Nikolay Konstantinov

Watch FD Vegas Live on Driftstream

If you weren’t able to make it to Vegas today and tomorrow for Formula Drift you can still watch live streaming coverage on Driftstream!

Head to http://www.justin.tv/driftstream to see clips of last night’s practice and tune in this afternoon to watch qualifying. If you are waiting for the live stream to start or missed anything you can watch the previous sessions and FD rounds (even Seattle) in the archive. You can also chat with drift fans from around the world!

Keep an out out for locals Nikolay Konstontanov, Victor Moore, Roland Gallagher, and Ian Fournier. Roland has experience on this course from running it at last years Vegas ProAm which should boost his confidence. Nikolay is coming of a top 16 finish from Seattle and both Ian and Victor are in strong positions to qualify as well.

Hopefully the video crew will also cover the Vegas Drift ProAm round that is going in conjunction with the FD event.

Watch live video from driftstream on Justin.tv

Schedule -

Friday 8/20 (PST)

• 9:00 PM - 11:30 PM - FD: QUALIFYING All Drivers, reverse ranking (Track)
  
• 11:45 PM - 12:00 AM - FD: Drivers‘ Meeting / Qualifying Results (Driver’s Area)
  
• 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM - FD: OPEN PRACTICE: Top 32 (Track)

Saturday 8/21

• 4 PM - Drift Stream goes Live
• 5 PM - Vegas Drift ProAm
• 6:30 PM - Top 32 begins
• 10:30 PM - Top 16 Opening Ceremonies

Update!

Nikolay qualified 31st and will face Kyle Mohan in the top 32.

Roland qualified 33rd missing out on the top 32 by a hair.

Ian, Victor, and Dean Keanery were unable to qualify in the top 32. Good job guys and go Nikolay!

Official Round 5: After Dark Qualifying Results

Go Northwest drivers!

Nikolay Konstantinov

DrivingSports.com TV FD Round 4 coverage with Nikolay Interview

Driving Sports put together a great video on Formula Drift Round 4 at Evergreen Speedway.

It includes some ProAm footage as well as a Nikolay Konstantinov interview.

Check the video for plenty of crash footage as well.

Be sure to watch till the very end to find out if Nikolay is team Edward or team Jacob.

Nikolay Konstantinov

Niko blows up the Sweet 16 @ Seattle FD

Local FD pro Nikolay ‘Molotov Cocktail’ Konstantinov not only was the first ever Evergreen Drift driver to break into the top 32 at a Formula Drift pro event he also made it to the Sweet 16!

The weekend didn’t start to well as Niko failed tech for having a Skyline front crossmember installed to support it’s RB25DETT. After a scramble and a little fabrication the FD legal and correct for the chassis S13 crossmember was installed and the car passed tech.

After taking Conrad Grunewald to a OMT in the top 32 Nikolay was able to squeak out a win and move on to the Sweet 16. This was no small feat as Nikolay’s measly460 HP was quite a bit slower than Conrad’s monster V8 Camaro on the back stretch leading to the initiation point.  Nikolay went all out and was able to keep on Contrad’s door during his chase runs which was a big factor in the judge’s decision.

In the Rounds of 16 Nikolay faced current Rookie of the Year points leader Charles Ng in his proven RX7 with an LS6 V8. Both FD rookie drivers battled hard and a one more time was called after the first pair of runs. The second pair of runs were equally as close except that Nikolay tapped the wall and straightened at the tight final hairpin on his lead run giving Ng the pass to the next round.

With many rookie drivers taking up to two seasons to break into the ultra competitive rounds of 16 Nikolay accomplished a huge feat in his first ever attempt at Formula Drift competition! Keep your eye on this guy as his goal is nothing less than to “Go all the way”.

As the only local Northwest driver to make it into the tandem eliminations Niko got all the home town fans excited and elicited extra loud cheers from the capacity crowd. Back in the pits after the Top 16 Niko was being mobbed like a rock star with people vying to have their arms autographed with a Sharpie!

Let’s hope he can make it Round #5 in Vegas as that track will be well suited to his car setup and driving style.

Nikolay Konstantinov

Motor Mavens> NW FD driver profiles

Head over to Motor Mavens to read a fine writeup by Lucas Perez on the 4 Northwest drivers that competed in the Seattle FD round #4.

Driver Seat> Comrades About To Invade Formula D Seattle!

All four of these guys earned their FD licenses through Evergreen Drift and we are proud of them!

Nikolay Konstantinov

ProAm Round #3 Qualifying Results

The Qualifying results are in from Round 3 Evergreen Drift ProAm.

1. Peter Funatake
2. Kohei Nakamura
3. Kyle Pollard
4. Nik Jimenez
5. Andrew Coomes
6. Mike Phillips
7. Walker Wilkerson

Practice and qualifying was eventful with wall taps and mechanical gremlins for many drivers but everyone has pushed forward and all cars are set to take the track tomorrow.

The tandem eliminations start at 1pm this Saturday the 10th so don’t miss the action as the drivers go door to door for the champagne.

Nikolay Konstantinov was the only Northwest pro to make the FD top 32. Roland’s transmission blew just before qualifying, Ian was just edged out of the 32, and Victor missed the cut as well. Congratulations to Nikolay for being the first ever Evergreen Drift driver to qualify in an FD top 32! Full FD results here.

Check out the Photo Finish Media gallery for early pictures from Thursday and qualifying today.

Stop by the Evergreen Drift booth for free stickers and to enter the free raffle to win Longacre racing hats and mechanics gloves!

Nikolay Konstantinov

Wrecked ProAm Issue

Wrecked Magazine recently released the latest edition of their online magazine. This issue spotlights the 18 drivers that came up through the ProAm ranks in ‘09 to earn their Formula Drift pro license.

Check out the profiles on Ian, Victor, Nikolay, and Roland and learn their plans for the 2010 season and get to know the rest of the new FD Pros from around the nation.

Ian even made the cover. What a superstar!

Give the cover photo a click to read the magazine.

Nikolay Konstantinov

Speedhunters SDCOTY Award - Vote Northwest!

The good folks over at Speedhunters are gathering votes for their end of the year awards.

Looking at the “STREET DRIFT CAR OF THE YEAR” category list of nominees I found a couple of Northwest familiar faces.

The ethos of the Street Drift Car of The Year is “cars which carry a torch for true drift style and true drift culture. These machines should still be street legal(ish) in spirit and have oodles of visual presence.”

As of this moment Nikolay has a ton of votes and Ian and Earl have a few.

Hop on over to the Speedhunters thread to see the rest of the contestants and put in your vote in the comments section.

Nikolay Konstantinov

Dead Pirate Video - All Guns Blazing ProAm

Ross Fairfield of Dead Pirate Production has released his four minute epic heavy metal tribute to the destruction and power drifting from the ProAm National Championship event.

The video opens with a bang showing the heavy hits from the event including Victor’s shunt at 0:07 and Nikolay’s tail slide at 0:15.

Max out the volume and let the video assault you full throttle.

Nikolay Konstantinov

2009 ProAm Nationals - The Saga

The Evergreen Drift teams arrived as a very confident bunch with good reason. The drivers had already competed against the best at the Evergreen Drift, Vegas Drift Pro-Am, and other events such as All Star Bash.

This seasoned group of drivers hit the track on Friday afternoon for practice and it was clear from the start that they would not be intimidated by the Irwindale bank.  Everyone was upbeat as all the drivers grew comfortable and figured out how to tackle this challenging course that was put together by Formula Drift chief judge Andy Yen.

All was going well until what looked to be an event ending hit on the inner bank wall for Roland Gallagher. A number of people had counted Roland out after seeing the damage. However, the Evergreen Drift crew was not going to let the weekend end for him. All the teams pitched in parts and labor to get the car rolling again. This allowed Roland’s team to get the car to Justin Pawlak’s shop where the team worked until 1 AM leaving only a few items to finish up at the track on Saturday morning.

As the sun rose on the practice grid at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale California the confidence that all teams had on Friday was shaken. Victor Moore went out for his first practice run and crashed hard into the wall on the big bank leaving his mark on the famed House of Drift. It was immediately clear after the hit that this would end Victor’s weekend. The news didn’t get any better in practice as shortly after Victor’s trouble Trent Stromkins lost his engine ending his weekend as well.

The remaining drivers had to shake off these incidents and focus on the task at hand as qualifying started immediately after practice. After completely missing practice Roland Gallagher’s car the “Teal Tiger” appeared from behind the wall and took its spot in the qualifying lineup. Roland knew that qualifying would be difficult as the car still had major damage.

Drivers from all across the country began laying down some really impressive runs. The two drivers that really stood out were Ian Fournier and Nikolay “Molatov” Konstantinov. It was clear that after their runs they would make the top 16. Andrew Coomes qualifying runs were good but contained a few corrections that would place him on the bubble.

As drivers, crew, and FD staff gathered for the Top 16 announcement Formula Drift Co-Founder Ryan Sage put on his chef’s hat to cook lunch for the masses. After the BBQ JRod announced the results to the large crowd that was eager to find out who would be receiving their Formula Drift professional licenses. The results were good for Evergreen Drift with Nikolay Konstantinov qualifying third just behind Ian Fournier who took the second spot. Immediately after the announcement of the top 16, JRod had another surprise in store. Formula Drift had made the decision to recognize the efforts of three additional drivers with licenses. The fortunes for Victor Moore and Roland Gallagher instantly changed as their names were announced as license recipients.

Nikolay Konstaninov took his place on the grid waiting for the opportunity to thrill the crowd with his take no prisoners style which earned him a new nickname from Formula Drift announcer Jrod. “Molatov” Konstaninov hit the track just as he had done all weekend long, accelerator to the floor and angles that were so steep one could only wonder how any human being wouldn’t spin the car.

Spinning is not what cost him. A second run attempt to step up the speed into the infield resulted in a well executed fifteen foot tail slide along the wall with enough force to lift both rear wheels off the ground. Yet, even with that hit Nikolay was without a doubt a crowd favorite and he earned himself some fans that will be waiting to cheer him on at Long Beach in April.

That left Ian Fournier to carry the fortunes of Evergreen Drift, and he did not disappoint. Run after solid run Ian started marching his way through the brackets until he found himself at the final bracket contending for the win against Mike Pollard from Minnesota.

Ian was chasing on his first run and perhaps made his only mistake of the day when he let the lead car open up a gap that he was not able to close while still maintaining solid line and angle. It left Ian with work to do as the lead car in the second run if he wanted to seal the deal on this trip down from Canada.

Ian ripped through the big bank in the lead while Mike Pollard stayed right on his door. Ian floated up the bank to the first critical outer clipping point not letting up through the switch back. The crowd tensed as the drivers rocketed together into the inner bank and charged headlong at the wall in a terminal trajectory. Ian committed the angle, executed a textbook wall tap, and accelerated through the final turns, but Pollard was was no longer on his door.

Pollard and Fournier were equally matched, but that fateful run at the wall was enough for Ian to shake the Minnesotan and take home the title of 2009 Formula Drift Pro Am Champion.

When asked if he thought he had the advantage going into the last run of the day, Ian replied “Absolutely not”. “I knew I had to go after the inner wall and tap it with my bumper while at the same time drawing Pollard in with me. I was hoping I could take him to the wall and maybe he would make that one mistake he hadn’t made all day”.

As the two drivers made their way into Toyota Speedway’s victory circle it was clear these competitors had a blast out on the track and developed a lot of respect for each other. Chelesa DeNofa filled out the 3rd place spot and these three collected quite a haul from the many events sponsors: AEM, Brian Cower, Exedy, Eibach springs, High Pro Speed, Motovicity Distribution, Tokico Performance Shocks, Turbonetics, and Wilwood Brakes. After the champagne shower Ian got his first taste of professional stardom as several new fans young and old came up and asked to take a picture with him and his car.

The weekend was a huge success for Formula Drift and the Pro Am program with a strong field of competitors and 19 new licensed drivers. Formula Drift’s genuine dedication to assisting grassroots drifting organizations and drivers succeed through the Pro Am program is a great benefit to the sport of drifting. Evergreen Drift thanks Jim Liaw, Andy Luk, Ryan Sage, Andy Yen, Ernie Fiximer, and the rest of the team for their work on the 2009 Pro Am Championship series. Props to the many Formula Drift drivers that were on hand to offer advice and support to the ProAm drivers: Justin Pawlak, Joon Maeng, Alex Pfeiffer, Ross Petty, Stephan Verdier, Ken Gushi, and Taka Aono. Thanks to Wrecked Magazine for the great ProAm coverage and the pictures for this story.

Drifting fans can look forward to more exceptional drifting in 2010 from the likes of Ian Fournier and Mike Pollard, stars of the Pro Am class of 2009. Watch out Long Beach, there are some new drifters coming to town.

Nikolay Konstantinov

Evergreen Drift Drivers Results Flash

The results are in from the 2009 Formula Drift ProAm National Championship.

Evergreen Drift drivers left their mark.

Invited to the party:

• Ian Fournier
• Nikolay Konstantinov
• Andrew Coomes
• Victor Moore
• Trent Stromkins

Totaled Chassis:

• Roland Gallagher
• Victor Moore

Blown Engine:

• Trent Stromkins

Qualified like champs:

• Ian Fournier - 2nd
• Nikolay Konstantinov - 3rd
• Andrew Coomes - 17th

Got the licenses:

• Ian Fournier
• Niklolay Konstantinov
• Victor Moore
• Rolland Gallagher

WON THE WHOLE THING!

• Ian Fournier

Hail Canada!

Stay tuned for more video, recaps, and pictures.

Congratulations to all the Evergreen Drift drivers and teams for a great effort and showing at Nationals.

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