I would battle Chris Forsberg in the Top 32.

SATURDAY

I was able to get in 6 complete passes before my battle with Chris, all of which I dialed in a bit better than the run before. Chris being the higher point qualifier was up to lead first. Light goes out and off we go, I was excited to see that on the run up I was able to keep up with him in our R32 demo car on the straight. We enter into the first corner and thats exactly when I realized he had way more grip in his car when in drift that what I had. We did take a bunch out in hopes to prevent another axle breaking. He is able to gain some distance on me and I do everything I can to keep up. Coming into the final transition I reach over to down shift from 4th to 3rd and the car accidentally shifts into 5th causing me to bogg out and loose more distance from Chris going into the final turn. Now my turn to lead I knew Chris had the advantage on me going into this half of the battle so my best defense was to put down the best lead lap I could in hopes that Chris would make a big mistake behind me resulting in us getting a OMT call. We leave the line and I give this pass my all, I honestly would say it was the most comfortable / cleanest pass I have had all weekend. I was hoping for Chris to make a mistake on this pass behind me but hearing his car not far behind me I knew that he wouldn’t let me have the win that easy. He kept right up with me and followed my line just as the judges asked. Chris would be awarded the win and this would wrap up my first time driving Long Beach as well as my Pro1 debut in Formula D.

I want to extend a huge thank you to my Team, Sponsors, and Family for all their absolutely amazing support and keeping me going and not letting me give up on this event. Everything it seemed was going against us to not make it out to Long Beach but we never gave up and I was able to get out there, Qualify, and run my First Pro 1 battle with our Demo car turned Pro1 legal car with that was done with in under a weeks time. Again thank you all so very much for everything I cant wait to get the S14 back together for the next one.

Kevin is running Konig Dekagram in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25 rear. The Konig Dekagram is Flow Formed.

Getting to know Kelsey Rowlings!

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GETTING TO KNOW KELSEY ROWLINGS

We had a chance to catch up with FORMULA DRIFT PRO II DRIVER | KONIG WHEELS SPONSORED DRIVER Kelsey Rowlings. Kelsey is in full prepmode for the 2018 Formula Drift Pro2 Season but gave us a few minutes learn a little more about her, last season and how she anticipates this season will go.

Konig: Who Are You and What Do You Drive?

Kelsey Rowlings: My name is Kelsey Rowlings and I drive a ’96 Nissan 240sx with a supercharged Ford 5.0 Aluminator in the Formula Drift Pro 2 series.

Konig: What First Brought You to be involved in Drifting?

KR: I didn’t get involved in motorsports until I was 18. A friend showed me videos of drifting and I was immediately drawn to the sport and had to try it, even though I had no previous experience with cars or motorsports.

Konig: Who do you look up most to in motorsports?

KR: I look up to all women who are paving the way in motorsports because it is so male-dominated. While I don’t think we face challenges involving skill, I do think there are some challenges we face with social acceptance and it can take a thick skin to break through the norms of society.

Konig: Do you think you face any challenges being the only girl in all of Formula Drift?

KR: I don’t think I face any additional challenges because of being a girl. Once you’re strapped into the car, the driving is all that matters. The biggest challenge is honestly having to basically take my whole racesuit off just to use the restroom. It’s pretty inconvenient!

Konig: You had a pretty rough 2017 season finishing 23rd in Pro 2. What unexpected struggles did you face with your program and what improvements are you making for 2018?

KR: We had pretty rough 2016 and 2017. Building a brand new car with an engine swap that had never been done before, and going from drifting a 500 horsepower turbo 4 cylinder to a supercharged v8 was a huge transition. We struggled with steering issues the past two years that we were never able to diagnose. I felt like the steering was binding at certain points, but it also felt like my power steering was cutting out at times. Since last year, we have completely changed out our front suspension components to the Wisefab kit, and we also changed to an actual power steering fluid versus running ATF. We have had a couple test days where the steering has felt MUCH better so I am hopeful that this year will be a turning point and that we have weeded out all of the issues.

Konig: What brought you to select your unique engine package?

KR: I have never been one to just be a part of the crowd. Everyone in drifting was going with the LS platform, and while it has been tested and proven in Formula Drift, I really didn’t like the idea of doing what everyone else was doing. Before deciding on the Ford engine, we were interested in the 2JZ because I am definitely a fan of the sound and powerband since I was coming from an SR22det. But after a conversation with Formula Drift driver, Justin Pawlak, I really liked the idea of the Aluminator. Not only did it have great power, but he also mentioned how reliable it had been in his Mustang, and as a privateer in Formula Drift Pro 2, reliability was an important part of being successful. Since we have put the engine in the car, we have not had a single engine issue, and we are entering our 3rd season with no rebuilds required!

Konig: What is your Dream Car?

KR: This is a very loaded question as I have several dream cars, but I think I would have to say an FD RX7 powered by a 2JZ would definitely be towards the top of my list. However, if I had no budget in mind, I’d probably pick up basically any Mclaren… or maybe a C63 AMG black edition… or maybe a Porsche GT3… So many choices!


Konig: What is your favorite looking Konig Wheel?

KR: My favorite Konig wheel is definitely the Hypergram, which is what I currently run on both of my drift cars. I absolutely love the look of the Hypergram, and its also light enough with a tire mounted for me to lift it.

— KONIG: ONE WORD ANSWERS AND GO! —
Konig: Cats or dogs?
KR: Dogs

Konig: Formula 1 or NASCAR?
KR: Formula 1

Konig: Summer or winter?
KR: Summer

Konig: Pepsi or Coke?
KR: Neither!

Konig: Boots or sandals?
KR: Sandals

Konig: Vacation at the Beach or Mountains?
KR: Mountains!

Konig: Roller Coaster or Ferris Wheel?
KR: Roller Coaster!

Konig: Star Wars or Star Trek?
KR: Both!!!!

Kelsey Rowlings is a Konig Sponsored Professional Drift driver that competes in Formula Drift Pro 2 Series. Kelsey runs Konig Hypergrams she runs a 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9.5 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Kelsey on INSTAGRAM!

Kevin Lawrence smokes out Hoonigan Donut Garage

Posted on by KONIG

Konig Sponsored, Formula Drift Pro2 Driver and 2017 Formula Drift Pro 2 CHAMPION Kevin Lawrence dropped by the Hoonigan Donut Garage to cause a blackout. He took a perfectly good set of Hankook Tires and well…Tire smoke for days…check it out!

Travis Reeder breaksdown FDTX & 2nd place series finish!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY TRAVIS REEDER****

FORMULA DRIFT TEXAS – PRO 2 FINAL ROUND | August 8th and 9th

Prepping for Texas wasn’t as smooth as previous rounds for the team. Just nine days before the car had to be on the road we had an internal engine failure while testing some setup changes we had made after seattle. The timing chain had snapped which netted us eight bent valves, two bent pushrods and a collapsed lifter. Luckily the pistons were fine. We quickly got ahold of the awesome guys over at Thompson Motorsports of Texas and they got us everything we needed to rebuild and had the car in he trailer and back to 100% just in time.

As we arrived at Texas motor speedway we were quick to get unloaded. The team performed the usual fluids changes, alignment and bolt check. We were ready and eager to get out on track and demolish some Achilles radials.

Practice was a definite learning process. The track at Texas was extremely fast with brutal consequences if mistakes were made. After focusing on perfecting a line and finding the correct gear ratio for the car we were ready for qualifying.

The team and I felt solid going into qualifying. On my first run I had made a slight mistake after inner clip one and ended up throwing my line off for the rest of the run. Run one scored a 67 which at the time was already deemed out of the top 16.

With the pressure building I lined up for my second run. All second runs granted a parade lap before the run due to some fluids spilled during Danny George’s roll over. I threw a new set on the car and decided to make two full runs. Practice is practice right? I ended up with a 79 which put me in the 9th spot for the big show.

With the bracket set for Friday I was lined up against Austin Meeks. I knew his car was fast so I was preparing for a solid battle. Austin led first due to qualifying position. I matched his pace all through the course until he made a correction in front of outer zone 3, at the wall. From my perspective it looked like he was going to drive off track so I dove in and attempted to finish my run. He then jumped back on track and we made contact, which was unavoidable. I was deemed at fault for the contact and Austin was awarded 10 minutes to look over his car and fix what I assumed to be a bent suspension arm or tie rod.

Once fixed, we were ready to swap positions. I made as close to a perfect lead run as I could as Austin made some mistakes in the chase position. The judges awarded a one more time.

On our second run I was in the chase position first, again. I maintained proximity with Austin through the first half of the course and ended up making a small mistake through the last inner clip and going a bit wide. On my lead I put down a solid lead run as Meeks made a very similar mistake as I did in my chase run. After some review from the judges it was a 2-1 decision flavoring Meeks and my weekend was cut short.

With Texas being the final round, the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and reflecting on what an awesome rookie season I had in formula drift pro 2. I ended up 2nd in points for the season which felt amazing and was awarded rookie of the year on top of that! I can’t thanks my family friends and sponsors enough for the outstanding support, especially Konig Wheels for lacing the car up with the raddest wheels in the game! That’s a wrap for me, see everyone next year!

Travis Reeder is a Konig Sponsored Professional Drift driver that competes in Formula Drift Pro 2 Series. Travis runs Konig Ultraform in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25 rear. The Konig Ultraform is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Travis on INSTAGRAM!

Kelsey Rowlings FDTX PRO 2 FINAL ROUND recap!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY KELSEY ROWLINGS****

FORMULA DRIFT TEXAS – PRO 2 FINAL ROUND | August 8th and 9th

The Final round of Formula Drift Pro 2 at Texas Motor speedway arrived quickly after round three in in Seattle. After some repairs from our incident at Evergreen Motor Speedway, we were ready to take on Texas.

This round, the schedule on Thursday was completely different than previous rounds. Instead of Pro 1 and Pro 2 alternating practice sessions, and Pro 2 qualifying occuring at the end of the day, Pro 2 practice was one long session, followed by qualifying, with Pro 1 practice occuring at the end of the day. I was excited for the change, because I felt like I would have more energy with qualifying earlier.

While I was hoping for some good luck this round, my Thursday morning started early with feeling nauceous around 4 am. Determined to push through, I headed to the track and suited up for practice. Despite feeling worn out from a rough morning, I was actually feeling very confident during practice. By my third lap, I felt like I was ready to qualify. I was putting together very solid runs and took a break around halfway through the long session to watch some of the other drivers.

After some rest and rehydration, I returned to the track for more practice. I wasn’t driving quite up to par with earlier that morning and decided to lower the pressure in the tires mounted on my Konig Hypergrams due to the higher track temperatures and loss in grip. I made a few more decent laps before pulling into my hot pit to wait for my turn in qualifying.

I lined up for my first qualifying pass and took off from the starting line. Immediately I noticed my tires spinning more than anticipated and I knew I had to adjust my driving for the loss in grip. I managed to enter into the outer zone and settle the car into a nice line leading me right past the first inner clipping point and into the second outer zone, filling it completely. I extended from the second outerzone to the second inner clipping and aimed for the final outerzone. After passing the front clip with good proximity, I transitioned and lost it. I spun and backed my car lightly into the tire wall lining the outer zone. I was devastated. The run was going so well, and now the pressure was on.

I knew I didn’t have enough grip on my first run so I decided to lower my tire pressures slightly before the second run. I didn’t want to change too much and risk having too much grip on a such a technical track. I was in my head and nervous. I lined up for my second run and took off. Again, I didn’t have enough grip but I knew I could drive through it. I set my car to angle in the first outer zone and kept it locked there to the first inner clip and into the second outer zone. My rear wheel was on the rumble strip as I exited the outer zone and towards the second inner clipping point. I realized my line was a little too shallow and “bobbled” past the inner clipping point. At that point I got in my head because I knew I couldn’t afford such a silly mistake, and because of my “bobble,” I was off line heading into the final outer zone. I try to extend my drift and push out towards the zone but I’ve lost to much speed. I push past the final clip and cross the finish with disappointment. I knew it wasn’t a good score, and I knew I could drive so much better.

At the drivers meeting, my suspicions were correct. I received a score of 54 and it wasn’t enough to get me into the top 16. While I had a rough year and didn’t finish the season the way I had hoped, I learned so much from every new experience and I have Konig Wheels to thank for that. I am looking forward to putting all of my new knowledge to use and come back stronger next year!

Kelsey Rowlings is a Konig Sponsored Professional Drift driver that competes in Formula Drift Pro 2 Series. Kelsey runs Konig Hypergrams in 17×9 et 25mm front and 18×9 et 25mm rear. The Konig Hypergram is Flow Formed.

Make sure to follow Kelsey on INSTAGRAM!