Swing Battle - 2004 D1GP

D1's American Idols
Three New U.S. Hopefuls with a Ticket to the Big Show.While last year's driver search was open to anyone with money to pay for the entry fee, this year's selection was based on U.S. grassroots hopefuls. An unexpected last minute driver search came down to six hopefuls getting a call to show their stuff in front of the judges on the Friday before the event. Included in the search was Alex Phiffer, Segio Yamamoto, Andy Yen, Chris Forsberg, Ben Swartz and Benson Hsu. With the last minute call only a few were prepared for the challenge, while some drivers borrowed cars from friends as an entry. Benson Hsu jumped in one of our cover cars owned by Richard Tang. Ben Swartz had help from Ken Miyoshi to build a drift ready S13.

Unfortunately, before the driver search both Benson and Chris experienced car problems, eliminating them from the competition. Thursday night before the search began Benson plowed into the plastic barricades on a practice session and scrambled that night to fix a busted radiator but was unable to finish in time. Ben also met the K rail that took many vehicles out of the competition but was still able to compete. Due to his vehicle being unable to produce enough power in time for the event, Ben and the Myoshi Motorsports team had to give it their best with what they were dealt. In the end, out of the six hopefuls three would move on to the next round. This included Alex Phiffer, Andy Yen and Segio Yamamoto.

Tuesday's Tire Test
Japan and U.S. Drivers Shakedown for D1While the big day was to come on Saturday, this did not stop Companies like Tanabe, Signal, A'PEXi and Motorex from joining together to rent Irwindale for a last minute test session. Invited to the session were a few of the U.S. D1 drivers as well as a few drivers getting ready to qualify for D1. This group consisted of Andy Yen of Autolink, Alex Phiffer from Battle Version, and Chris Forsberg, supported by Tanabe.

Among this group it's easy to say that Alex Phiffer is the most experienced when it comes to drifting in the States. Raised in Hawaii, this guy has been drifting for over eight years and now that it has gone mainstream, it's time for him to shine. Chris Forsberg was raised in the East Coast but has since moved to the West Coast to continue his drifting career. For this particular test and tune, Chris had just finished adding the last pieces of his SR20-powered 350Z the morning of this track day. Andy Yen has been sponsored by Autolink for quite sometime now and his experience is worthy of D1. Often spotted drifting a busted-up Corolla, he now sports an S13 Nissan with a SR20DET engine. While his Corolla is driftable, this drift-ready Nissan will showcase his competitive skills.

Also on the tire test mission were the following Japanese companies: A'PEXi, Tanabe, Signal Auto, Motorex and DRFT. Although each of these companies have different tire sponsors, it was nice to see they could all get together to share the track. A'PEXi tested their new Bridgestone tires while Tanabe and Signal shook down different model BFG rubbers. Motorex ran Falkens on their 350Z, piloted by Calvin Wan, while DRFT used Yokohamas.