Formula D
Formula D is both the name of the United States' drifting series, and the name of the G4 TV show that covers it. It is the American equivalent of drifting's premier championship in Japan, the D1 Grand Prix.
The series is sponsored by the popular video game series, Need for Speed. Its official name is Need for Speed Formula Drift Presented by Circuit City. It was inaugurated in 2004, and is a division of the Sports Car Club of America.
The 2006 series schedule has seven rounds, all at a different track. These are the locations Formula D is expected to visit next year:
- Streets of Long Beach, California (scheduled for April 2)*
- Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia (scheduled for May 13)
- Soldier Field in Chicago (scheduled for June 11)
- Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California (scheduled for July 8)
- Evergreen Speedway near Seattle (scheduled for August 20)*
- Wall Speedway in Wall Township, New Jersey (scheduled for September 9)
- Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, California (scheduled for October 21)
The asterisk next to Long Beach and Evergreen denote that they are new venues. The Long Beach, Chicago and Evergreen rounds will take place on a Sunday, while the Road Atlanta, Infineon, Wall and Irwindale rounds will take place on a Saturday.
Rossi Morreale hosts the Formula D show for G4. Jarod DeAnda is the public address announcer at each event, earning him the moniker, "The Voice of Formula D." G4 airs each round on a tape-delayed basis (which, strange enough, is done like this: the network tapes each round, then premieres it the night after the most recent round in the championship, so, in reality, they're going back two rounds; because of this, many viewers say it's hard not to have already known the event results). G4 does not limit themselves to just airing the rounds. One new half-hour episode premieres each month, looking at Formula D behind-the-scenes. During the first season, these shows also looked at a drifting car G4 themselves were having built from scratch, and how that process went about.
In addition to Morreale (whom was substituted for by TV personality Possum at the Houston round in 2005), there are also two people working the pits — driver interviewer Mayleen Ramey, who is a roving reporter for the half-hour episodes, and a second anchor, who patrols around the car show at each event. In 2005, G4 used three reporters for this job. From the round in Wall to the round in Houston, actor Emeka held the job. At the Infineon round, Attack of the Show co-host Kevin Pereira took the duties, while Street Fury host Big C finished things out in Chicago and Irwindale.
Formula D has somewhat of a partnership with the Champ Car World Series, holding demonstration events at Champ Car race weekends, most prominently, the Long Beach Grand Prix.
There is also a Formula D in Australia, which was announced in June 2005. The three tracks Formula D Australia visited in 2005 are Mallala Motorsport Park in South Australia, Oran Park in New South Wales, and Winton in Victoria. The series is held in conjunction with the DRIFT AUSTRALIA Championship.
The American Formula D series has more tire manufacturers than any other motor racing series in the world, with seven manufacturers (Nitto Tires, Toyo Tires, Yokohama Tires, Falken Tires, Cooper Tires, Dunlop Tires, and Kumho Tires).
List of competing drivers
Alex Pfeiffer (RS*R Honda S2000)
Rhys Millen (Rhys Millen Racing Pontiac GTO)
Chris Forsberg (Falken/Drift Alliance Nissan Silvia S15)
Vaughn Gittin, Jr. (Falken/DA Ford Mustang)
Ryan Hampton (Falken/DA 1969 Chevrolet Camaro)
Tony Angelo (Falken/DA FD3S Mazda RX-7)
Calvin Wan (Falken Infiniti G35)
Daijiro Yoshihara (Pacific Rim Nissan Silvia S13)
Casper Canul (Nitto Tires Nissan 240SX S14)
Ken Gushi 具志健士郎(Toyo Tires Ford Mustang)
Benson Hsu (privateer Nissan Sileighty)
Taka Aono (Falken AE86 Corolla)
Hiro Sumida (Falken Toyota Chaser)
Samuel Hubinette (Mopar Dodge Viper)
Formula D Champions
US
Australia
Notable Formula D Drivers
All-time Formula D event winners list
- Samuel Hubinette — 5 wins (2004 at Road Atlanta, Houston, and Infineon; 2005 at Road Atlanta and Chicago)
- Rhys Millen — 2 wins (2004 at Irwindale; 2005 at Wall)
- one win each for Chris Forsberg (2005 at Irwindale); Ken Gushi (2005 at Houston); and Calvin Wan (2005 at Infineon)