Santa Fe Springs, CA, May 15, 2014
(Photos by Formula Drift, Wrecked Magazine, Speedhunters, Road Race Engineering)

Family, Fans and Friends!
We have amassed great momentum during the start of the 2014 season by excellent working relationships with our technical partners and with great support from fans around the globe, however we did suffer a no-points weekend in the second round of the 2014 Formula Drift PRO Championship by taking 34th spot out of 60 cars at Road Atlanta. Now how do you handle a gut punch like that? Answer: Like a Champion.

The Road Race Engineering Berk Technology 350Z powered by Champion Spark Plugs ran perfect in the Georgia heat and this was also the first time that we positively were able to run the same wheel speeds as the top 10 cars, much thanks to the excellent in-house designed turbo setup and tune of the Fueled Racing LS2 V8 boosted by an incredibly willing Garrett GTX4088R turbocharger. This means that the car has the wheel speed range necessary to run the same lines as the best cars and can shred Hankook Ventus R-S3 tires like you only see the very best drift cars on the planet do. To have this in combination with reliability and great handling is not a small achievement and this is a big milestone for the team.

In qualifying Carl and the RRE Berk 350Z were 27th after the first qualifying attempt with a 60 points score. In the second qualifying attempt the track was drying up which allowed a much stronger and committed run but it only got awarded a 58 point score. Tough break!

Qualifying in the rain was good for us, we removed the front swaybar and adjusted the tire pressures and the car ran excellent like this on the drenched track, Carl says. – Unfortunately I carried just a fraction too much speed into the initiation and got off line by a couple of feet past turn 1 apex which cost us a handful of points. The second run felt strong throughout a wet entry, completely mudded out turn 1 and an almost dry keyhole turn but I didn’t fully fill the outer zone in the keyhole so that score got lower, Carl says.

In the PRO championship we are now at 31st place tied in points with a few notable drivers such as Danny George, Ryan Kado, Tony Angelo and Matt Field but we remain confident that with a few good results from now until October we will climb back up in the standings.

Rossy Welch, team manager Road Race Engineering
“It was fantastic to see so many fans this weekend who wanted to see the car and talk to Carl about drifting with Road Race Engineering in Formula Drift. We really feel the love and support from the fans and our sponsors so all we have to do now is focus.“

Bryan Min, team crew chief and owner Berk Technology
“As far as the on track action goes, we need to be very quick to setup the car and we have to never let up or get into a comfort zone until we are making the biggest and most spectacular runs out there.”

Carl Rydquist, driver RRE Berk 350Z V8 Turbo powered by Champion Spark Plugs

“The fans definitely saved our weekend and made it a great time to be at Road Atlanta. Driving wise, I need to get the perfect balance of grip and angle, RIGHT NOW. I have the car, tires and team to do it.”

See you at Homestead-Miami Speedway on May 30-31 or on the FD livestream! In the meantime see what we are up to via all major forms of social media under: @roadraceengineering @berktechnology @carlrydquistofficial