Press Releases

KMR Media Review 2009

November 18, 2009 - KMR, Mazdatrix, Cooper tire, Mazda RX-7 takes 2nd place in Drift Class at Redline Time Attack season finale

October 25, 2009 - Mechanical Heartbreak Hits McColligan at USTCC Finale

October 2009 - Top 5 Finish For MC Racing

September 2009 - MC Racing Finishes Top 10 at NASA National Championships

August 2009 - MC Racing Equals Season Best Finish at Home Track

Picture by SpencerImaging.net

Picture by driftfotos.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCT.21

Mohan puts his Mazda RX-8 in the Great Eight at Irwindale Finale

Contact:
Efrain Olivares
(818) 254-7196 efrain@shiftgroup.net

October 21, 2009 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – Kyle Mohan saved the best for last in his 2009 Formula Drift Pro Championship season, as Mohan wheeled his Mazda RX-8 – supported by Mazdatrix, Cooper Tire and Mazda USA – to the best qualifying performance and best finishing result of his season.

Mohan served notice early in Friday qualifying with an 84.6 point run that, for a while, was the best qualifying run of the day before he ultimately finished fifth. The round of 32 saw Mohan defeat Jodin LeJeune after Mohan almost literally parked his RX-8 on the rear bumper and quarter panel of LeJeune’s Infiniti G35, which meant he would match up against Alex Pfeiffer in the thundering Tanaka Racing Chevy Corvette. Mohan advanced after Pfeiffer spun twice and was matched up against Matt Powers in the round of eight. After a strong lead run, Mohan made contact with the wall on the outer bank while chasing, which caused his Mazda to straighten and led to him being eliminated.

“This was such a great result for our team, and I am so happy for our sponsors, and for all of the family and friends that have helped KMR this season,” said Mohan. “I really wanted a great result for them this weekend, more than anything, and getting into the Great Eight for the first time this year was great.”

The result left Mohan 21st in the championship standings, despite not qualifying at one round due to a mechanical failure. In a year in which Mohan’s focus was on building and developing the new Mazda RX-8, Mohan was more than pleased with the end result.

“We have spent the year getting this new Mazda RX-8 dialed in and this weekend it really felt like we turned the corner with it,” said Mohan. “From the first lap of practice it was really good, the team made a few minor changes, and it was just phenomenal after that. It leaves me really excited for next season – I can hardly wait for Long Beach next year. We have a great car."

While Mohan’s Formula Drift championship season is over, his team will remain busy as Mohan will fill his off-season with a Redline Time Attack event before fielding a car for Pro-Am driver Johnny Kanavas at the Formula Drift Pro-Am Nationals.

About Kyle Mohan Racing

Kyle Mohan Racing competes in the Formula Drift Pro Championship aboard a 2009 Mazda RX-8, with support from Mazda USA, Mazdatrix, Cooper Tires, Exedy, WPC, Idemitsu, Turbonetics, Mishimoto, JIC Magic, TCSportline, KAAZ, F&L Racing Fuel, AIT Racing, Music Saves Lives, XXR wheels and Epic Action Sports Camera. For more information, visitwww.kylemohanracing.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mohan’s RX-8 is fastest at Wall, in top-32 again

June 12, 2009 (Signal Hill, Calif.) – With the rain that cancelled Friday practice at Wall Speedway for the third round of the Formula Drift Pro Championship, most teams were happy that they had the chance to practice  the day before, especially considering that Formula Drift had not been to Wall Speedway since 2007.

Transporter issues delayed the delivery of several cars to Wall Speedway, including the 2009 Mazda RX-8 of Kyle Mohan. Mohan was one of the few drivers who had not been to Wall Speedway before, and with the cancellation of Friday’s practice, would only have the short Saturday session to get things figured out before qualifying.

“Well, the situation definitely wasn’t ideal,” said Mohan. “But there isn’t much we can do about it. We’ll just learn the track as best as we can, do some safe runs in qualifying, and see what happens in tandem.”

Mohan’s two qualifying runs, held on a damp-but-drying track, were good enough to put him solidly in the field as he eventually wound up in 19^th position. However, Mohan’s RX-8 registered the fastest speed in the speed trap during qualifying.

Top-32 would see him go against Robbie Nishida. Nishida led on the first run, but as the two cars transitioned off the banking, Mohan’s RX-8 spun. On the next run, with Mohan leading and Nishida giving chase, Mohan put in a strong run but Nishida made no major mistakes and moved on to the top-16.

“Robbie is a great driver and I knew that going against him wouldn’t be easy,” said Mohan afterwards. “And, to be honest, we were just caught out a bit on the track conditions. That was our first time on the track in the dry, and we were getting way more grip out of our Cooper Tires than I expected. And, as we saw in qualifying, the car is making plenty of power and was really flying.”

Mohan will now set his sights on the next Formula Drift round, July 12 and 13 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

About Kyle Mohan Racing

Kyle Mohan Racing competes in the Formula Drift Pro Championship aboard a 2009 Mazda RX-8, with support from Mazda USA, Mazdatrix, Cooper Tires, Exedy, WPC, Idemitsu, Turbonetics, Mishimoto, JIC Magic, TCSportline, KAAZ, F&L Racing Fuel and XXR wheels. For more information, visitwww.kylemohanracing.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mazda/Allstars team finishes fourth on Streets of Long Beach

April 24, 2008 (Long Beach, California) -- The Mazda/International Allstars team, with Kyle Mohan, Patrick Mordaunt, and Johnny Kanavas at the helm of a pair of Mazda MX-5s and one Mazda RX-7, took to the track this past weekend the Long Beach Grand Prix to compete in the Formula Team Drift Championship.

Setting aside the fact that the Long Beach Grand Prix is the biggest race of its kind in North America, and the biggest venue for Formula Drift in terms of event stature and crowd size, this was a big event for the team’s drivers. But for Mohan, Mordaunt, and Kanavas, it was also their home event, as all live but mere miles down the freeway from the scenic Grand Prix Circuit. The International Allstars are also based in Southern California, and Mazda USA’s headquarters are based in nearby Irvine – not that many of them were in the office, as with a significant number of Mazda vehicles racing in Long Beach, many of Mazda’s staff were on site.

And for Kanavas, this was his first Formula Drift event – and, he’d never been on course at all at Long Beach. Mordaunt had only seen a portion of it, having competed in the Formula Drift Pro Championship event the weekend before, while Mohan had seen the full course in last year’s Team Drift event.

But, in front a packed crowd and under perfect weather, the Mazda/Allstars team delivered the goods (at least once the computer in Mordaunt’s car began cooperating) and came home fourth place in Sunday’s judged competition, a single point behind the third-placed team. With all three cars bouncing off the rev limiter, hanging the tail out and burning down their Cooper Tires, the drivers were grinning ear-to-ear after coming off track. It’s hard not to enjoy yourself when flogging a car for all its worth around the Long Beach Grand Prix course.

With the recent unification of the Champ Car World Series and the IRL IndyCar series, the rest of the Team Drift schedule is one large “TBA.” But look for Mohan, Mordaunt and Kanavas to be back behind the wheel for the Mazda/Allstars team before the season is over.

For more information, visit:

-         kylemohanracing.com

-         patrickmordaunt.com

-         kanavaskompetition.com

Contact:
Efrain Olivares
Shift Communications Group
(818) 254-7196
efrain@shiftgroup.net