The Nexen / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 Leaves Atlanta 10^th in the Formula Drift Points Championship

May 15, 2012 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – Until this weekend, the Road Atlanta round of the Formula Drift Pro Championship was the only one where Mohan had never taken part in the opening ceremonies. However, after a strong pair of qualifying runs and a first-round win in the Nexen / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8, Mohan ticked the box as he advanced to the top-16 of the event at Road Atlanta.

Controversy surrounded qualifying, as the Formula Drift judging panel elected to award the full ten points for speed scores to all of the qualifying drivers. As one of the few drivers to achieve the speed necessary to gain the 10 points, Mohan was left unimpressed by the decision, which meant his run of 85.5 was only good for 19^th.

“I don’t understand it, and I don’t agree with it,” said Mohan. “It was completely arbitrary and unfair for the few of us who did a good job and drove well. I felt bad for my guys because we worked so hard to make the car work well in qualifying, and we definitely had a car that was better than 19^th.”

As a result, Mohan would match up with Dennis Mertzanis, in a V8-powered Nissan S14, in the top-32 round. After two close runs, the judges had a split decision to send the two for a One More Time.  After a strong lead run by Mertzanis, Mohan established a gap when Mertzanis went off course, and the judges advanced him to the top-16.

In the top-16, Mohan would meet Frederic Aasbo in Need For Speed Scion tC. While Mohan had a strong lead run and followed Aasbo closely, the judges elected to advance Aasbo to the round of Great Eight. Aasbo would ultimately finish second in the event.

“I knew the battle with Dennis was going to be a close one, and I think if not for him putting a wheel off we might have had another One More Time,” said Mohan. “And everyone knows that Frederic can really lay down some awesome runs. I think I matched him well up the hill, but he came out of the horseshoe better than I did and got a gap. I had a great time in Atlanta, the crowd was nuts, and we enjoyed having support from Rick Case Mazda in Duluth. I can’t wait to come back next year!”

After two rounds of the 2012 Formula Drift Pro Championship, Mohan sits tenth in the championship standings with 109.5 points. The next round of the Formula Drift Pro Championship is June 1-2, at Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, Florida.

Videos

Top-32  against Dennis Mertzanis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LGQ6hRuN4M&feature=plcp

About Kyle Mohan Racing

Kyle Mohan competes in the Formula Drift Pro Championship in the No.99 Nexen Tire / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8, with support from Nexen Tire, Mazdatrix, and Mazda USA. More information can be found at www.kylemohanracing.com.

Contact: Efrain Olivares | 818.254.7196 | efrain@shiftgroup.net

KMR Video Blog part 1.

Here is our first attempt at a video blog to keep everyone up to date with our off season progress.  We have been hard at work improving the RX-7 for 2012. Hope you enjoy!

Video From Hangzhou China WDS 2011.

On car GoPro footage.

These events are pretty wild, the track is  paved inside an Olympic stadium and lined with lose K rails. If you make a mistake its game over, but if you don’t then its a lot of fun to fly around the track!  Short Video Check it out!

I had the opportunity after Irwindale  to do a blog feature with the Motor Mavens crew.  Great group of automotive enthusiasts, make sure to check out the full feature!

CLICK THE LINK BELOW!

http://www.motormavens.com/2012/01/formula-drift-driver-kyle-mohan-mazda-rx8/

Motor Mavens Blog with Kyle Mohan