Foust AEM/Memphis Car Audio 350Z Takes Second
At Summit Point Stretches Series Points Lead!
Papadakis AEM/MCA S2000 Qualify for 32-Car Eliminations

June 6 2007 Round 3 Formula Drift Summit Point WV- The AEM/Memphis Car Audio Drift Team extended its lead in the Formula D Drift Series with 350Z driver Tanner Foust qualifying and taking second overall in the competition and driver Stephan Papadakis continuing to show his presence in the elimination rounds! Tanner improved his points lead by 45 over second place competitor Chris Forsberg and by 58 over third place competitor and 2005 Formula D champ Rhys Millen to maintain his perch atop the 2007 FD Leader Board.

Although similar in style to Road Atlanta Summit Point proved to be the most technical track to date and delivered very high entry speeds of up to 80 MPH. Turn 1 was particularly tricky and forced the guys to work on creating a clean link to turn 2 in extended practice sessions. The last three turns included elevation changes that tested the engines in many of the vehicles and even sent a few teams packing before the qualifying rounds began.

TANNER/350Z

After a smooth run in qualifying Tanner notched the 2 spot in the seeded drivers' field behind Chris Forsberg. The Summit Point race was the first time since the Formula D competition at Wall NJ in 2006 that Tanner did not qualify in the 1 position a truly amazing string of 1 qualifiers for the highly talented competitor.

Tanner went through the tandem elimination rounds and faced 2004 and 2006 FD Champion Samuel Hubinette in the final. Tanner led the first run and had the advantage after completing the course so he left Sam with plenty of room going into turn 1 during the second run knowing he could catch him in the middle of the course. Unfortunately he did not leave Sam enough room and closed too fast which forced Tanner to go off the course for a second place finish in the competition.

Said Tanner "This track required a lot of horsepower and practice so the teams with the most reliable cars had the biggest advantage. We changed the tune in the AEM EMS and added a couple PSI of boost which was plenty to keep the tires spinning up to redline in 4th gear. When I was following Sam during the second run of the Final Round I simply caught up with him earlier than I expected and had to brake for so long that the engine stalled. I tried to relight it twice without losing the drift but I could not get it started with everything else going on and with no power steering function I ended up off track and gave Sam the win. It was a frustrating end to an incredible weekend but we were able to stretch the points lead in the Series and it was cool to have an all Fast Furious 3 podium with Sam Rhys and myself!"

STEPH/S2000

Out of the 30 unseeded drivers competing for a spot on Friday Stephan drove his way to 5th making him eligible for the 32 car elimination field. On Saturday in the 32 car elimination round Steph nailed the tricky link in between turns 1-2 during his first qualifying run only to get a bit too aggressive in turn 3 causing him to spin. During the second run Steph was more conservative and made a clean pass through the course for an 83.17 score. Unfortunately he would end up the 19th qualifier overall just three spots out of tandem eliminations.

Commented Steph "The new track was frustrating for many of the competitors until everyone was comfortable with the layout and after we figured out how to link the first two turns. Once we worked that out it was just a fun track to compete on! I enjoyed the fast entry speeds and elevation changes of Summit Point. I think that is what makes Formula D events the best drift events. Their choices in track locations and course layouts really separate the good drivers from the great ones and you won't find the kind of speeds and elevation changes at parking lot events that you will at beautiful road courses like Summit Point. I think all the teams learned a lot this weekend and I am looking forward to taking the education I got and applying it in future events."

Tanner currently leads the Series in points with 277. Stephan Papadakis is two points out of the Top 20 with 55. A list of the top 10 is below.

Formula D Top 10:

277 - T. Foust
232 - C. Forsberg
219 - R. Millen
213 - D. Yoshihara
185 - K. Hayashida
171 - R. Turek
171 - K. Yamanaka
167 - S. Hubinette
160 - M. Haraguchi
153 - D. MacNamara
(20.) 57 - Tony Angelo (t)

The AEM / Memphis Car Audio Drift S2000 and 350Z are sponsored by Toyo Tires Motegi Racing Tokico Gas Shocks Advanced Clutch Technology (ACT) Specialty Products Company (SPC) ChargeSpeed C-West and DC Sports.