PHOTO GALLERY // SPOON SPORTS @ THUNDERHILL

Having been hired by Spoon Sports to document their effort at this years 25 Hours at Thunderhill, ColdTrackDays correspondent Jesse Lee has since provided us with a photo gallery from his time at the northern California race track.

Amongst those sharing driving duties in the Spoon Sports #96 FD2 Civic Type R was Tatsuru Ichishima, President and founder of Spoon Sports, Sam Mitani, Editor from Road and Track, Naoki Hattori of Best Motoring and Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Sony Playstation.

Follow the link for a look at Jesse's photos... [read more]














For a look at more photos from Jesse Lee's visit to the 2009 25 Hours at Thunderhill, click here

Photo: Jesse Lee
Editorial: Justin W. Coffey

EVENT // KINOD CAPTURES FORMULA D @ SONOMA

Last weekend, while many of us in the Northwest enjoyed the fleeting moments of summer, Kinod photographer and ColdTrackDays contributor, Jesse Lee, left his home in LA and soon found himself deep in California's wine country for the 6th round of the 2009 Formula DRIFT Championship. What follows is a mere preview of the incredible photo gallery Jesse put together from this event. So take the jump, enjoy a few shots from Sonoma and be sure to check back for more from Mr.Lee... [read more]









Round 6: Locked and Loaded Event Results
1. Verdier, Stephan Cooper Tire / Crawford Performance Subaru STI Winner
2. Gushi, Ken RS*R Scion Racing TC 2nd Place
3. Miki, Ryuji APEXi / Hankook Mazda RX-7 3rd Place

Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2009 Point Standings
1. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z 470 Points
2. Tuerck, Ryan Gardella Racing / Mobil 1Pontiac Solstice 414 Points
3. Gittin, Vaughn Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang GT 401.50 Points
4. Hubinette, Samuel NuFormz Dodge Viper 399.25 Points
5. McQuarrie, Tyler Falken Nissan 350Z 396 Points
6. Foust, Tanner Rockstar / Hankook Scion Racing tC 373 Points
7. McNamara, Darren Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky 370.50 Points
8. Verdier, Stephan Cooper Tire / Crawford Performance Subaru STI 364 Points
9. Nishida, Robbie Hankook Tires / Dynamic Autosports Nissan 350Z 362.25 Points
10. Pawlak, Justin Bergenholtz Racing / Nitto Mazda RX-8 354 Points
11. Miki, Ryuji APEXi / Hankook Mazda RX-7 341.75 Points
12. Gushi, Ken RS*R Scion Racing TC 333.50 Points
13. Brakohiapa, Tony Cooper Tire Ford Mustang 331 Points
14. Petty, Ross Garage Boso / Falken Nissan S15 329 Points
15. Aono, Taka Technosquare Toyota AE86 Corolla 321.25 Points
16. Mordaunt, Patrick PM Racing Nissan S13 317.25 Points

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Photo Gallery - Formula DRIFT Round 6 @ Sonoma

Photo: Jesse Lee
Editorial: Justin Coffey

FORMULA DRIFT // ROUND 4: LAS VEGAS [PART TWO]

As the sun went down and the lights came on, the action headed up in fabulous Las Vegas during the fourth round of the 2009 Formula Drift seaon. Follow the link for a look at part two of Grady Nguyen and Jesse Lee's slideshow... [read more]








Complete Gallery // Formula Drift - Round 4: Las Vegas [PART TWO]

Photo: Grady Nguyen & Jesse Lee
Editorial: Justin Coffey

FORMULA DRIFT // ROUND 4: LAS VEGAS [PART ONE]

Where do I begin? What words would addequately described how grateful I am to have people like Jesse Lee and Grady Nguyen working on this ColdTrackDays project with me? Their consistent hard work, enthusiasm, dedication and a seemingly effortless abilitiy to capture some of the most stunning motorsport images I have come across since the creation of CTD nearly 16 months ago, has literally left me speechless.

Follow the link for a preview of Jesse and Grady's slideshow as well as complete results from the 4th round of Formula Drift... [read more]








Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2009 Point Standings:
1. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z 307 Points
2. Tuerck, Ryan Gardella Racing / Mobil 1Pontiac Solstice 294 Points
3. Hubinette, Samuel NuFormz Dodge Viper 271 Points
4. Gittin, Vaughn Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang GT 265.50 Points
5. McQuarrie, Tyler Falken Nissan 350Z 265 Points
6. McNamara, Darren Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky 260 Points
7. Nishida, Robbie Hankook Tires / Dynamic Autosports Nissan 350Z 259 Points
8. Foust, Tanner Rockstar / Hankook Scion Racing tC 246.50 Points
9. Pawlak, Justin Bergenholtz Racing / Nitto Mazda RX-8 245 Points
10. Maeng, Joon Maxxis / LS Auto Nissan S13.5 227.25 Points
11. Aono, Taka Technosquare Toyota AE86 Corolla 223 Points
12. Mordaunt, Patrick PM Racing Nissan S13 220 Points
13. Brakohiapa, Tony Cooper Tire Ford Mustang 219 Points
14. Verdier, Stephan Cooper Tire / Crawford Performance Subaru STI 214 Points
15. Petty, Ross Garage Boso / Falken Nissan S15 212.75 Points
16. Yoshihara, Daijiro Falken Tire / Discount Tire Lexus IS350 208 Points

Round 4: All In Event Results:
1. Foust, Tanner Rockstar / Hankook Scion Racing tC
2. Miki, Ryuji APEXi / Hankook Mazda RX-7
3. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z

Tires.com Triple Crown Point Standings after 1 of 3 events:
1. Forsberg, Chris NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Nissan 350Z 102 Points
2. McNamara, Darren Falken / Sears Auto Center Saturn Sky 94 Points
3. Tuerck, Ryan Gardella Racing / Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice 80 Points

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Complete Gallery // Formula Drift - Round 4: Las Vegas

Photo: Jesse Lee & Grady Nguyen
Editorial: Justin Coffey

D1GP @ ANAHEIM STADIUM // DAIGO SAITO CLAIMS FIRST WIN OF '08

ColdTrackDays correspondent and Kinod photographer, Jesse Lee, spent last weekend at Anaheim Stadium for the D1GP’s first US event of the year. The nostalgic vibe of D1GP was noticeably different, especially with the absence of Keiichi Tsuchiya, who stepped down under the new organization. Smoothness was key, as speeds peaked around 70mph on the Anaheim track... [read more]

The judges were expecting drivers to maintain wide open throttle throughout the course and had warned that excessive e-braking and lifting will result in points deduction.

Every sector of the track had equal value in the overall scoring, which stressed and emphasized consistency.

Driftbox had a large factor in judging, utilizing onboard video footage and telemetry data in real time which was displayed on the jumbotron.

The European drift scene has become increasingly popular, with cars like the BMW E30 becoming an obvious alternative to the ever popular rear-drive Nissan 240sx

After working his way through the field, Daigo Saito took the win in his Toyota Chaser.

Click here for a look at Jesse's complete photo gallery from the D1GP at Anaheim Stadium

Photo: Jesse Lee & Grady Nguyen
Editorial: Jesse Lee

ROUND ONE // FORMULA D ON THE STREETS OF LONG BEACH

ColdTrackDays photographer, Jesse Lee, spent last weekend in a cloud of tire smoke, as the Formula DRIFT Professional Championship held its season opener on the streets of Long Beach. Now in its fifth year, Formula D has evolved greatly from its origins on the back roads of rural Japan, to become the premiere professional drifting competition in the United States. Offering both well funded, factory backed professionals and grassroots, built in their garage amateurs, the chance to compete in a series of events across the states, Formula D has paved the way for a number of up and coming drift organizations around the globe.

Follow the link for a look at just a few of the photos Jesse took over the weekend, as well as complete results from the Formula DRIFT season opener... [read more]




Formula DRIFT Professional Championship 2009 Point Standings
1. Tuerck, Ryan - Gardella Racing / Mobil 1 [102 Points]
2. Hubinete, Samuel - NuFormz Racing / Mopar Dodge Viper [90 Points]
3. Foust, Tanner - Rockstar / Scion Racing tC [84 Points]
4. Nishida, Robbie - Hankook Tires / Dynamic Autosports Nissan 350Z [72 Points]
5. Aono, Taka - Technosquare Toyota AE86 Corolla [65 Points]
6. Brakohiapa, Tony - Cooper Tire Ford Mustang [62 Points]
6. Forsberg, Chris - NOS Energy Drink / Maxxis Tire Nissan 350Z [62 Points]
6. Gittin, Vaughn - Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang GT [62 Points]
6. Verdier, Stephan - Cooper Tire / Crawford Performance Subaru STI [62 Points]
10. McNamara, Darren - Falken Tire / Sears Saturn Sky [61 Points]
11. Pawlak, Justin - Mazda USA / Cooper [58 Points]
12. Grunewald, Conrad - Tanaka Racing Chevy Corvette [57 Points]
13. Ly, Quoc - Driftspeed Nissan S14 [56 Points]
14. Ueo, Katsuhiro - Driftspeed Nissan S15 [55 Points]
15. Jeff Jones - CompTurbo / K&N Filters Nissan S13 [54.50 Points]
16. Kondo, Yasu - KAAZ USA Toyota AE86 Corolla [54.25 Points]

Formula DRIFT Round 1: Streets of Long Beach Event Results
1. Tuerck, Ryan - Gardella Racing / Mobil 1
2. Hubinete, Samuel - NuFormz Racing / Mopar Dodge Viper
3. Foust, Tanner - Rockstar / Scion Racing tC

For a look at Jesse's entire photo gallery from Formula D, click here