Team Falken’s Vaughn Gittin, Jr., Wins Formula D at Infineon

16 Sep, 2010

SONOMA, CA (September 11, 2010) – Team Falken Factory Driver Vaughn Gittin, Jr., moved closer to taking the 2010 Formula Drift Championship as he finished first in Round 6 at Infineon Raceway in his Monster Energy/Falken Tire 2011 Ford Mustang.

With 41 cars intent on qualifying for the fastest drift event of the season, Gittin, Jr.'s teammate and hometown favorite, Tyler McQuarrie was the top qualifier in his Nissan 350Z Convertible, while another Falken team driver, Daijiro Yoshihara, placed fifth.  A total of nine Falken-shod entrants, including four privateers, were among the competitors for this important event in Northern California.  Gittin, Jr., surprisingly qualified 14th, but proved to be the strongest all day long, moving from the Top 32 to the final battle and taking out Ryan Tuerck, who had in turn eliminated several of Gittin, Jr.'s teammates to get to the final fight.

"With Vaughn's victory at Infineon, Team Falken has now posted 10 podiums in six events, and he has taken a commanding lead in the point series," said Jonathon Bradford, Falken's Drift Team Supervisor.  "This is what we've been working toward all season.  It's  great going into the final event at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, CA, with Falken drivers in first and second place."

Indeed, "Dai" Yoshihara and his Discount Tire Silvia S13 (240SX) remains in second in the 2010 Formula D Championship while fourth team driver Darren McNamara is in fifth.  McQuarrie sits in 8th and fifth Falken factory driver Justin Pawlak is in 11th.

"Without sounding overconfident, it has been Team Falken's goal in 2010 to dominate Formula Drift, and I think we've managed to achieve that," declared Andrew Hoit, Falken Director of Marketing.  "Falken enjoys being a part of this exciting program, and we have accomplished so much with our efforts, including entertaining 143 dealers and guests at Infineon, something we've been doing all season.  Our marketing efforts have certainly had an impact on establishing our brand, but it's all about the accomplishments of all our drivers on the track and our Azenis RT-615K tires.  We look forward to the final race coming up at Irwindale."

"I am very happy to finish on top of the podium at Infineon and can't wait for Irwindale," stated Gittin, Jr.

The action continues in four weeks for Round 7, the "Title Fight," October 8-9 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, one of the two home tracks for Falken, with qualifying on Friday, and the big event set for Saturday.

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