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Santa Ana, CA, October 20, 2013
For the season finale of the 2013 Formula Drift PRO Championship, Rydquist Racing and Berk Technology partnered up with Santa Fe Springs based Road Race Engineering that has over 20 years of motorsports experience from competing in rally, racing, time attack and drifting. The team merger created a strong platform for the 7th and final round of the 2013 Formula Drift PRO Championship and the 20.000 fans at the completely sold out Toyota Irwindale Speedway, CA got to see Carl take a spot in the Top 32 bracket once more before the winter break.
Formula Drift – 10 Years and Still Sideways. Going on it’s 10th season, the Formula Drift PRO Championship requires more strength from a team and driver than ever before to take a Top 32 spot. At Irwindale Speedway 61 drivers fought for a spot, Carl was one of those who made it in. Photo D. Karey.
Qualifying
– My crew said “It should feel like you’re going to hit the wall, and don’t worry if you hit it, we will fix the car”, Carl says. Carl’s first qualifying received a 76.5 score and it placed him in a preliminary 25thspot. The added power from nitrous that is fully controlled by the AEM Series 2 engine management system was a significant factor to be able to make big runs at the Toyota Irwindale Speedway. The nitrous system was tuned at Road Race Engineering and Carl uses Champion Iridium spark plugs to handle the extra load. – I knew where I could grab a few more points in the second attempt, Carl continues. However when I initiated on my second run my sticky Hankook Ventus R-S3 demanded more power than the nitrous system was capable of, and I couldn’t compensate with more gas to build up the drift angle as I already was at full throttle and kicking the ACT clutch to stay at angle. Long story short, the run ended with a wall contact, but the Berk Technology / Road Race Engineering crew had it taken care of quickly, as they had said they would. We didn’t improve as planned but my first run was still good enough to be in the Top 32.
“It should feel like you’re going to hit the wall, and don’t worry if you hit it, we will fix the car”, RRE crew said to Carl before qualifying. Photo L. Chen.
Carl and his team had a lot of visitors lined up for autographs, photos and chats at Irwindale. – Our late season alliance with Road Race Engineering has given our program a tremendous boost in performance and we are hungry for next year, Berk Technology owner Bryan Min says. Now we can do those developments on the car and our PR and media program that we didn’t quite have the manpower to do as we started up. I couldn’t be happier with the growth and direction of our young team.
– We made the show and never missed any driving this whole week. Everyone busted their backs to get out there and we did an awesome job, Berk Technology owner Bryan Min says. I feel like we have a solid team and we can go far next year.
Top 32 Saturday morning warm-up practice. Photo D. Karey.
The fan support has been growing steadily during the year and the passion and enthusiasm explains why Formula Drift is the fastest growing motorsport in the US.
Formula Drift event has proven to be a great platform to showcase products and to interact directly with people.
Hankook Tire Motorsport Formula Drift representative John Shin gives feedback during pre-qualifying practice.
Berk Technology / Road Race Engineering spokesperson Erica diligently handed out Search For A Champion flyers during the Formula Drift weekend, even to Carl’s racing team mate from 25 Hours of Thunderhill; car enthusiast Paul Walker (moviestar from Universal Studios’ Fast & Furious franchise).
Carl and Rossy Welch (Road Race Engineering Marketing/PR Manager) with racer friends Seal Lee and Paul Walker.
The V8 powered, nitrous sprayed Rydquist Racing / Berk Technology 350Z has never been in better hands than with Road Race Engineering, and the car was looking great on the big Irwindale course.
Saturday main competition battle. Photo L. Chen.
The team’s first season ended on a high note. Photo L. Chen.
Carl, Berk Technology and Road Race Engineering will make their next appearance at SEMA Las Vegas, where they will represent team partners and discuss the products that the team has used on the Rydquist Racing 350Z drift car during 2013.
Check out Carl’s Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/carlrydquist
Please check out and support our team partners who have provided first class products and services for our 2013 Formula Drift PRO Championship program!
