Drifting to Victory with Toyo

Tanner Foust, driver of the Toyo Proxes R1R shod AEM/Memphis Car Audio/Toyo Tires Nissan 350Z, was crowned the 2007 Formula Drift champion this past weekend during the Formula Drift Championship Finals at Irwindale Speedway in California. Foust entered the final event leading the championship by 23 points, which meant he only needed to finish in third place or better to secure the championship, however he ended the season on a high note by taking first place on the day.

Irwindale Speedway is known to fans as “The House of Drift” and draws capacity crowds for the annual drifting finals. Foust climbed the championship ladder during the final rounds by first defeating Tony Brakahopia in the Top 16. During the Top 8, Foust defeated Ryuji Miki, and then moved on to the Top 4 to defeat Kenji Yamanaka. In the Final, Foust defeated number two ranked Chris Forsberg for both the event win and the 2007 championship.

“With the level of competition going through the roof during the 2007 Formula D season, the only way we could compete and have the chance of winning was to use the best tyres with the highest level of grip, Toyo’s Proxes R1R,” said Foust. “During last weekend’s event, we achieved the highest top speed of the weekend by six-mph over the next fastest car.”

“We congratulate Tanner on winning the 2007 Formula D professional drifting championship”, said Stan Chen, manager of events and motorsports, Toyo Tire (U.S.A.) Corporation. “This is the first Formula D championship for Toyo and it demonstrates the winning capabilities of our new Proxes R1R extreme performance tyres.”

Toyo’s Proxes tyre family includes the Proxes 4 (affordable performance and style), the Proxes T1R (premium UHP tyre), the Proxes RA1 (a D.O.T.-approved competition tyre used in SPEED World Challenge), the new Proxes R888 (D.O.T.-approved competition tyre), and the new extreme performance Proxes R1R.