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Written by:
Marshall Pruett
07/18/2007 - 07:00 PM
Oakland, CA
Gittin's FormulaD Mustang looks both pre-historic and futuristic at the same time. Rated at over 700hp, it will destroy anything in its path. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos
SPEEDtv.com sat down with FormulaD star extraordinaire Vaughn Gittin Jr. a little while back to check in on his new efforts to learn road racing, his participation in Time Attacks, developments on his beastly Ford Mustang, and general thoughts on the world of Drifting and racing.
SPEEDtv.com: Vaughn, you were meant to be a part of the Falken Tires Drift Demo at GT Live, but mechanical issues cut your weekend short. Miller Motorsports Park stepped in and offered you one of their Mustang Challenge cars for you to participate in the Redline Time Attack--what was that like?
Gittin Jr.: "Yeah, the altitude was a problem for us and once we sorted that out we had some tranny problems. We decided to not just temporarily slap the car back together and instead, to fix it properly. We are really playing safe as I have fire in my eyes and looking to bring home the Championship for Team Falken this year. Although we made the team decision to play it safe I was still bummed. Here I was at Miller Motorsports Park which is seriously the most amazing motors ports facility I have ever been to and I did not have a car to drive. It was like taking a kid to a candy store and telling him he could look, but couldn't touch. So after seeing a bunch of the Miller Mustang Challenge cars sitting around, I went and talked to Ford and my team about tossing me in one of them to run Time Attack. A few puppy dog faces and a damage waiver later, I had myself a sweet 2007 Mustang Challenge car for the weekend.
"The Mustang Challenge cars are spec race cars that Miller Motorsports builds and sells for $55,000. Initially I checked the car out and it wasn't too extensively modified, but after a few laps of blowing by WRX's and Evo's I was amazed in the performance. The car was very forgiving and handled great I was out for the entire hour sessions that were pretty toasty and the car not once got over 200 degrees, which amazed me. I have been drifting the Team Falken Tire Ford Mustang for three years now and I have never tried road racing one. It was a really cool thing to have the opportunity to see how the car handled in a Time Attack event and I couldn't be more impressed with the performance of it. My fingers are crossed the guys at Miller will invite me back to maybe compete in one of the Mustang Challenge races….HINT HINT!!!
"This was only my second Time Attack event for that matter. I'm a self taught drifter and road racing is total opposite of what I'm used to. You really learn a lot about yourself as a driver in regards to focus, commitment and being smooth. It is awesome to know that my car control and aggressiveness from drifting carries over to road racing pretty seamlessly. I was very surprised to find myself running better times than guys like Ken Gushi and Tarzan Yamada who were driving AWD cars that were lighter, and those guys also have more road course experience than I do. I have a lot more to learn, but it feels good to know the natural talent is there."
What keeps JR and thousands of FormulaD fans motivated? Saline. Lots of saline. CLICK HERE to view the Falken Tire Girls Gallery.
JR gets the Time Attack lowdown from drifting buddy and road racing expert Tanner Foust (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos
SPEEDtv.com:
Gittin Jr.: "I'm a firm believer that I can do anything I dedicate myself to. Drifting is my passion; it's my life, and I live and breathe it. However, I love driving and anytime I have the opportunity or time to race something new or different, I bury myself in it and try to learn as much as I can. Tanner is a buddy of mine from drifting and he is very experienced; I would be an idiot if I didn't get tips from him and study his lines as well as other drivers on the course. I think he saved me a few months of learning on my own after sharing tips with me for twenty minutes. Drifting is my priority, but you can bet I'll jump at any opportunity to drive anything new and continue to learn."
SPEEDtv.com: For those that don't *get* the popularity of Drifting, explain what it is about the sport that's so fun, hard, and challenging behind the wheel.
Gittin Jr.: "Are there still people that really don't *GET* drifting? I remember a couple years ago I would always get the "oh man we used to do this in my mom's Ford Fairlane when we were younger" or the "OH…all you guys are doing is glorified fish tail burnouts"…that was until we have had multiple drivers, world champions in some cases from other motorsport backgrounds try to qualify for Formula D and realize it's a lot more then just some guys doing glorified burnouts.
"Drifting is everything we as motorsports enthusiast like in motorsports-it's a 'tires screaming and smoking, engines roaring, cars inches from each other and walls going 80-110 mph sideways' kind of experience. It is a pure display of controlled chaos that anyone with a pulse can't keep there eyes off of. When was the last time you were at a race when everyone was standing in their seats for two hours straight and screaming their heads off? Not only is it amazing to watch, it's very technical and takes a ton of skill to master. Sure, any decent driver can power slide a car through a drifting course, but it takes a Pro Drifter to use every tool the machine has to enter a turn at 100 MPH, 400 feet before the apex and aim and steer their car on a path that delivers them inches from walls, their opponents, and the judging clipping points. EVERY TIME!
"It's different from other types of motorsports where you can make mistakes during a qualifying session and make up for them during the race. In drifting you get 2 qualifying runs and in Formula D or D1GP if you aren't pretty much perfect during qualifying, you're packing your bags and heading home. That's how amazing the skill has gotten at the professional drifting level. The pressure to be perfect when 20,000 people are watching you as well as your judges is no easy thing. As far as the fun factor, there's no denying that just smoking your tires in a straight line is fun and gets the adrenaline flowing. Add 100mph to your burnout and toss it sideways and tell me it's not the most fun thing ever, and I'll hang my driving suit up."
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