Race Updates

Hankook Tire / JIC USA Wins First Ever NOPI Drift Event!

DOWNEY, CA - The Hankook Tire / JIC USA drifting team made a huge impact at the first ever NOPI Drift Series in Phoenix, AZ on March 17th and 18th with the debut of the newly added vehicle to the Hankook Tire / JIC USA line up, a Garrett-powered S14 Nissan Silvia. This straight-from-Japan, drift machine had a fresh coat of Hankook Tires' signature white, black, silver, and orange and a set of sticky Ventus Z212 tires. The Silvia was ready to make a huge impact at NOPI Drift. Kenji Yamanaka, the driver for the famous Nissan Silvia S15, chose this event as a testing ground to see the full potential of the new Nissan Silvia S14.

First day was a day for practice and getting Kenji acquainted with the new S14. During practice rounds, Kenji was pointed out by the judges as having the ideal drifting line, closest distance to the clipping points, the fastest entry speed, and having the best style and nice, thick tire smoke from the Hankook Ventus Tires. Through out the whole day, the Hankook Tire / JIC USA drift team experienced record breaking heat, which was unusual for this time of year in Phoenix. The weather forced the team to make adjustments with tire pressure and cooling systems and it paid off as Kenji qualified 1st place on Saturday with two perfect 100 point scores out of three qualifying laps.

Day two was as hot as day one but that did not deter the Hankook Tire / JIC USA team as tandem drifting rounds begun to unfold. Kenji was paired up with 16th qualifier, Aaron Losey in a Nissan S13. This tandem round proved to be a challenging round as Aaron's S13 was underpowered compared to the Hankook Tire / JIC USA S14, but that did not stop Kenji from staying close to Aaron through the corners and clipping points. In the end, Kenji came out on top and moved on towards the best 8 round. In the best 8 round, Kenji squared off with Blake Fuller and the EDO Performance S13. Blake showed extreme talent through the practice rounds and this brought a great challenge to Kenji. They both took off staying very close to each other. Kenji kept the distance close as Blake did the same. After the round, Kenji came out the victor which brought him to the semi-final rounds.

In the semi-finals, Kenji squared off with a fellow Formula Drift driver, Hubert Young with his RB25 powered Nissan Silvia S14. Kenji and Hubert took off with a cloud of tire smoke and both of the initial runs were too close to call as the judges requested a "one more time" round. Kenji lead the first time as Hubert did a valiant effort of sticking close to Kenji. However, the second run came to a technical "glitch" as the starter staff member made a false start with Hubert and allowed him to run without confirming with Kenji. After Hubert returned to the starting line, he disputed the call of the judges about doing the run again with Kenji. Hubert and the judges agreed to allow him to change tires and run the last round. When Hubert returned, Kenji followed him into the tandem round with close proximity to Hubert but at the main corner, Hubert spun with Kenji narrowly missing Hubert in a cloud of smoke. Kenji moved on to the finals against Hawaiian drifter, Forrest Wang with the Full Race sponsored S14.

Both Forrest and Kenji lined up with their S14 side by side and they took off in a flurry of rubber and smoke. The Hankook Tire / JIC USA S14 lead the way as Forrest kept very close to Kenji. Kenji put up a fight as he was able to lead with a clean drifting line. Second run, Forrest lead and Kenji stuck to Forrest throughout the course. Both Kenji and Forrest would come back with huge smiles on their faces as they were having a great deal of fun going against each other. The judges felt that both of the runs were too close to call and requested a "one more time" run. Both drivers again lined up to the starting line and Kenji lead the way. Forrest did what he has been doing and kept with Kenji but Forrest's lines were a little off from what Kenji was leading with. The advantage went to Kenji. Second run, Forrest went into the course with at a very fast speed but Kenji was able to keep close as they went through the course. The Hankook Tire / JIC USA team had to wait until the award ceremony to find out the results.

The Hankook Tire / JIC USA drift team came out victorious as Kenji took home the First place award in the first ever NOPI drift event. Kenji now leads the NOPI Drift series in competition points.