Formula Drift Seattle 2011

So, I have a tough time calling 4th place a curse but so far this season, we have had two 4th place finishes, one 5th and one 6th which had us in 4th place overall, so to me, it almost felt that way. Either way, the “curse” is no more! This weekend we took our NOS Energy Drink Nissan 370Z to a 2nd place finish which pushed us up to 3rd place in the overall championship race! Even though we had an awesome weekend, it definitely did not all start out that way…

Every event usually kicks off with a practice session on Thursday but there was a down-pour of rain early in the day so practice was canceled. Even though Formula Drift decided to re-open the session for an hour or so, the track was still very wet. Having a new car this year, Thursday practice is important for us to work on the set-up but because the rest of the weekend was forecasted to be sunny and warm, running on a wet track would be no good to us. So, we would have to wait until Friday.

When we hit the track Friday for practice, our differential broke on only our 2nd full throttle run! We already had limited time to practice but now with this happening, I could only hope to get in a couple passes before qualifying. Kevin and Sergio did an amazing job as they rushed to get the car fixed and back on track before the session was over. I pulled back up to the line with 5 minutes remaining, plenty of time to get in a pass or two but just as I pulled up, Formula Drift had to end our practice session because another competitor had crashed hard and had to be towed off track. I was pretty upset, never having run our new car or engine at this track, I would now have to go into qualifying pretty much blind. On my first qualifying pass, I went conservative but still landed in 10th after that first round of qualifying! I was thrilled to know that we would definitely be in the competition so I pushed a little harder on my second pass and earned a slightly higher score which put us in 15th place overall.

Onto Top 32, where my first pairing was with Otto Graven, who has had a great year so far and is a serious contender for Formula Drift Rookie of the Year award. We had a close battle so the judges called for a one more time. On our next set of runs, I pushed hard throughout the course and was given the win! In Top 16, we were matched up against Dennis Mertzanis, a great guy who runs his own program very well. We had a solid pair of runs but as we were coming off the bank, Dennis made a critical mistake, giving us the win. In top 8, we would run against my good friend and fellow Drift Alliance member, Ryan Tuerck! It has been two years since we have paired up in competition and because we have always had such great battles, I was really looking forward to it. On our first run, I chased Ryan around the bank and into the infield but as we flipped into the last corner, he spun out right in front of me. It was very unlike him to do that and I couldn’t believe that it happened! Our lead run was nice and smooth so the judges advanced us into the semi-finals!

In the semis, my first opponent was actually my Hankook Tire teammate, Rhys Millen. Rhys had been driving on-point all weekend so I knew that beating him was not going to be easy. As I followed Rhys into the infield, he hit the wall and knocked his car straight! We made light contact with him as his car straightened out but were able to keep going. Rhys immediately got his car back in drift and finished the run behind us. On my lead lap, I put down a nice smooth run and although Rhys was right on my tail, it was still not enough to make up for his hit. The judges awarded us the win and we moved onto the finals!!

In the finals, I was lined up with Daijiro Yoshihara, he was obviously having a great day but I knew we could beat him. I also knew that I could chase Dai harder than anyone else so I stood on the gas and stayed locked in with his car all the way through the bank while beating him with more angle at the same time! Before I explain what happened next, you should know that we run a sequential transmission which means you pull the shifter back to up-shift and push it forward to down-shift. So, as we transfer into the infield, I grab the e-brake and immediately go to down-shift into 2nd gear. As I punched the shifter forward, my hand slipped over the top of it and flew right into the ignition switch! I couldn’t believe it… I just shut the car off in the middle of our run. That had never happened to me before and it just happened to me in the finals!!! I went back out and put down the best lead run I could muster but it wasn’t enough.

So in the end, it was a little heartbreaking but it was still an awesome weekend!!! We went home with our best finish of the season and moved into 3rd place! Team Hankook also had their best finish, placing 2nd, 3rd and 4th, so close to sweeping the podium! Las Vegas is coming up next and the guys already have some great ideas for the car! I’m dreading the heat but I can’t wait to get back out there and compete!

For those that did not have the chance to catch the action on Drift Stream, here are all of our tandem battles from start to finish! Also, you can view pictures from the event, in our PHOTO GALLERY.

Top 32 vs Otto Graven
Top 32 vs Otto Graven OMT
Top 16 vs Dennis Mertzanis
Top 8 vs Ryan Tuerck
Semi-Finals vs Rhys Millen
Finals vs Daijiro Yoshihara

Formula Drift New Jersey 2011

 

Good ol’ Wall Speedway.  What a crazy track, the bank there is so steep and the transitions are so rough that it makes for a real wild ride from start to finish.  I feel like there was more wrecks this event than we have had in a long while.  I do love being in the northeast though, so many of my friends and family were there to support us.  We also had a ton of supporters out from NOS Energy Drink as well as Hankook Tires who are both headquartered in the northeast.

Friday, there was a massive storm heading towards the speedway.  We really had no idea when it would hit, just that it might be sometime during qualifying.  As we went through qualifying, the rain held off and we made two solid passes.  As we were pulling into the pits and getting ready to head over to the drivers meeting to get the official results of qualifying, the storm moved in.  I’m originally from the east coast so I’m no stranger to adverse weather but this storm moved in faster and stronger than any storm I had ever seen!  In a matter of minutes, we went from a light rain to practically hurricane force winds!  We pushed the car farther into the pits and literally held down the awning with straps as debris started flying through the air.  A few minutes later, the storm passed and we went out to survey the damage.  Luckily, we had little to no damage but there was a ton of carnage all around the pits.  One tent had even been blown up and onto a power line!  I finally got word that I had qualified in 6th place and that our evening practice session was canceled due to the mini-apocalypse that had moved through the track!

Saturday was a new day and most importantly a clear day!  We got a few practice laps in and were ready for tandem.  Our first run was against Walker Wilkerson, who is currently the highest ranked rookie in Formula Drift.  He really came out of the woodworks and has been driving very well for his first year in competition.  Our first run with him was pretty solid, I lead through the course and although he had made a couple corrections, he stayed close behind.  On my chase run I stayed right up with him on the straight to make sure we were together on the bank, however Walker’s drivetrain broke on the straight and we rolled together to a stop while he was trying to get his car into 3rd gear.  He signaled his car was broken and we were given the win since there was no way he could fix it in 5 minutes.  Next we faced Ross Petty, who has been a force to reckon with ever since he made the switch to a V8 engine.  On my lead run, Ross followed closely which meant that I needed to stay closer on his.  As we pushed into the last corner, Ross carried in with a little too much speed and as his rear tires pushed up onto the steep banking, he spun.  We were now moving into the Top 8! 

In top 8, we went against Daijiro Yoshihara, who has been a contender for the Formula Drift Championship almost every year.  He is also one of the most consistently fast cars on the course so we decided to tighten up our car a little bit in order to gain some extra speed.  As we pushed down the straight, we were side by side but as we went into the first corner, he flicked out into a slight feint entry maneuver and his rear bumper almost came into our car.  As I initiated, I steered around him but at this point, I felt I was off my line so I made a correction and got into the throttle but as I was adjusting I lost grip in the front end and hit the guard rail.  As I was trying to drive off course, Formula Drift officials told me to stop because both of my driver side wheels were broken with flat tires.  We called 5 minutes and were towed back to our pit where Kevin and Sergio were waiting, along with the Bergenholtz and SHR crew guys.  The car hit the ground and the clock started.   They immediately jacked the car up and started ripping the wheels off; Kevin inspected everything for damage while Bergenholtz taped the hood down.  Kevin said that the suspension was good so the guys slapped on new wheels and tires while he adjusted the tire pressure.  Kevin also said the alignment looked okay except that the front camber and toe were off but as long as the back end was ok we could still control the car.  Bergenholtz cleared a path for me as I headed back to the line to make my second run.  As I tore down the straight for my lead run, I had a little bobble on the entry due to the crooked front end but then it drifted through the rest of the course quite well.  Although we did not get the win, we were able to give the crowd a great second run and also show them how dedicated we are to getting back out there to complete our runs!  I cannot say enough about the level of camaraderie in the drifting paddock, it is truly is amazing and is why I love drifting!  I hope it never changes.

We finished the event in 6th Place overall, and maintained our 4^th Place Championship position.  There is only a 30 point spread between 2nd and 6th so it’s all still up for grabs! 

 

Formula Drift Palm Beach 2011

Formula Drift Round 3 took us to an entirely new venue, Palm Beach International Raceway.  Without any previous experience at this track, I had no idea what to expect and we did have some crazy moments but all in all, we had a great weekend!!  

Thursday’s practice started off with a bang… literally.  The competitors entry speeds were well above the 100 mph mark which is faster than ever before, that coupled with unfortunate barrier placement caused a lot of drivers to slam hard into the wall during practice.  Fortunately, we started practice in the spotter’s booth so that we could scope out the course before we ran.  Formula Drift quickly recognized that the track was a hazard to drivers as well as fans so they stopped practice and went to work on reconfiguring the course.  Their new design was very simple but turned out to be very technical because any small mistake would be very evident to the judges.

Our Nissan 370Z felt great as we headed into Friday’s qualifying session.  As usual, I focused on keeping my first qualifying pass smooth and somewhat conservative to ensure us a spot in Saturday’s competition.  The judges must have really been focused on our control because they gave us 93.3 which turned out to be the highest qualifying score of the day!  We were excited to score that #1 spot as well as the bonus points that come along with it!

In Top 32 we were paired up against my friend Michael Essa who has been driving well in his new Z4 but he spun on his chase run, giving us a clear win.  In Top 16 we ran against two time champion Samuel Hubinette who had been plagued with mechanical failures in the first two rounds so he and his team were definitely pushing hard for a win.  On his lead run, he dropped a tire in the dirt which slowed his car down.  As he tried to regain control in the first clip, I was able to close in on him and move into the Top 8 to face up against Tyler McQuarrie.  After our first run, my spotter said that Tyler had followed us closely throughout the course and that I would have to push it hard in order to win.  On my chase lap, I remained door to door with him, moving us on to the semi-finals.  

In the semis, I first ran against 2010 Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr.  I ran a solid lead run however, Vaughn kicked up a little dirt on the inside of the first inner clipping point.  On my follow run, as we went through that same section on the course, Vaughn swung a little wide, unfortunately, I swung out a little further.  After reviewing footage from both runs, the judges decided to run us one more time.  I had a great lead run on our second battle, and although the judges went on to say that it was the best run they had seen all night, I was unable to close the gap enough on our chase run to take the win.  I still had one shot at the podium though and I was confident that I could beat Darren McNamara for 3rd but as it turns out, I may have been a little overzealous.  Darren was likely to be close but with shallow angle so my strategy was to run deep angle in order to impress the judges but instead, I over rotated in the first corner and spun to a stop.

The disappointment of being so close to the podium (again) is a hard pill to swallow but at the end of the day, I feel very fortunate.  The support we have received from you, our sponsors, has given our team the tools needed to build a competitive and consistent car.  The points we earned by qualifying 1st and finishing 4th was enough to move us up two positions in the Championship standings putting us in 4th place overall!!  We have the championship in sight and  have been getting better and better each round as we develop our new 370Z.  I'm loving running on Hankook rubber as I feel more grip and reliability in my tires than ever before.  

Our next stop is Wall, NJ in just one week.  I’m super pumped to get back to the northeast where we will have the entire Forsberg clan out there to root us on!

Formula Drift Road Atlanta 2011

 

Road Atlanta is by far my favorite track of the circuit.  The track not only brings out some amazing driving, it also lends a picturesque landscape as a backdrop for it all.  We have had some of our best finishes there as we have landed on the podium 4 out of the last 8 years.  As the weekend kicked off, we were joined by local NOS/Coca-Cola employees, many of whom have never seen drifting.  They came out to meet our team and watch practice but even better, I was able to take a few of them for a ride in our competition 370Z, giving them a weekend I hope they will never forget!  We finished up Thursday’s practice with some great runs and a near perfect setup to take us into Friday’s qualifying. 

We had fantastic weather for qualifying on Friday and after we ran a few practice passes, we were ready to head into qualifying.  Our first pass was solid; I focused on running a relatively safe and conservative run to ensure the team a spot in the Top 32.  Our first pass yielded an 88.5 which, when all was said and done, placed us in the 8th position.  Since we were now guaranteed a top 10 qualifying spot, on my second pass, I decided to try for a backwards entry which would be the only way to claim that top qualifying spot.  Unfortunately, I made a small made a mistake and was unable to pull it off.  So, my score of 88.5 stuck. 

After qualifying was over, I went to start the car and realized that the ignition wheel broke!  It is a pretty uncommon part to break and has never broken in the 4 years we have been using this particular wheel.  We quickly realized that with all the work that went into readying the 370Z for the trip back east, we had left the spare back at our shop in California.  Kevin was able to weld the piece back together and although we were relatively certain this would hold through Saturday’s competition, we decided not to take any chances.  It was only 6pm back home, plenty of time to book a flight and have the part brought out to us in time for Saturday’s 2pm practice.  There was actually a small chain of people that executed the plan out in California as well as some friends from the Atlanta area who arranged use of the machining equipment we would need to modify the part to fit.  It was pretty nuts but I can definitely tell you, I am blessed with amazing friends and family!  Thanks to them and the crew, everything went off without a hitch and we ready to go!

Now that the car was back together and running perfect, we hit the track for Saturday morning practice!  After we ran tandem with a few cars and I had a good feel for how our car would react behind the other drivers, we headed into the Top 32 competition where we were matched up against Cyrus Martinez.  Cyrus made an error on the entry and we were able to keep close to him and earn the win.  In Top 16 we were lined up with Eric O’Sullivan who was getting comfortable in his new ride.  On our first set of runs, Eric and I both made errors causing the judges to call for a one more time.  On our second set of runs, I avoided making the same error and followed him closely enough to earn us the win, moving us into the Great 8! 

Moving on to the Top 8, I was paired up against John Russakoff who was having the best event of his career so far.  I laid down a solid lead run but John was close throughout the course.  Talking to my spotter, I realized I would need to put down an exceptional following run in order to move on to the semi-finals but I got a little too close.  As I initiated into the first corner, I had to quickly jump on the brakes so that I could avoid hitting him. Unfortunately there was still a considerable amount of kitty litter on the track from one of the cars on previous battle having blown an engine and I spun out behind John.  The same track conditions caused John to understeer as he exited the same corner and although this would send him slightly off track, it was not enough to warrant a one more time.  We lost the round but because of our excellent qualifying position, we still finished the night in 5th place!  Although I am really proud of how the team performed, I must admit, I was bummed to be so close, only to have that podium finish elude us, once again. 

We’ll give it another shot at Round 3 in Florida!  It is a brand new track that none of us have ever run on before so it’ll be a clean slate and I’m excited to see how it will all play out!  I’ll let you all know how it goes and don’t forget, if you would like to see what we are up to in between rounds, check out my blog onwww.ChrisForsberg.com.  

Kevin, Sergio and I thank you for all your amazing and continued support!!

 

Formula Drift Long Beach 2011

The Formula Drift series kicked off its 8th season this weekend in Long Beach, California. The threat of rain did not detour the crowds from gathering at the famous "Streets of Long Beach" course. The street circuit did not disappoint in providing some of the best drifting action in the world.

The NOS Energy Drink Drift Team debuted it's new Nissan 370Z drift car, receiving rave reviews from competitors and fans alike. Not only did the car look great, the team had it handling perfectly right out of the box. Forsberg defeated Michael Essa and Conrad Grunwell in the tandem rounds of 32 and 16 on his way to the Top 8 tandem battle against 2010 rookie of the year Fredrick Aasbo.

Aasbo was very quick all weekend and would be a strong challenger. With both Aasbo and CFR on Hankook Tires, the two competitors laid down a heavy smokescreen but when it cleared, Forsberg was declared the winner and moved onto the Final 4.

Matt Powers was in the midst of the best event of his career as he was paired with Forsberg for the Final 4 battle. Powers and Forsberg both ran impressive runs causing the judges to call for a "One More Time." Both drivers laid down a second set of excellent runs, but this time the judges decided in favor of Powers sending Forsberg to the consolidation round with drift veteran Dai Yoshihara. The consolidation round was intense as both drivers sought the last podium spot. Yoshihara and Forsberg made contact as they traversed the narrow track. In the end, Yoshihara took the win placing Forsberg in 4th for the event.

The CFR crew was immediately successful with their newly built Nissan 370Z and new tire manufacture Hankook Tire, a change that could throw most teams off of their game. Forsberg was enthused on how well the new 370Z handled and was very pleased with the grip Hankook tires provided. Chris Forsberg and the CFR crew will head to Formula Drift Round 2 at Road Atlanta with confidence where Forsberg has 1 win and 2 podiums.

Formula Drift Qatar

We recently had the awesome opportunity to go back to the Middle East and hold another Formula Drift round just a few weeks ago. Abu Dhabi was an amazing experience with Yas Marina and Ferrari World, however Qatar did not disappoint. They took us all around their country showing us everything from their racetrack, downtown, the beach, and even the dunes. Their hospitality was great and I would love to go back again!

Arriving in Qatar.

Grabbing breakfast before we hit the road... Jarod prefers to eat alone.

Unaware that we were heading into a sandstorm, Andy and I quickly prepare with what little supplies we had.

Time to hit the dunes! We rode around in these SUV's for a while which was way more fun than I thought it would be.

Then they let us run around on their 4 wheelers and Razors, not everyday you get to blast a 4 wheeler along the Persian Gulf!

They also took us to their local market. I bought some spices as well as a rug and some scarves to bring back home.

The architecture in Qatar was amazing, very similar to Abu Dhabi.

Unfortunately my engine broke in practice and I was unable to compete in the competition. So to make the best of it, I went up to the tower and worked with Formula Drift and Live Stream to add a driver's perspective to the event. I shared insight on drivers runs as well as the judges calls with Jarod who was commentating the event.

I was also constantly responding to any and all questions on the Live Stream chat to help the fans feel more involved with the event as it was happening on the other side of the world.

The event went awesome and I had a great time helping Formula Drift make their event more interactive than others. The next day we went to...

We saw some sailboats and catamarans on the beach and decided that today was the day that we took a catamaran into the ocean. Mike Essa gave us the reassurance we needed saying that he knew how to sail. Blair was a little hesitant at first, but we got him on the boat too. It was one of those once in a lifetime moments for sure.

Afterwards we had another amazing meal right by the beach, watched the sun set, then headed off to the airport. Goodbye Qatar.

NOS Drift Team 2010 Wrap Up Video

The KeepDriftingFun.com crew put out another awesome video this time wrapping up the NOS Drift Team's 2010 Formula Drift Season. Chris Forsberg and crew had another great year carrying the NOS Energy Drink banner high in the NOS Energy Drink Nissan 350Z. Check out the video and let us know what you think!

Infineon M56 Drift Car

I have been wanting to build a 4 door drift car for a very long time, and Nissan was awesome enough to set me up with this M35! It is in fantastic shape and I will start the build next week. I will try to post as many pictures along the way of the progress. The plans are to run a VK56 engine in it like our 350Z. Here’s a quick picture of the car as it sits.

Chris Forsberg's POV in Sonoma

This great POV video was put together by the Keep Drifting Fun guys Will and Josh. It features Forsberg's Great 8 run against the S15 of James Deane. The battle went "One More Time" but the consistency and awesome style of Forsberg and the NOS Energy Drink Nissan 350Z prevailed. The footage was all captured using ContourHD Cameras.

Seattle NOS Drifter: Andrew Coomes

A taste of what to come in 2011

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