Round 6 of Formula Drift Championship series was held in Wall, New Jersey as the championship race heated up. The Hankook Tire / JIC USA Drift team suited up and prepared for the banked Wall Speedway track. The Porsche made its second official appearance in competition with much anticipation in the air.

                Kenji Yamanaka and Tyler McQuarrie were ranked among the top drivers. Kenji was currently at 6^th and Tyler at a respectable 11^th place in championship points. This event would be the proving ground for the Porsche’s and Tyler’s capabilities at banked tracks with high power. During the first round of qualifiers Tyler McQuarrie awestruck the judges by putting on a new perfect qualifying run and scored a 97.5 and the fastest entry speed at 62.8 mph putting Tyler on top of the qualifier list. Kenji was up next for the qualifying runs with the S15. The team prepared the car and Kenji took off. There was a sudden change with the engine during the run and for safety of Kenji and the motor, Kenji let off and could not continue with the qualifier.

                The crowd, judges, and even the Formula D announcer, were on their feet as the first round came for tandem. Tyler and the Porsche 993 GT2 was put up against Calvin Wan in the Falken Tire RX-7. Tyler easily walked away with the victory with the final score of 13 to 4. The Hankook Tire / JIC USA Porsche moved on to the Great 8 round. The Great 8 round paired Tyler McQuarrie up with Chris Forsberg in the Maxxis Tires Nissan 350Z. Each driver showed equally strong driving but Tyler had the edge during the “cross over” section of the track as he accelerated at a extreme speed to pull away from Chris. This gave Tyler the win and went on to battle it out with the top drivers in the Semi-Finals.

                Like Seattle, the Hankook Tires / JIC USA team was paired up with Daijiro in the Rockstar Energy Drink / Nitto Tire Silvia S15. The two took off with a dead even run in the first round. However on the second run, Tyler straightened out due to the faster acceleration compared to the Silvia at the second clipping point giving the win to the Rockstar Energy Silvia. This put the Hankook Tire / JIC USA Porsche in the running for 3^rd place.

                For the 3^rd place battle, Tyler was put against Tanner Foust in the AEM 350Z. Due to some complications with the Porsche Motor, Tyler was forced to concede and give the win to Tanner Foust. Tyler made history as the first European vehicle to make the Top 16 in Formula Drift, 1^st Rear Mounted Engine vehicle to qualify best 16, 1^st European Vehicle to place 1^st in Qualifying, 1^st European to place in the Semi Finals. This event was truly momentous for the Formula Drift series and the whole drifting community that shows with precise engineering, a very solid drifting tire provided by Hankook Tires, and a very skilled driver can accomplish many feats. The team now gears up for the NOPI Drift Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. JIC USA could have not completed this historic win without the generous help of our following supprters: Hankook Tire USA (http://www.hankooktireusa.com), Works Bell, A SPEC, ECKO UNLTD, Exedy Clutches, Stoptech Brakes, Tomei Powered, Instyle Graphics, Cobra Seats, Vertex T&E, Seibon, APR Performance, Sparco USA, Turbo By Garrett, MSD Ignition, Blitz USA, Spec Clutches, RC Injection, and Meguiar’s.

 Video by 0-60 Magazine on Formula Drift New Jersey Practice Day: