NEWS _ Kanavas takes second in Formula Drift Vegas Pro Am

San Clemente, CA (07.15.09): For road racer-turned-drifter, Johnny Kanavas, his very first drifting competition had a little bit of everything; struggle, contact, but thankfully, it ended with a nice check and a big swig of champagne.

Kanavas entered the Formula Drift Pro-Am competition at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with years of experience racing and drifting cars, but had yet to compete in a tandem competition. In fact, his time in the Kyle Mohan Racing Mazda RX-7 was limited to a one hour session at Adams Motorsports Park earlier in the week.

After spending the first part of the short practice session adjusting to the high-speed Las Vegas course, Kanavas laid down a qualifying run that was good for fifth place in the field, while recording the fastest entry speed at 94mph. In the first round of competition, he handily defeated Shawn Coward in the first round and then Andrew Coomes in the semi-finals before facing former Formula Drift Pro Championship driver Forrest Wang in the final.

Kanavas made contact with the wall on his first run but still put enough pressure to force a One More Time, but Wang ultimately prevailed. In his first tandem competition, Kanavas brought the KMR Mazda FC3S home on the second spot of the podium.

“This was unbelievable, such a fun way to start out in Formula Drift,” said Kanavas. “I really want to thank Kyle Mohan, Mazdatrix, Cooper Tire and Adams Motorsports Park for their support this weekend. We struggled a bit on Friday, but made some changes and focused hard on the job at hand today and we are really proud of the result.”

‘Johnny K’, as he was called all weekend, was awarded cash and prizes from Longacre Racing Products and Exedy Clutch, as well as an invite to compete in the Formula Drift Pro-Am Nationals in December.

Cooper Tire
Mazdatrix
KMR
Adams Motorsports Park

source: Shift Group