Robbins & Koruworks run Konig in 17!

Robbins & Koruworks run Konig in 17!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

Konig is excited to announce their partnership with Koruworks and their driver this year, Alec Robbins. Their widebody 350z is incredible and Koruworks is a first class operation, make sure to check them out (info below)!

Alec got his start in motorsports at a young age.  Growing up, he spent much of his time with his father at car shows and other various motorsports events.  Having been riding snowmobiles, dirt bikes and four wheelers ever since he could reach the handlebars, Alec has always been at home with anything on wheels.  Having an itch for adrenaline, he has been into extreme sports as well and started racing motocross at the age of 14 where his hunger for competition and all out racing on the edge began.  Alec’s love for cars began to develop shortly after getting his drivers license. His parents gave him his first vehicle; a 1986 Nissan d21 truck.  The truck was a hand-me-down and was purchased by his dad in 1987. Throughout highschool Alec made it his own by lowering and adding a few small custom touches to the truck.

After high school, Alec continued his education and passion for cars and got a degree in automotive service at a local technical college.  It was in College that he discovered drifting and had to give it a try.  A Chevy v8 was sourced from a car behind a neighbors shed was dropped in the D21 truck, along with a welded diff and some minor suspension modifications. Alec attended some of his first drift events in 2013 and shortly after he started pushing harder and winning most of the local drift events he was attending.  All the while the truck was getting upgraded just as fast as Alec’s skills progressed.  Eventually a 400hp LS2 and t56 transmission found its way into his dads old truck.

In 2016 it was time to take the next step and Alec went out to drive in the Midwest Drift Union Pro-am series.  Having only driven a few tracks locally, the higher level of driving and new tracks were the main reasons for making the jump to pro-am.  Alec quickly made heads turn at round 1 by being the first and only truck in the pro-am series, and kept all eyes on him by qualifying 3rd and taking home a 4th place finish at out of a 40+ driver field!  Alec continued the high qualifying and was able to finish on the podium at the remaining 3 rounds making him the MDU season champion AND rookie of the year.

In 2017, Alec will take the next step up the ladder and make his debut as a Pro-2 rookie.  Alec was able to  join forces with Koruworks LLC and will be debuting their all new 350z. Sporting Konig Hypergrams, a Chevy crate LS3, Gforce transmission, Quick change rear end, Wisefab arms and knuckles with Fortune auto suspension, and a little extra help from Nitrous Express;  It is the recipe Alec needed to progress his driving to its highest level.

Back home Alec currently works for Metro Transit, as a mechanic on locomotives and passenger rail cars.  He is newly married to his wife Chelsea Robbins and has two children, Elliana and Ryder Robbins.  Alec spends most of his off time with his family or working on his cars in the shop.  They also enjoy going to local drift events, car cruises, and bracket drag races with their gear head in laws. To say the least, family and racing are what drives Alec to be the man he is today.

Alec Robbins and the Koruworks team run Konig Hypergrams in 18×9.5 et 25 all the way around in Race Bronze. Here the team’s contact info, make sure to follow them!

Koruworks: koruworks.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koruworks/
Alex Robbins Racing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alecrobbinsracing/

Knapik heads to Formula Drift pro 2 round 2

Posted on by Konig Gfx

Knapik Heads to Formula Drift Pro 2 Round 2 in Atlanta!

Adam Knapik is one of those enthusiasts that loves cars and drifting so much that he will take an endless amount of a abuse just to have the opportunity to spend his day on track. Unfortunately that is exactly what has been happening to Adam and his team, abuse!

Preparing for Round 1 of Formula Drift Pro 2 in Orlando, with only days left before loading the car on the trailer for the cross country journey, Adam’s engine developed a rod knock. To blame was a faulty oil check valve…as disappointed as they were, the clock had run out and the game was over. While making the trip to Orlando wasn’t in the cards the team knew they needed to keep on pushing. Round 2 in Atlanta was only 2 weeks late and they still had to get a new engine in the car, tune it and make the cross country trip to Georgia. After a few days of work Knapik and the team had their backup LS2 engine swapped in, tuned and ready to flex in Atlanta this coming weekend at Road Atlanta.

We’ve been proud to be associated with Adam and his program for a few years now. ** Check out this video of Adam from a couple of years ago:**

He made his way through some road racing and time attack events but drifting seems to be where his heart is. Competing previously in Top Drift, a win there paved the way for his Formula D pro 2 license.

knapik win top drift

We look forward to see what Knapik and his team will do in Atlanta and are proud to have the opportunity to support an incredible driver and real enthusiast! Good Luck Adam…

Adam Knapik is a Konig Sponsored Formula Drift Pro 2 Driver that runs the Flow Formed Konig Rennform in 18×9 et23 all the way around on his Nissan 240sx S14.

If you want to keep tabs on Adam here is where you can follow him along:
Website: http://knapikracing.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knapikracing/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KnapikRacing

Kelsey Rowlings talks FD Orlando

Posted on by KONIG

Kelsey Rowlings took a few minutes to run through her experience at Formula Drift Orlando. It’s not everyday that you can climb in the mind of a professional driver and really know what they were thinking and feeling. Kelsey takes over the rest of this blog to do just that! Check it out below!

Round One of Formula Drift’s Pro 2 at Orlando Speedworld was a solid start for my team and I. We had a few hiccups starting in Thursday’s practice where we had to deal with a low oil pressure issue that we thought we had fixed during testing. The issue popped up again during Thursday practice when the oil pressure would drop below 35psi ever so briefly, and trigger a “safety mode” we set on our Haltech ECU. That safety would set the rev limiter to 5k RPMS to save any damage to the engine without cutting all the power in case it were to happen at a bad part of the track. It is a great safety feature, but drifting the OSW bank when the power is limited is still extremely sketchy!

Besides the low oil pressure issue, we noticed that the amount of blow-by coming from our driver-side head was not normal. We were getting too much blow-by from one side and not the other. Worried we had an internal issue, we compression tested the engine. To our relief, the numbers were perfect, but we did notice another issue while looking over our data logs. The engine ran so cool that the oil temperature was not rising above 200 degrees. We also discovered that the breather on the passenger side head that led to our catch can had a PCV type valve in it. We drilled out the valve to allow more breathability, and we covered a portion of our oil cooler with tape to make the cooling less efficient. With these few small changes, we fixed the problem and were back in business!

Once we got the car settled, I started feeling more prepared and ready for qualifying. When we went out for our qualifying run, I realized the sun was right in my line of vision for the entry making it extremely difficult to see and judge the distance before entry. Without a tinted visor or sunglasses, I knew I had to just go for it. I committed to my entry and threw the car hard. Once I was entering I realized I was just the slightest bit late, setting me up for a really high line… too high. I tap the wall with a decent amount of force, but I correct and floor the throttle. I tap again, lighter this time and again stay in the gas. I steer my car down off the bank and past the first inner clip almost perfectly. I transition slightly cautiously through the infield, knowing I had a close call on the bank and that I needed to clean up my act towards the end. I pass the second inner clip with good proximity and push out into the final outer zone. I make my way around the apron and finish the run that would be my high score, a 73, putting me in 10th for qualifying.

My qualifying position meant I was against the number 7 qualifier from Australia, Josh Robinson, in his imported Holden Ute. I was excited to drift with a car that we don’t have in the US. During top 16 practice, my spotter informed me that Josh was having trouble during the transition through the infield, and spun almost every time due to some issues they were having with the car. Josh was also kind enough to let me know before the battle of his struggles with the car so I wouldn’t be surprised on track.

Knowing Josh’s Ute was much slower than my Coyote powered rocket ship, and knowing he was having issues, I decided I was going to give him some room for the entry so I wouldn’t get stuck behind him during initiation. Unfortunately, Once I started to take of from the line, I realized I may have been in fourth gear instead of second, the gear I normally start in. I quickly took the car out of gear and slam it back into second to be sure and take off as fast as I can behind Josh. I wanted to give him a little room… but it turned into playing a game of catch up!

I round the bank with my eyes set on the Ute. I gain on him quickly as we head down the bank towards the inner clip. In my head, I’m wondering if he is going to make the transition successfully. I navigate through the smoke and once I see his car settled the other direction, I hammer down. I bump the second inner clip as I get closer and closer, positioning myself on his door for the last few seconds of the run.

Knowing my follow run wasn’t ideal, I wanted to put down the best possible lead run. That is where I got in my head. I floored it and clutch-kicked into the bank on a really high line. I tap the wall lightly followed by a larger tap and a big correction. I stay in the gas and throw more angle to keep the front end away from the wall. I over-corrected, bringing my car down the bank a bit too early, putting two tires off course to the inside coming down the bank. I correct and make it past the first clip, transition to the second inner clip where I stay in it for a solid finish.

Unfortunately, I beat myself as soon as I tapped the wall, forcing me to over-correct and go tires off. I wanted to put down an amazing run but just went a bit too hard! Although we were knocked out in the top 16, I’m happy with my driving overall, and I look forward to Round two at Road Atlanta, where I plan to go 100%… instead of 110%… 🙂

-Kelsey Rowlings

Nate Hamilton’s Recap of Formula Drift Orlando!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

Enjuku team making us proud this weekend! Our boy Nate Hamilton making it to top 16 in Formula Drifts Orlando speedway round 2! In this guest blog by Nate, he breaks down the 2 day event from top to bottom! Enjoy…

**** GUEST BLOG – BY NATE HAMILTON ****

FORMULA DRIFT ORLANDO – PRO 1 Round 2 | April 28th & 29th

Photos by: @jessieabi_k



– Team Update



Our full team assembled (#TeamEnjuku) consists of 7 dedicated hands. During a normal track day, we have two cars our guy’s service, between Kevin and myself…who knows what can happen. lol Also along for the ride, our media guys Corey and Max.

Arriving at 8:30 am isn’t that bad when you get to go drifting!! Our mornings start with unloading the rig, setting up our tents and tools. After that, we check bolts/alignments making sure everything is ready for the track.



Lastly, we make sure to add some fresh tires. In my case, Blade just mounted two Hankook RS-4’s. Shoutout, BLADE!  

– Practice 

This track feels like my backyard. I’ve had my share of laps here, this makes Thursday’s practice pure fun!

Chasing everyone was my goal.

– Qualifying 

Qual run 1 – 77
Qual run 2 – 84 

After qualifying…Formula Drift provides our scores and the Top 32 bracket.
My results = 17th position, I would battle Rad Dan in the TOP 32.

I took the WIN and advanced into Top16, next I would battle Dai Yoshihara!!!
This was my first appearance in Formula Drift Pro1 Top16! 

The easiest way to describe my battle with Dai.. FULL THROTTLE! I actually was so focused on putting the pressure on I ended up hurting my own line.
Almost making contact coming out of the bank was my only error. 

Respectively, Dai took the win and my weekend was coming to an end.

At this point…my tires are burnt, I have a smile on my face. The cars in great shape, our team felt solid about my showing. We are moving forwards, gaining two valuable positions in the overall standings. I will leave Orlando in 20th position overall in the championship.


Huge thanks to my Team: Ant & BUB, I couldn’t do it without you guys. No matter what the situation they have a solution and pull off the impossible to keep me behind the wheel and ready for battle.

All the family, fans, and sponsors that make this possible. I feel so humbled at everyone’s efforts, I will drive like a maniac in Atlanta for you guys! You have my word! 

Thanks, everyone! KONIG WHEELS, HANKOOK TIRES, BC RACING, ENJUKU RACING, COMPETITION CLUTCH, VIBRANT PERFORMANCE, GARRETT TURBOS, GRAPHICS DIRECT, WISECO, ALPINESTARS, MOLLY WATER and HJC HELMETS.

See you guys next week in Atlanta, Thanks again KONIG!

Kevin Lawrence Takes Win at Formula Drift Orlando!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

This past weekend Kevin Lawrence took home the win at Formula Drift Orlando in the Pro 2 series. It was even more exciting knowing that Kevin was able to secure the win at his home track and in front of so many friends. Kevin runs through his experience in the latest edition of the KONIG GUEST BLOG!

**** GUEST BLOG – BY KEVIN LAWRENCE ****

FORMULA DRIFT ORLANDO – PRO 2 Round 1

Photos by: Corey Denomy / Video by: Corey Denomy / Enjuku Racing

Thursday.

After a brief season opener drivers meeting it was time for the first Pro2 practice of the season.  I took a few chase runs in this practice to see how the car would hold up against the field and after a few runs knew that the crazy hot track temps were hindering my grip levels, so we made a few changes to the car before going out to second practice.
Second practice I used to get more lead runs and dial in my line for qualifying. The changes made to the car helped gain some grip into the car and I felt good going into qualifying.



First run I took a mild approach to the wall as to not over do it and make sure I put down a score. Judges ruled that first pass to be an 80 so I was going to push a bit harder on the second pass. Second pass started off better on the bank but after the transition in the infield my transmission started showing its evil side of falling out of 4th gear, which was an issue last season for me that we thought we had figured out.  Either way the gear popping out tossed me off line and I ended up plowing through the second front clip thus not bettering my first score of an 80. But after all the cars had made their passes my 80 point first run was high enough to earn me the 4th place qualifier in the season opener on the first day at the track. 



Friday.

  Top 16 practice I went out with the intention to get as many follow runs as I could to again judge the cars grip level compared to the rest of the field.

First run out the car falls out of 4th gear upon initiation but luckily not sending me off into the wall. Thinking this had to just be a fluke and there is no way the car could do this again I went out to take a second pass. This time nervous of the car having the issue again I attempted to run a lower line on the bank just in case, Sure enough again just after initiation the car was banging off the limiter in neutral. Frustrated at this the team and I decided to try and swap the rear end gear in the car to make an attempt to find an ideal wheel speed for the car to run in 3rd gear the entire lap.



There was only enough time left in the practice session to get 2 more passes before our opening ceremony and after those 2 runs I could tell the gear change wasn’t 100% ideal for what we needed and seemed to slow my car down even more unfortunately. But being nervous to make another change and then jumping into my first battle I decided to leave it as is and run it for competition.

Top 16 

  My first battle was up against former Pro1 driver Danny George. After Danny had a pretty hard hit in practice, him and his team were able to scramble together and get his car out to the line just moments before it was time for our battle. Me being the higher qualifying driver was up to lead first, I left the gate with my best attempt to get the car up to as much speed as possible before initiating on the bank and making an effort to run a solid 100+ point lead run. During my lead run Danny had some issues mid bank and had some big corrections from what I assume to be issues with the car from his recent wreck in practice. 

  Switching positions it was my turn to chase. I tried to get a early advance through the start lights and as I started rolling, I hesitated to continue right as Danny started through the chicane and blew past me on the run up. I did my best to catch back up to him on the run up before initiating but he had built up way more speed than me from my hesitation. Danny ran a pretty low line on the bank thus creating a big gap on me through out the run. But after the Judges review they deemed his mistakes behind my lead run were more of a deduction than my low proximity to Danny which gave me the win and advancement into the great 8 up against Dirk Stratton.

 Great 8.
  Again with the higher qualifying score I was up to lead Dirk Stratton first. His car is insanely fast in drift and he had been running an amazing line all weekend on track. As the start lights dropped I left the start to try and get to the bank with as much speed as possible. As I left the gate I had a flash back to last year of my wreck in the great 8 on my lead run taking myself out of competition and as I got to the initiation point of the track I hesitated a second to initiate and almost had a late initiation onto the bank. I ran the same high line I did in front of Danny on the bank with big angle and tight proximity through the front clips and completed the run. Dirk had taken a bit of a shallower line that I to keep proximity with me but ultimately he came off the banks wall earlier than I had and choked him self up some behind me trying to take a early dive at the first front clip. This looked to have caused him to have to check back for a second to clear hitting the first front clip giving me a bit of a gap on him through the transition that he later made ground on before the end of the final turn.

 Me now in the follow position again knowing the speed Dirks car has I gave it my all to get a early start out of the gate to initiate as close to him as I could with the hopes of keeping a tight proximity through out our run. 3/4 through the bank I could see Dirk pulling distance on me so I did what I could to try and take angle out of the car and had a slower transition through the center of the track to try and keep some speed in my car to keep up with the corvette. In the end Dirk had put a big gap on me before the finish line leaving the judges to have to judge our runs solely off our leads. After a few moments of the judges going over the replays they awarded me the win, after personally reviewing the runs I assume it was my slightly higher line on the bank and keeping my car in the apron on the final turn with out lifting rear tires on the bank behind it giving me the win in this set of battles advancing me into the final 4.

Final 4 and 2x OMT

 I was up against Brandon Schmidt and again was up to lead first. My lead run started nearly as a mirror reflection from my previous lead runs in the 16 and 8 with a high line up on the wall. As I started to make my way down to the front clip I see Brandon make a big leap forward on me which triggered my natural reactions to steer away a bit from him to avoid a collision which altered my line coming off the bank and me taking a very wide pass through the first front clip. I quickly did my best to get myself back on proper line after the transition to then finish out the run on the wide line through the finish line while Brandon was making some noticeable corrections to his car through out the run.

  On my follow with Brandon, I make the mistake and not take the early start out of the gate and have to play catch up on the run up to try and initiate with him. I threw too much angle on my initiation, causing him to start pulling out a gap on me and he was taking a much lower faster line than me on the bank which was just aiding to his proximity gap. I again did my best to pull angle out of the car through the first front clip and through the transition to pickup some ground which started to work but I ended up over doing it and taking a wide line entering the second rear zone where Brandon was able to pull some ground on me again. The judges being not too happy with either of our follow or lead runs called for us to battle again in a one more time.

 Final Battle.


 
At this point I’m literally shaking since I’m so stoked to have made it in the finals. A quick tire change and I’m back out at the line, my final battle is against Travis Reeder. The start light drops and off I go, initiate high on the bank with a tight line on the first inner front clip. I had a bit of a correction after the transition but it put me right on the ideal outer line to finish the track with Travis right behind me lunging at my door at any chance he could get.

Switching positions, I know I’m on my last set of tires and have to get the a decision from the judges on this battle as I wouldn’t have a spare set to run a OMT call. I take an extremely early start on the run up and as I’m looking for Travis to blow my me by the second initiation cone I have to make a quick lift off the throttle for him to catch up and pass me so I can enter before the last marker and right with him. This time the timing is nearly perfect and I enter right with him and am actually able to carry enough speed to keep up with him through out the whole bank. I did my absolute best to keep up with him and sacrificed a lot of angle to do so. Upon entering the final rear zone Travis seemed to have lifted tires on the bank a bit early and again towards the end of the run. I believe that was all the judges needed to make their call.

They call us to the main grand stands to announce the winner.  A few seconds later Jarod comes over the mic and announces in front of the crowd that I had taken the win the opening round of Formula Drift Pro2!!  

 This is the first time for me to take the win at a Formula D Pro2 round and I truly cant thank my Team, Sponsors, Family, and Friends enough for all of their help and motivation along the way. For my first win to be at home was an amazing thing to accomplish and I’m so honored to share that moment at my home track with all of my close family, friends and supporters. Atlanta is in 2 weeks and you can bet that I will be out there ripping the S14.3 just as hard as I was here at home!

 Thanks again everyone I’ll see you in Atlanta!
-Kevin 

Donovan Brockway teams up with Konig!

Posted on by Konig Gfx

Konig Wheels is proud to announce our newest sponsored driver, Donovan Brockway. Brockway, the founder and main driver of Red Baron racing, has teamed up with Konig for the 2017 Formula Drift Pro 2 season.  Driving a BMW E30 nicknamed “theBeast”MW Donovan will be thrashing tires this season on Konig Rennform wheels!

Here are some words from the man himself:

“Hey what’s up guys! It’s Donovan here, I’d like to tell you a little about myself and the

team but first I’d like to formally thank Konig for the opportunity to partner up and

become the official wheel sponsor of Red Baron Racing. We’re extremely excited to be

working with them and feel their wheels align perfectly with our car and team’s brand

image.

I started drifting about 6 years ago after a few of my friends got me out to Sonoma

Raceway, our local track, for the Wednesday night drifts. This was back when drifting

was just starting out on a regular basis at Sonoma. Most of the cars had less than

200hp and were all driven to the track. They threw me in the passenger seat, did a few

laps and I was hooked. The next week I spent looking for a starter chassis. I always

loved the older 3 series body style (E30) and thought it would make a really cool drift

car. The first motor I swapped in was an M52 with about 180hp on a good day. It made

a great starting point, but gradually we went up in power swapping out that motor for a

stock S54 and then adding nitrous, a supercharger and finally arriving at the turbo setup

you see today that pushes over 1000hp. I earned my FD pro 2 license after finishing in

3rd place at TopDrift in my NX powered S54 E30. After acquiring my pro2 license, I

knew the competition would increase significantly so I started to build a new car and

assemble a crew.    Luckily, I was able to find a solid crew chief and master fabricator,

along with a great group of guys to help run the program. Our first year in Pro2 had a

huge learning curve that even extended into our second year. This year, we are dialed

in and ready to battle. The car is running better than ever, looking better than ever, and I

am excited to get back in the seat and prove to the drifting world that we are a

contending team heading for the top.”

*** Here are some drool worthy images sporting the Konig Rennform’s and the 2017 livery!  Check it and make sure to follow Donovan and Red Baron Racing!  Their social links are below!”

donovan brockway e30 bmw

Donovan Brockway e30 bmw konig rennform

The Social Media Stuff:
RED BARON RACING – INSTAGRAM
RED BARON RACING – FACEBOOK

Wheels Running:
Konig Rennform 18×8.5 Front / 18×9.5 Rear

The Konig Rennform is a Flow Formed wheel that has fitment in most popular passenger vehicles especially euro applications.  The Rennform has an exceptional amount of caliper clearance and is perfect for those big brake cars or cars with BBK upgrades.  

We are super exciting to be a part of Donovan’s /  Red Baron Racing’s program this year.  Stay tuned for more!

Nate Hamilton – Formula Drift Round 1 – Long Beach, CA RECAP

Posted on by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY Nate Hamilton ****

Photos by: Corey Denomy / Video by: Corey Denomy / Enjuku Racing

 

Day 1

Driver – Nate Hamilton #144

Event – Season opener of the Premiere Pro1 Class of Formula Drift – Round 1   

Location – Long Beach, California 

– 7am. This is the first day of action, our team finishes breakfast, then meets at our trailer to get things started. Generally, mornings consist of setting up camp, overlooking the car. While the team double checks everything, us drivers get caught up to speed at our morning drivers meetings. 

 – 9am. Once the event is given the green light we will start burning tires. Drivers are allowed one 3 hour practice. The focus for me here is getting comfortable and being consistent. In the 3 hours of practice, we ran 8 laps. 

– 1pm. Qualifying starts now! We have two opportunities to make the show. I ran into a mechanical failure on my first lap, putting all the pressure on my second lap. Having experience with this situation in the past, I knew to take it easy and make a lap happen with a safe run. I received a 75/100 landing me in 22nd position going into our main event.

 

 

DAY 2

Qualified: 22nd 

Top 32 Battle: Hamilton vs Field 

– 7am. Back to work! 

– 9am. Open Practice – This is where our team is focused on my line and car setup. Am I driving the correct line? How can I better my runs? How’s the pace vs the other guys in the class? Are we consistent? These are the questions we ask often to elevate our results.

– 11am. TOP32 battle – Hamilton vs Field  

This was my first Pro1 battle after moving up from the Pro2 class, I was set to battle Matt Field as he qualified 11th and I qualified 22nd. 

 With some corrections and mistakes on my end, it was clear Matt had the advantage. This doesn’t mean I was going to take it easy on my lead run.

As Matt was following, I did my best to put on a great show for the fans. Bouncing off the first wall running the line wide caused me to get out of rhythm. 

 Matt Field would take the win. I know I will meet him again and look forward to the learning experience that was, Round 1 of Formula Drift. 

– 2pm. After we battle and get the results, we immediately look forward to the next opportunity to gain points and position in the series. As round one comes to a close I will sit in 22nd position. 

– 7pm. Rigs loaded and we are rolling out of the venue. As I sit in the truck I remember.. I would not be able to make this program happen without a great group of friends, family, and sponsors. Thanks to Enjuku Racing for providing an awesome team to work with. BC Racing / Hankook Tires for stepping up, Vibrant / Konig / Competition Clutch and everyone else pushing to make this opportunity the best it can be!  

Next Formula D event:  Our Round 2 will kick off in my current hometown, Orlando FL. Until next time, Thanks for reading!

***********************************************************

Nate runs 17×9 et 25 Konig Hypergrams in the front and 18×9.5 et 25 Konig Hypergram wheels in the rear on his Turbo LSX swapped 240sx.  Nate is a Konig Wheels sponsored driver and drives under Enjuku Racing competing in Formula Drift.

Kevin Lawrence Formula Drift Texas Pro2 Round 3

Posted on by Konig Gfx

**** GUEST BLOG – BY KEVIN LAWRENCE ****

Hey Everybody, Dropping in with my Formula Drift Texas Recap.

After an early arrival and setup on Wednesday at the Texas Motor Speedway, the crew and I were able to grab an early dinner and some sleep before our first day of driving.
Thursday morning was awesome the weather was actually very mild for what the temperatures have been in previous years and was immensely cooler than the previous round in Orlando, FL. We arrived at the track early to set up our pits and wait for a few last minute shipments to arrive at the track, tires and a new front bumper for me. Our tires arrived an hour or so before practice so we got them all mounted up and set off to the hot pits on the track.

In the drivers meeting, the Judges went over the new driving line and clipping point locations that they had set up for this round. I knew practice would be crucial to get myself and the car dialed in to fluidly connect the course with speed, angle, and style. After the first practice session I was still struggling with the first turn to get the car setup to enter the power alley, then onto the reach out to the wall. Before second practice we made a gear change in the differential to try and adjust wheel speed some to see if it settle the car more to my liking. This had me running all of the track in 3rd gear instead of 4th. The change helped some but it seemed the change wasn’t enough as I was hitting the top of 3rd gear during the power alley in the acceleration zone holding my speed down. With practice ending soon I decided to shift the car into 4th in that area to get the wheel speed back for the acceleration zone and then would have to later drop back down into 3rd to finish the track out. This at the time felt like the best option for the limited runs I had gotten for practice and decided to go into qualifying with this gear setup.

It was now time for qualifying and as I pulled up to the line I felt good and was ready to make my first pass. I was given the go and left the start line, spinning the tires of the car most the way on the run up I got the car up to 3rd gear and initiated into the first turn. I felt the car float out a bit wider than I had desired which by the time I got the car back on line was after the new first front clip and knew that I was quite a bit off of it so I did my best to just finish out the run as smoothly as possible. Score for this run was a 77 which was high enough to get me on the board but I wanted to better the score.


On my second run I was able to get the car setup better on the first turn and through the power alley but coming into the rear wall section of the track I felt the car coming in a bit faster than normal. I tried to correct this by adding a bit more angle to the car to slow down a bit and to keep from making contact with the wall. I got through the wall section but the amount of angle I put into the car had me leaving that rear zone too early causing an early arrival at the next inner clip. I knew at this point my line was severely off at this time and would have caused me to plow through the front clip and drop my front tires off track. I decided to not risk damaging anything on the car by doing this so I pulled the car straight and shut down for my run giving me a 0 for this pass.

My first pass scored a 77, giving me an 11th place qualifying position. Putting me up against Jeff Jones in the Top 16.

Friday started similar to Thursday we had a late shipment of tires arriving so we got to the track early to receive and mount up, then we wait for our time to drive after the Pro1 qualifying. After watching the pro1 guys kill it in practice and qualifying it was our time to drive. I got a few runs in during practice that felt great but of course when you push to get that one more run in something always goes wrong. I was able to make it to the line for a final pass and was following Dirk Stratton in his C6 corvette. The run started off great but after pushing through the power alley I put too much focus on the front clip just before the transition at the wall. Upon focusing on that I realized that Dirk was slowing down more than I anticipated and by the time I realized this and got on brakes it was too late. We made contact his left rear wheel to my right rear wheel is what took most of the impact. I limped the car back to the hot pits to assess the damage, Luckily it was just a broken toe arm bracket that is made to buckle under impact to save more valuable pieces of the car. After a quick 5min change of parts and alignment adjustment, I was ready for Top 16.

Top 16 I was up against Jeff Jones I knew after my crash in Orlando after our OMT call I had to up the bar a bit to get the win clean and clear. But of course when the adrenaline is pumping and the anxiousness of battle hits its hard to keep 100% focused and react as fast as needed. I entered in behind him aggressively to keep a close proximity with intentions to get closer, I started to gain up closer on him and upon doing so I thought I saw what looked like him about to rotate the car however it was just him making an adjustment to his angle. After my previous run in practice with Dirk, my reaction was he was going to spin and I was going to plow through him, I stomped on the foot brake but at the same time partially lifting off throttle which caused a large bobble and straightening on my end. At that time he was able to pull a gap on me to the finish of the run.

The second run was my turn to lead, Doing my best to not let my nerves get to me from the first run I set off to get that 100pt qualifying run. I entered the first turn where I had set my mark and got on throttle and out to angle through the first turn and upshifting into the power alley. I noticed I had gained quite a bit more speed in this area as I did in qualifying but was ready for it so just before the transition towards the wall I reached to grab a bit of handbrake to slow the car down a bit. Upon doing so I either bumped my shifter or it had not been fully engaged in the gear so when I clutched into handbrake and the transmission unloaded it popped out of gear into neutral causing yet another straighten. After finishing the run the judges awarded the win to Jeff who would go on to the great 8.

All in all, it was a great round I want to thank everyone who is a part of the team for all their help and continued support as we together grow and learn from these events and push to get to that top spot on the podium!

***********

Kevin runs 17×9 et 25 Konig Hypergrams in the front and 18×9.5 et 25 Konig Hypergram wheels in the rear on his RB powered S-chassis.  Kevin is a Konig Wheels sponsored driver and runs on the Enjuku Racing team competing in Formula Drift.

Behind The Build Lawrence Episode 3 / Hamilton Episode 4

Posted on by KONIG

If you’ve been following the Behind The Build Series from Enjuku Racing then you have watched the progress of both Nate Hamilton’s and Kevin Lawrence’s pro drift builds. We are a little behind sharing these episodes with you but we don’t want you to miss anything! These builds are top notch and being completed by one of the best shops in competitive automotive racing. These episodes are amazing because they allow you to really see all the coolness and detail that it takes to build race cars to a professional standard.

So without further wait here’s a double header for your viewing pleasure. Below are episodes 3 from Kevin and 4 from Nate! Check them out and follow them on their social pages!

NATE SOCIAL FB / IG | KEVIN SOCIAL FB / IG

Summary Kevin Behind The Build EP.3: In this installation of the series, Kevin Lawrence’s RHD Nissan S14 is going under the knife yet again but this time coming out better than ever. With a larger radiator (being pushed to the rear), a new dog box and more…Kevin also explains a bit about what it’s like to be a new driver in professional drifting.

Summary Nate Hamilton The Build EP.4:  As the final phases are approaching, Nate is realizing the need for change and the upside of embracing change. Watch as the Nissan S13 as it gets violated to the extreme; of being welded, stripped, cut apart and more. Follow witness to just how much beauty can be created from some an array of processes. This episode is a great representation of not only the mind-set of a driver, needed to succeed in this industry but also the work ethic and team work necessary to produce such quality, which in the end separates those who strive towards the same goal.

 

Kevin Lawrence / Ep.3

Nate Hamilton / Ep.4

Behind the Build Episode 2 – Kevin Lawrence’s S14

Posted on by Konig Gfx

Continue in the journey of Kevin Lawrence’s Pro S14 build as Kevin and the Enjuku Racing Team prepares for the 2016 Formula Drift season. Episode 2 gets right into the roll cage design and fabrication stages of Kevin’s RHD Nissan S14 chassis. The guys at Enjuku Racing meticulously cut, grind, & weld the roll-cage to the chassis allowing Kevin ample room and enough reinforcement for the overwhelming track abuse this Nissan 240sx will receptively endure.

Watch the full episode bellow to learn how Kevin’s roll cage differs from Enjuku’s “off the shelf” roll cages as seen his 2015 Formula D Pro Nissan S13.