Formula Drift kicks off 11th season on Streets of Long Beach
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/motorsports/" rel="tag">Motorsports</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/coupes/" rel="tag">Coupe</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/" rel="tag">BMW</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/nissan/" rel="tag">Nissan</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/racing/" rel="tag">Racing</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/formula-drift-streets-of-long-beach-2014/"><img alt="Formula Drift Streets of Long Beach 2014" data-credit="Drew Phillips" data-mep="206035" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/2d5f2873b4a2fa1c9f10ab9b2 21de1b8/200011284/formula-drift-long-beach-2014.jpg" /></a><br />
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The <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/formula+drift/">2014 Formula Drift</a> series kicked off last weekend in Long Beach, and saw <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/chris+forsberg/">Chris Forsberg</a>, who you'll recall <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/25/formula-drift-forsberg-infiniti-m-warehouse-video/">went mad and drifted around a warehouse</a> in an <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/infiniti/q70/">Infiniti M</a>, take the title behind the wheel of his Hankook Tire <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/nissan/370z/">Nissan 370Z</a> (shown above).<br />
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Forsberg really ran away with the first round of competition, outscoring his closest opponent, second-place finisher Kenneth Moen and his Bridges Racing Nissan 240SX, by 20 points. Third place was <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2013/10/15/2013-formula-drift-championship-michael-essa/">2013 championship winner</a> <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/michael+essa/">Michael Essa</a> and his Yokohama <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/m3/">BMW M3</a>, 30.5 points behind Forsberg.<br />
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In the manufacturers' title, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/nissan/">Nissan</a> took an early lead with 122 points, which isn't a huge surprise considering five of the top ten drifters were piloting either a Z or a product of the brand's S platform. <a href="http://autoblog.com/ford/">Ford</a>, which had two drivers (Justin Pawlak and <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/vaughn+gittin+jr/">Vaughn Gittin, Jr.</a>) in the top ten, took home second place, while <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/">BMW</a> is currently third in the manufacturers' standings.<br />
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While it looks like Forsberg and Nissan are pulling out an early lead, there are six more events in this year's championship. The next contest is set for May 9th and 10th at Road Atlanta. You can check out the entire Formula Drift schedule at the <a href="http://www.formulad.com/schedule/pro-championship/">series' homepage</a>.<br />
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We had photographer Drew Phillips on hand for the Long Beach contest. Take a look at his <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/formula-drift-streets-of-long-beach-2014/">gallery</a> of smoking tires and sideways cars at the top of the page. You can also <a href="/2014/04/08/formula-drift-2014-streets-of-long-beach/#continued">scroll down</a> for the complete results right from Long Beach.<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/08/formula-drift-2014-streets-of-long-beach/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Formula Drift kicks off 11th season on Streets of Long Beach</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/08/formula-drift-2014-streets-of-long-beach/">Formula Drift kicks off 11th season on Streets of Long Beach</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:44:00 EST. Please see our <a href="/rss-term-of-use/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/08/formula-drift-2014-streets-of-long-beach/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20864053/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/08/formula-drift-2014-streets-of-long-beach/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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