Tanner Foust is the first driver to win the Formula Drift Championship two years in a row (2007-2008). Both years Tanner drove the Rockstar/AEM sponsored 2005 twin turbo Nissan 350Z. Tanner is making a name for himself in drifting and rally motorsports and in television by hosting Redline TV, Super Cars Exposed, and Top Gear USA. Foust is a classy racer always pushing his car to its limits, so in my estimation, there couldn’t be a better Formula Drift Champion – congratulations!

“Honestly I can hardly believe that I am part of Formula Drift history and it is an amazing honor,” - Tanner Foust.

Vaughn Gittin Jr. drifts his Ford Mustang to a win at Round 7 of Formula Drift at Irwindale Speedway. Although Vaughn Gittin took first place, he ends the 2008 Formula D points chase in eighth. Tanner Foust finished second acquiring enough points to secure the 2008 Formula Drift Championship for a second year in a row.

2008 Formula Drift Round 7 Results:

1. Vaughn Gittin Jr. - Ford Mustang
2. Tanner Foust - Nissan 350Z
3. Justin Pawlak – Mazda RX-7 FC

Overall Point Standings:

1. Tanner Foust - Nissan 350Z (599 points)
2. Sam Hubinette - Dodge Viper (544 points)
3. Rhys Millen - Pontiac Solstice GXP (510 points)
4. Daijiro Yoshihara - Pontiac GTO (481 points)
5. Chris Forsberg - Nissan 350Z (459 points)
6. Ryan Tuerck - Pontiac Solstice (453 points)
7. Michihiro Takatori - R34 Nissan Skyline (452 points)
8. Vaughn Gittin Jr. - Ford Mustang (356.5 points)
9. Conrad Grunewald - Chevrolet Corvette (349.25 points)
10. Robbie Nishida - Nissan 350Z (318.25 points)

Initial D is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the anime series this December 2008 with the release of Initial D: Extra Stage 2: Tabi-Dachi no Green. The new Initial D OAV focuses on the lives of Mako Sato and Sayuki – two girl racers that form the racing team Impact Blue with their blue Nissan Sil80 (sileighty) drift car. The girl racers are known to dominate the Usui Mountain touge and have already been featured in the Initial D Extra Stage OAV released in 2000. Reports say that Extra Stage 2: Tabi-Dachi no Green is not a direct sequel, even though Shuichi Shigeno wrote the script back in 2001. The new DVD is available December 5th in Japan and has already aired once on SkyPerfectTV.

Drift Kids Day is a fan appreciation event sponsored by D1 Grand Prix, Ebisu Circuit, and drift Team Orange. The one day event is Sunday October 12 at Ebisu West Course, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Admission is free for junior high school students or younger.

Drift Kids Day will feature drifting exhibitions from Team Orange and other D1GP celebrity drifters like Ken Nomura, Drift Samurai, and current 2008 D1GP points leader Daigo Saito!

Drift Kids Day Drifters:

• Nobushige Kumakubo
• Kazuhiro Tanaka
• Hideo Hiraoka
• Masao Suenaga
• Drift Samurai
• Ken Nomura
• Yoshinori Koguchi
• Tatsuya Sakuma
• Naoki Nakamura
• Daigo Saito

Drift Kids Day also includes a petting zoo, autograph and picture session, passenger seat ride along with the pros, bus tours of Ebisu, and even a ride along with 2006 Japanese D1 Grand Prix Champion Nobushige Kumakubo in a Nissan GT-R.

President, founder, driver, and designer of the Japanese tuning company Powerhouse Amuse, Hideki Tanabe, died September 20, 2008. Tanabe is well known and respected in the Japanese tuning community for his tuning ability and high quality products - exhaust systems, body kits, and engine management electronics. Tanabe was a man seeking JDM greatness, for example, he built a carbon fiber Skyline weighing 2400 pounds with a power rating of 600 horsepower. Perfection was Tanabe’s goal and Powerhouse Amuse will continue his legacy.

http://webamuse.co.jp

2007 Formula Drift Champ Tanner Foust took fist place at Round 6 of Formula D and is positioned first in the overall Formula D standings. With only one event left, Final Fight at Irwindale Speedway October 11, Tanner may repeat his 2007 victory.

2008 Formula Drift Round 6 Results:

1. Tanner Foust - Nissan 350Z
2. Rhys Millen - Pontiac Solstice GXP
3. Bill Sherman - S13.5 Nissan Silvia

Overall Point Standings:

Tanner Foust - Nissan 350Z (504 points)
Sam Hubinette - Dodge Viper (478 points)
Rhys Millen - Pontiac Solstice GXP (448 points)
Daijiro Yoshihara - Pontiac GTO (423 points)
Chris Forsberg - Nissan 350Z (403 points)
Ryan Tuerck - Pontiac Solstice (389 points)
Michihiro Takatori - R34 Nissan Skyline (381 points)
Conrad Grunewald - Chevrolet Corvette (294.25 points)
Robbie Nishida - Nissan 350Z (255.25 points)
(Tied for 10) Vaughn Gittin Jr. - Ford Mustang (238.5 points)
(Tied for 10) Ryuji Miki - Mazda RX-7 FD3S

Nobushige Kumakubo, 2006 D1GP Champion, took the win at Round 6 of D1 Grand Prix Japan drifting the Team Orange Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution at his home track Ebisu. The final D1GP event is October 25 and 26 at Fuji International Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture.

D1GP Japan Round 6 Top Ten:

1. Nobushige Kumakubo - Team Orange CT9A Mitsubishi Lancer EVO
2. Yoichi Imamura - Boss S15 Nissan Silvia
3. Takahiro Ueno - JZZ30 Toyota Soarer
4. Naoki Nakamura - S15 Nissan Silvia
5. Tatsuya Sakuma - Team Toyo S15 Nissan Silvia
6. Tsuyoshi Tezuka - BNR32 Nissan Skyline
7. Daigo Saito - Toyota Mark II JZX100
8. Toshiki Yoshioka - DRoo-P UZZ40 Lexus SC430
9. Kazuyoshi Okamura - S15 Nissan Silvia
10. Takumi Nozawa - S14 Nissan Silvia

D1GP Japan Overall Points Rankings:

1. Daigo Saito - Toyota Mark II JZX100 (97 points)
2. Yoichi Imamura - Boss S15 Nissan Silvia (91 points)
3. Ken Nomura - Blitz, Dunlop ER34 Nissan Skyline (80 points)
4. Tsuyoshi Tezuka - Goodyear BNR32 Nissan Skyline (72 points)
5. Masao Suenaga - RE Amemiya, Trust, Toyo FD3S Mazda RX-7 (64 points)
6. Takahiro Ueno - JZZ30 Toyota Soarer (61 points)
7. Masato Kawabata - Nissan 180SX (59 points)
8. Nobushige Kumakubo - Team Orange CT9A Mitsubishi Lancer EVO (53 points)
9. Toshiki Yoshioka - DRoo-P UZZ40 Lexus SC430 (52 points)
10. Kazuhiro Tanaka - Team Orange GDB Subaru Impreza (51 points)

All Access is a cool way to get some awesome drift car pics onto your computer screen and put an extra 2 bucks in your pocket.

To gain access, go to http://www.formulad.com/all-access/members and enter username “allaccess” and password “driftit“.

Formula Drift’s new All Access features:

• Formula Drift TV
• Miss Formula Drift Fan Page ^_^
• Behind the Scenes Galleries
• Girls of Formula Drift
• Wallpaper Downloads
• Contests and Giveaways

Sorry to say there are no active contests or giveaways at Formula D’s All Access, Miss Formula Drift is hot, but no fan interaction, clicking on a FD Girl takes you to the homepage of Prestigious Models?? Formula Drift TV is a bunch of trailers, the drift car galleries are nice and there are some nice images for your computer in the Wallpaper Downloads section.

Best thing I could find for people attending Formula D events is a $2 Off drift coupon. Just print out this flyer:

Through August 25th, purchase 2 or more products and receive 25% off your order total.

Coupon Code = SCHOOL308

http://shop.driftjapan.com

Rhys Millen took first place at Round 5 of Formula Drift held at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA. Considering Rhys might have not even been able to compete this Formula D season after fracturing five vertebrae in his back practicing for a Red Bull stunt, Millen is doing exceptionally well. Sam Hubinette took the overall points lead from last year’s Formula D Champion Tanner Foust and with only two events left this season, it’s still anyone’s game. Next Formula Drift event is September 13 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA.

2008 Formula Drift Round 5 Results:

1. Rhys Millen - Pontiac Solstice GXP
2. Samuel Hubinette – Dodge Viper
3. Robbie Nishida - Nissan 350Z

Overall Point Standings:

1. Sam Hubinette - Dodge Viper (409 points)
2. Tanner Foust - Nissan 350Z (397 points)
3. Daijiro Yoshihara - Pontiac GTO (366 points)
4. Rhys Millen - Pontiac Solstice GXP (355 points)
5. Chris Forsberg - Nissan 350Z (338 points)
6. Michihiro Takatori - R34 Nissan Skyline (326 points)
7. Ryan Tuerck - Pontiac Solstice (317 points)
8. Darren McNamara - Saturn Sky (237 points)
9. Conrad Grunewald - Chevrolet Corvette (229.25 points)
10. Robbie Nishida - Nissan 350Z (200.25 points)