The post FRN Blog: Introducing Rathyna Gomer – Drifting appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Hi Folks,
I was given the wonderful opportunity to share with the world my experiences as a female within the racing community. I would like to take this time to formally introduce myself—I am Rathyna Gomer, a pure car and drifting enthusiast. My love for cars started off as an innocent adolescent playing Gran Turismo 3 on Playstation 2 and eventually grew into an obsession. At the age of 16, I attended my first professional drift event (DIGP at Irwindale in 2006) and immediately caught the “drift bug”. As I was sitting in the stands devouring a strawberry covered funnel cake and breathing in clouds of tire smoke, I realized I was meant to be on the other side of the spectator barrier. From that moment forward, I made it my ultimate goal to become a professional drifter. Although I have not yet achieved my goal, I am progressing and learning more than I could have ever imagined when I first made that promise to myself years ago.
In 2010 I made the first giant leap—I went to a professional race track, Willow Springs International Raceway, for the first time. For several months, I went to the track as a solo driver and learned how to drift. By the end of 2011 I had attended about a dozen events and even earned my first award—“Best Drifter of the Day” at a competition. In 2012 I made it a point to take my driving to a professional level and competed in the Pro-Am series in Southern California, Top Drift. Since I had been doing most of my driving in my daily driven 2007 Nismo 350z, I decided to take a break mid-season so that I could build something that was more suitable competition. Currently, I am in the process of building a 2004 Nissan 350z fully equipped with a LS3 engine. The chassis also has a fully welded-in roll cage, and I anticipate that there will be a notable amount of custom fabrication for an increase in safety and performance. As soon as the build is complete, I will be out on the track again, competing in more events such as Top Drift and Vegas Drift for the 2013 season. I expect that since I will now have a track-dedicated vehicle that I will be able to focus more on my driving and hone my competitive abilities.
I hope that the readers of Female Racing News will anxiously follow along with my journey as a competitive female drifter. I am so glad that there are so many other women, similar to me, that are striving for the same goal! Thank you for reading about me and I hope that you find my adventures as interesting as I do!
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]]>The post Clare Vale 2013 Season Preview appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Clare Vale’s 2013 motorsport season got off to a good start. She has already completed her first Japan Auto Drift Series round at The Rock Raceway, qualifying 9th and progressing to the top 8 before being knocked out by Rock Champion Ernest Simpson.
This season Clare Vale will be shifting her focus to drifting, in particular, to the SupaDrift National Championship. Drifting has garnered a lot of attention and fans over the past few seasons and looks set to grow even more in 2013. Clare competes in her RAM V8 Mustang in the series, a car that has required an enormous amount of development. The team has learnt a lot from the 2012 season and the car is now ready to turn its potential into results.
Clare finally has a car that suits her driving style and is keen to hone her drifting skills this year. Her task will also be made easier with the RAM team’s commitment to the drift discipline, rather than a constant shift between drifting and circuit racing.
This season will see the SupaDrift series travel to Port Shepstone, The Rock Raceway in Gauteng, Kimberly, and Cape Town. The series will also form part of the Durban Motor Show and the Gauteng Motor Show. The series is growing in popularity with spectators and competitors, and the addition of new venues will take drifting across the country and bring many more fans and followers.
Clare on the upcoming season: ”2012 was a difficult year for me and for the RAM team. We were competing in both circuit and drift events, and our drift specific Mustang proved to be a challenging build. This season, we’re committed to the National Supadrift series and this new focus is already paying dividends. We had a great first outing at the Japan Auto event at The Rock, qualifying well against some experienced competitors and going through to the Top 8. The car is working well for me and I’m really looking forward to our 2013 Sideways Season!”
2012 SupaDrift Calendar
2nd March
29th March – 1st April SupaDrift
11th May
1st – 2nd June SupaDrift
29th June
17th August SupaDrift
28th September SupaDrift
12th October SupaDrift
8th – 10th November SupaDrift
30th November SupaDrift Invitational Cape Town International Invitational
7th December SupaDrift Invitational The Rock Raceway, Brakpan – Rock vs SupaDrift
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]]>The post Clare Vale has an Action Packed Return to V8 Racing appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Pretoria – This weekend saw Clare Vale make her return to the WesBank Super Series after a long break, and she found her pace very quickly. She qualified in 6th place and with a field of 24 entries, the scene was set for an exciting day!
Clare had a great start in Race One and was racing near the front of the pack when she had an unfortunate incident with one of Shelby Can-Ams. This resulted in a damaged rim and instant deflation of a rear tyre, ending her race. The team raced to repair the car in time for Race Two, where Clare started from 5th place on the grid.
She started well and was chasing the leaders when the safety car came out for a stricken Shelby. At the restart Clare ran wide through the hairpin as her tyres had lost some heat and she lost a few positions in the process. She had some exciting dices as she fought back to regain position and finished the day 7th overall, despite her non finish in the first race. All in all, the weekend was a positive return to the V8 Supercar class for the Gatorback RAM Mustang, but the team felt that Clare could have finished higher if not for the incident in the first race.
Clare on her race weekend: ”We had to do some frantic work to prepare the car, as we discovered that our motor had a problem the week before the event. With a lot of assistance from fellow V8 competitors, we found a second hand piston that could be modified to fit and only got the car to the circuit on the Thursday night. With no testing beforehand, we made the most of Friday practice, made some last minute changes on Saturday morning and ended up with a really good car on race day! A huge vote of thanks to my team and to all the people who went out of their way to help – I could not have raced without them.”
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]]>The post Clare Vale’s SupaDrift season Ignites appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Pretoria – Saturday saw Clare Vale compete in SupaDrift 6 at Zwartkops raceway in Pretoria. The Gatorback RAM team had to race to finish the car for this event after it was damaged at the previous Supadrift in Port Shepstone, so Clare had no practice on Friday but went straight into the short practice session on Saturday afternoon.
The huge amount of development work the team has done on the big Mustang is finally paying dividends, and Clare was able to get the car really working for her both in practice and qualifying. Although she didn’t make the Top 16 this time, Clare strung some awesome drift sequences together, much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd.
Clare Vale on her Drift weekend: ”The team was under huge pressure to get the car prepared for Supadrift 06, and we only arrived at Zwartkops late on Friday evening. Despite this, the Gatorback RAM Mustang felt awesome from the start, and I really felt at home in the big V8. We didn’t quite reach our goal of a Top 16 qualifying position, but we have plenty of time before our next event in September to perfect our style and I’m really looking forward to Supadrift 07.”
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]]>The post Supadrift Sideways For The First Lady appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Pretoria – The weekend saw the SupaDrift 04 event form part of the successful Gauteng Motor Show at Zwartkops Raceway. It was the 4th round of this year’s national drift championship and Clare Vale was looking forward to building on the progress made at previous rounds.
Clare’s purpose built Gatorback RAM Drift Mustang has been a difficult car to set up as the racing team comes to grips with the new challenge of drifting. Drifting is also a sport that puts an enormous amount of strain on a car, and after only a few practise runs on Friday the team had to take the propshaft out for repairs. Driveline Technologies made sure that Clare’s car was ready for qualifying on Saturday afternoon, but the lack of practise time on the fast track layout took its toll and she was unable to qualify in the Top 16 this time.
Luckily this weekend David Nell and several of the experienced drifters stepped forward with some valuable advice for the team, and the team will make good use of their suggestions before the next event in July.
Clare Vale on Supadrift 4: ”We’ve had a lot of bad luck in our first season of national drifting, but I think a few challenges are to be expected with a newly developed car. We’re learning every time we compete and the Gatorback RAM team improves the car further after each event. I love drifting, though, and I’m really enjoying discovering the art of sideways! It’s also great to have so much support from the other drivers, who gave us some good ideas as to how we can make the “Big Dog” Mustang perform better.”
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]]>The post Sideways and Forwards at SupaDrift in Port Shepstone appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Port Shepstone – Saturday the 12th of May saw the first ever motor sport event take place at the Dezzi Raceway in Port Shepstone. Clare Vale was there in her Gatorback RAM Drift Mustang in this, the third round of this year’s SupaDrift championship. Practice started well as Clare came to grips with the track but a broken shock early on Friday meant that she had virtually no track time before qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
A frantic hunt for a suitable replacement shock ensued with no success, so eventually the team did some creative welding in order to get out in time for qualifying. Unfortunately, Clare didn’t make the top 16 this time but was at least able to put on a bit of a show for the enthusiastic crowd.
Clare on the race weekend: ”Dezzi Raceway was a fantastic venue for Round Three of Supadrift! People turned out in their thousands and they loved their first taste of drifting. The Gatorback RAM team was unlucky, as we lost out on all our practise time and had to go straight into qualifying. The Mustang is showing real promise, though, and all the time spent on development is starting to pay dividends. I’m really enjoying the new challenges of drifting and I have no doubt that the “Big Dog” V8 is going to be even more popular with spectators as its handling continues to improve.”
For more information on Clare Vale please visit www.clarevale.com.
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]]>The post Drifting in Atlanta… appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Hey Guys and Gals! It’s not often that I write posts on here about anything other than ladies that are kicking some serious ass on the track. However there is something I want to share with you guys that is very close to my heart. I’ve been involved in grassroots drifting for close to eight years, organizing, driving, etc. Drifting in the South began in the great city of Atlanta at Turner field nonetheless. The iconic parking lot has produced many amazing drivers and many great memories shared among friends. That is all about to come to an end thanks to an ordinance being passed by city officials. They are specifically targeting drifting inside city limits be on public or private property.
Without drifting in Atlanta (inside city limits) I would never have met the amazing friends I have or became a part of a community that is like no other. I also would never have met my fiance. If these members of the council knew how many lives they are affecting by this I don’t think that they would be trying to pass this. Drifting keeps kids and adults alike out of trouble. We all know that car culture is a different beast and not everyone gets it. Those who do get it understand the passion of watching/driving and know what it would be like if all that was taken away. Yes, there’s other places we could have events outside of city limits. Somewhere this ordinance wouldn’t be enforced but it just wouldn’t be the same. If you could please take time and sign the petition for us, and by us I mean everyone who Atlanta drifting has touched. We would be forever grateful. If you want to please share this with your friends.
Click here to sign the petition.
From each and everyone of us we thank you for signing this. I don’t need to tell you why, if you signed it you get it.
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]]>The post BMI Racing Switches to Ford, Drifts a Mustang in 2012 appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Torrance, CA. – Through much deliberation between Adam and Sarah Burgess and
correspondence to a variety of their sponsors, BMI Racing has made the decision to
retire the RX8 Turbo 4 Rotor and will no longer be racing with Mazda. In 2012, BMI
Racing will have Sarah Burgess piloting a new Ford Mustang with the 5.0L Coyote
Engine, and a 2.9L Whipple Supercharger.
While it was a tough choice to leave Mazda, BMI Racing feels that it has been the right
decision at the right time. With the announcement from Mazda Japan to cut production
of the RX8 and also feedback from many of our sponsors wanting to be involved with a
current model domestic car, the switch to Ford was the right move.
BMI Racing would like to introduce their newest sponsors that have come on board
including Ford Racing, Whipple Superchargers, Ignite Racing Fuels, SPEC Clutch,
FordRacingParts123.com, Weld Racing, Wiseco Pistons, K1 Technologies, Ferrea Valves,
Johnson High Tech Performance Oil Pumps, Aeromotive Fuel Pumps, ESS Eyewear, OS
Giken, Apexi, KRC Power Steering, Diversified Machine Inc, and Torco Oils and also
mention sponsors that have been with us from the start Fragola Performance Systems,
FK Rods, Gunk.com, Odyssey Batteries, Racepak, Powermasters, and Davies Craig
Electric Water Pumps
Sarah and Adam would like to thank the fans that have supported them with the Mazda
– “if it wasn’t for the words of encouragement and support we wouldn’t be where we
are today.”
BMI Racing would also like to take this opportunity to thank Jim Jordan, Manager,
Alternative Marketing; Dean Case, Mazda Communications; Steve Sanders, Manager,
MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development; and John Doonan, Director of Motorsports;
for their support and guidance while we have been a part of the Mazda family, Sven
from NRS Rotorsports, and Jeff McCall from Rotary Power USA.
BMI Racing can be found at:
Facebook/bmiracingusa
Twitter/BMIracing
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]]>The post Vote for the FRN 240sx! appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>We have entered the FRN 240sx in to win some “Enjuku Cash” from Enjuku Racing! In case some of you are not familiar the FRN 240sx is a car that is being built to promote women in motorsports. A few years ago we purchased a car to be used solely as a drift car but after a few months we realized we didn’t want to keep it to ourselves. Thus the idea of building a car for other ladies to use came to us. The car is now being built to allow other females to use it for drift, AutoX, track days, etc. While the specifics are still being determined it would allow a girl to use the car for an event to test the waters of motorsports. We hope that this will allow more girls to become involved in grassroots level racing. To vote for the FRN 240 all you have to do is follow this link Enjuku Racing Facebook find “Amanda Martin” (should be at the top) in the list of cars and cast your vote. We have a lot of catching up to do and hope that all the FRN readers will take the time to help us out with this.
Thanks so much for everything!
The FRN Crew!
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]]>The post FRN Exculsive: Behind the Scenes Look at the Women Involved in Formula Drift. appeared first on Female Racing News | News about Women in Motorsports.
]]>Firstly, I will introduce myself – I am Sarah Burgess of BMI Racing, along with my husband I own the RX8 4 Rotor that competed in the Formula Drift series last year. Female Racing News has given me the opportunity to cover the first round of Formula Drift from a different perspective.
Similar to any other motorsport, it is mainly a male dominated sport, and always there are a few diamonds in the rough. While there are currently no professional female drifters out there competing, there are quite a few women in the background; I had the great opportunity of seeing these great ladies every month last year at each round of Formula Drift. So I thought it would be great to highlight some of these pretty cool, hard working girls.
Casidi Tanaka Fixmer has one of the toughest jobs in Formula Drift; her title is Operations Co-coordinator – what does that mean? She is responsible for ensuring everything happens – and within a timely manner. From dealing with drivers and team owners, organizing logistics, sending out notifications to all the teams and staff (and I have received those emails at 3 o’clock in the morning sometimes), to being in attendance at the Will Call desk all weekend and dealing with everybody’s crisis. Amazingly she stays cool, calm and collected. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to speak with her this weekend, but I hear she too also drifts (or has drifted in the past).
Next on my list is Stina Hubinette, wife of the crazy Swede Sam Hubinette. Stina takes on the responsibilities of running around and organizing various things, including website design, handling the accounting and logistics, she attends each of the Formula Drift drivers meetings as Stina is also Sam’s spotter when he is competing at these events.
Stina also gets behind the wheel of a car, and has competed in Time Attack events, the Thunder Hill 25hr Endurance Race (with Sam), and she also provides precision driving for television commercials.
Abigail Baker is not only busy keeping the 2010 Formula Drift Champion in check, but she is also the Communication Manager for Vaughn Gitten Jr Motorsports and the Public relations/media management/social media specialist for Team Need For Speed. At each of the Formula Drift events you’ll see Abigail typing furiously away at her laptop, arranging media people for interviews and photographs for the guys at Team Need For Speed, and many other things that keep her on her feet.
While walking through the pit/vendor area of Formula Drift, I had the chance of meeting Kerryann ……. She has a Nissan R32 with a RB26 engine, which is something rare here in the USA, but a common sight in Australia (the car that is) Kerryann grew up around cars, and ten years go decided to take her Honda drag racing – well, the bug had bitten her and from there she has spent her time trying various types of racing, modifying a range of cars, and currently settling on her current Nissan. At the moment Kerryann is running the in Time Attack, and over time she will increase the cars performance in the pursuit of faster times.
This is just a handful of the great women I get to meet every time I go to the track. Even if their not physically working on the car or behind the scenes, they are there giving support any way they can to their husbands and boyfriends. Its one of the small things that keeps this industry going.
On an end note, the first round of Formula Drift 2011 was won by Justin Pawlak in his Falken Tires Ford Mustang. This was Justin’s first win in his career of competing in Formula Drift, followed with the ever popular Matt Powers and his Need For Speed Nissan S14, with Dai Yoshihara in his Discount Tire S13 finishing third.
The next round for Formula Drift heads to the ever popular track in Atlanta, GA, May 6-7 (That’s right Mothers Day!!) For more information on the Formula Drift Championship Series be sure to check out their website http://www.formulad.com/
Big thanks to Amanda at Female Racing News for this great opportunity and everybody for giving me their time for a quick chat. I’m looking forward to writing more for the website in the near future, as my role changes in BMI Racing from working on the car to getting in behind the wheel.
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