
The Spider Energy logo on his car might be small, but the BITE is BIG! Kyle Mohan is showing great advancement in the sport of Drift Racing. Below is the recent press release where Mohan advances and moves to 10th in Formula Drift Pro Championship. Way to go Kyle!
July 27, 2011 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – Evergreen Speedway, located just east of Seattle, Washington, has been a tough venue for Kyle Mohan ever since he began competing in his Mazda RX-8. On one previous occasion, in 2008 – way back when Formula Drift only had top-16 tandem – Mohan made the show and faced series champion Tanner Foust in the first round.
His Mazda RX-8 faced an early exit in 2009 and 2010, but Mohan set that right this weekend by advancing to the Great Eight. His result means the Nexen / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 is the only non V8-powered car in the top ten of the Formula Drift championship standings.
Mohan missed his mark in both qualifying runs, ending up with a score good only for 22nd which would mean he would face Michael Essa in his unique BMW Z4 in the top-32. Mohan defeated Essa to make the top-16 when Essa lost drift during his chase run.
The top-16 saw Mohan face off against fellow Nexen Tire driver Cyrus Martinez, making his first appearance ever in the top-16. Martinez, struggling to match Mohan’s high and fast line against the Evergreen Speedway wall, drove into the side of Mohan’s RX-8, causing steering rack and bodywork damage – as well as giving Mohan the win.
“Finally, we got a great result in Seattle,” said Mohan afterwards. “The car was great all weekend, and the guys got our Nexen tires and Eibach suspension dialed in perfectly. I just missed it in qualifying – the car should have been way better than 22nd. Being that far down in the order means you get difficult competition, like Mike Essa, and you have to work really hard to beat him. And then Cyrus just plowed into us.”
The Top-8 bracket lined Mohan up against Rhys Millen, who defeated Mohan in the top-16 at Palm Beach International Raceway. Mohan did not want to allow Millen to have any advantage and threw the Nexen / Mazdatrix Mazda RX-8 into the bank while chasing Millen, staying so close to Millen through the run that he was nearly lost in the smoke until the end of the Power Alley when Mohan went off line.
“I knew after competing against Rhys and watching how his car worked that the only way to have a chance against him was to be really, really aggressive,” said Mohan. “I think I had a shot at it but I drove in too deep into the power alley and went offline and Rhys got an advantage, and I think that’s what did it. The steering rack wasn’t quite right after the hit with Cyrus but the car was still really good. I’m really happy with how the car performed this weekend.”
The result moves Mohan to tenth in the Formula Drift Pro Championship at 266 points. The next Formula Drift event, After Dark at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be August 26-27. Mohan advanced to the top-16 in the 2010 event after qualifying a career-best second.
VIDEOS
Top 16 vs. Cyrus Martinez – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjbN4Zc3w5k
Top 8 vs. Rhys Millen – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psU9cD_95bk