Mohan Tenth in Final Formula Drift 2011 Championship Standings
Subscribe to Nexen News RSS feedOctober 11, 2011 (Signal Hill, Calif.) - One of the clear goals for Kyle Mohan in the 2011 Formula Drift Pro Championship was to establish his team, and the Nexen / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8, as one of the top teams in the series. When the final points from qualifying and the tandem competition after Saturday's Final Fight at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale were tabulated, he had done just that, as he would finish the season tenth in the points standings.
Mohan's KMR team made the most of the Thursday and Friday practice sessions to dial in the Nexen / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 to the new course layout at Irwindale which featured an extended infield portion. While the team made great strides throughout practice, qualifying proved to be a struggle as track conditions and temperatures changed and Mohan would qualify 20th for the top-32 tandem competition. Missing out on qualifying points was not in the game plan, as Mohan dropped from 10th to 12th in the championship standings after qualifying, and would face Frederic Aasbo in the Need for Speed Scion tC in the first round.
Aasbo led the first run of the top-32 battle, but slid up the wall along Irwindale Speedway's outer bank, making contact and damaging his Scion. Mohan avoided Aasbo and completed a strong run in front of the packed Irwindale audience, and was awarded the win after Aasbo's car could not be repaired in time for a second run. As a result, Mohan would then face Ryan Tuerck in the Gardella Racing Red Bull Chevy Camaro in the top-16.
Mohan lost ground early in his chase run but closed the gap on Tuerck in the second half of the course. On Mohan's lead run, he maintained impressive angle and speed on the outer bank but Tuerck closed in the inner bank. As a result, the judges moved Tuerck into the round of eight and Mohan's Formula Drift season was over.
"Ryan Tuerck is one of the best drivers in Formula Drift and he's in a great car, so I knew we would have a real battle with him," said Mohan. "I didn't get a great launch and I had to catch up on my chase run, and he stayed closer on my lead run, so the judges gave him the win. I wish we had won, but Ryan had to put down an amazing chase run to knock us out. Overall, I'm so happy with how this year went. It's huge for us to finish tenth in points, and it's the best championship result for us and for Nexen Tires. This weekend was a lot like our whole year - we had some challenges that we fought through but the guys kept fixing the car and making it better and better. Our last two runs were our best two runs of the weekend."
Mohan was quick to thank the KMR crew for their hard work throughout the 2011 season.
"None of this would be possible without the guys working so hard at the events and between the events to make the car as good as it can be. I really need to thank my dad, Joe, TJ, and Kenny, Royce, Smokey, Calvin, Rudy, Mark and Codi for all of their hard work. Mike at Nexen tires, Jim, Steve, and Tod from Mazdaspeed, and Dave at Mazdatrix. We are aiming for more in 2012!"
FD Final Round - Irwindale CA 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxaq3mdr0a4&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiraznUdxPg&feature=player_embedded
