We found these images of the Braille Auto Infiniti G35 convertible which is rumored to have Blake Fuller piloting it as he will be retiring the white Nissan 350z. We aren’t sure at what event we will see this thing in action first but it’s looking pretty good and we are thrilled to see a G35 vert in Formula D. Rumor has it the car is a 5.6L V8 supercharged by Vortech. Sounds interesting!

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Formula D has just announced that Orido will be attending Vegas. We reported him in Long Beach as his name was found on a driver’s list privately but nothing came of it. It looks as now they have officially announced his arrival in the City of Sin for next week. Orido will be piloting Project Mu / 3T Motorsport / Yokohama Aristo. We will keep you posted and hunt for some  photos of this  Aristo!

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After a couple days of gossip, rumors and conjecture flying around the Internet forums it appears that the Super Autobacs Skyline has finally received some official mandates from Formula D. The Skyline team last made headlines when they formally protested qualifying after Takatori received a 5th place position and a score of 93.00. (http://wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2008/05/11/a-protest-of-qualifying/) Te following was posted on Drifting.com earlier today and it’s not very clear as to who the source of this information is. Hopefully Formula D or someone will send us some more information to shed light on the situation!? If Takatori is deemed ineligible, a top 5 driver will be inactive as of Las Vegas next week.

The Team SA R34 has recently been deemed ineligible for the Formula DRIFT series in it’s current state. The team has been accessed several fines, penalties, and faces possible removal from the series if the issues are not remedied.

The main issue stems from the vehicle’s current OEM front strut suspension setup. The setup, being OEM, is in compliance with the Japanese version of the rulebook but apparently not with the English version according to the current interpretation. Despite the suspension setup remaining OEM and from the same chassis, Formula D currently has deemed it ineligible. The decision has come as quite a shock to many in the series as a decision to allow the Scion tC to compete in the series seemingly put to rest the same issue at the start of the season. The decision effectively made the chassis, not the model, the deciding factor in vehicle eligibility. (a decision we are very much in agreement with) Unfortunately, for Team SA, consistency with this ruling is not being seen, leaving many to wonder how level the playing field is when what applies to one vehicle, does not apply to another.

The other question that has been left unanswered at this point is why, if the model of the car is now the deciding factor instead of the chassis, the current OEM suspension setup on the R34 has not been allowed. Considering that it is using OEM parts and does not give the vehicle an unfair advantage, the question remains. We must also note that several other vehicles in the series have more drastic changes in suspension design. Are these suspension changes unapproved and deemed ineligible now as well? At this point, we cannot comment on the situation as we have more unanswered questions than answers.

Formula DRIFT has yet to respond to requests for a description of the appeal process to this decision, or a detailed list of previously given rule exemptions. We fear that neither exist, and the series is unprepared for this type of action. The lack of both puts several vehicles in the series in question. Formula DRIFT Chief Steward has already stated that “we have several other actions pending with other competitors,” leaving us to wonder if they will be subject to the same fines and penalties.

Despite the rulebook’s lack of a appeal process, or a list of previously allowed exemptions for specific vehicles, and TIME, Team SA is continuing to explore options to have this decision overturned, seeking a sense of consistency, balance and fairness to be restored to the series.

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With the advent of V8’s in American Drifting this should come as some big news to many teams looking to stay competitive in the Formula D circuit. The Nissan 350z is a staple vehicle to Drifting worldwide and is the only import vehicle to win a Formula Drift championship. 7 Tune reports that Best Car Magazine is so excited about the new Z that they built a mock Z34 Fairlady Z/370z with a current Z33 350z to look how they felt the car would like from leaked sketches and drawings.

It’s been one scoop after the other since the Nissan GT 2012 meeting in May and the upcoming Z34 Fairlady Z (370Z) has to be the most eagerly awaited of the models shown, so much so that Japan’s Best Car magazine have already commissioned their own Z34 mock up made by Mad House! Unbelievable…

There have been a couple of new developments since our last report, the most significant of them being a V8 which could end up powering a high performance version of the Z34 which will be identifiable by a “G-nose” modified front bumper reminiscent of the S30 240Z. The G-nose will add even more 240Z flavor to the Z34 making it a kind of “new retro”, a phrase coined by Best Car to describe the mix of old and new influences.

Best car interviewed Z34 Chief of Production Shinjiro Yukawa last month and he confirmed that a V8 could see the light of day in a special edition model. Yukawa mentioned he wanted to “raise the performance of the new Z” while also acknowledging the Porsche Cayman S as being the Z34’s primary contender when it hits showrooms in December this year.

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We cannot say that these events are tied together or if any of this makes sense at all but as the season ticks along we are left with many questions about the largest team in Drifting today. Mickey Andrade was slated to be our Industry Insider this month due to his high stress and high impact job of managing the largest Formula D team at Falken Tires. He served us with one of the best interviews we ever read then e-mailed us earlier this week and asked us not to post it.

So tons of speculation could be served about Mickey’s departure but we don’t event want to waste our time with speculation because their are plenty of random facts we can chew on for the time being. We have received word from current employee’s that OTHER employee’s left over the past week with Mickey. Not sure if they are related but it seems that Falken will have several new faces in Englishtown next weekend. The bigger question and story for the season seems to be related to the car posted above us…..where is the heck is Calvin Wan’s 350z Convertible?

This car seemed pretty complete at SEMA but the only new cars we have seen out of the Falken camp are Ross Petty’s car (built by Garage Boso) and Darren McNamara (his new Saturn Sky) that was rushed to be built first since his AE86 had to be sent back to Ireland. Why isn’t Calvin Wan’s car done and where is this car Vaughn Gittin Jr. should have that we keep hearing about!? The season is almost halfway over and Falken seems to have more questions floating around them than answers. One thing seems to be sure……with Mickey off the crew chief box for the rest of 2008 it doesn’t seem like Falken finding it’s way to victory in 2008 got any easier.

Cliffnotes: Mickey from Falken Tires is gone along with other employee’s. We still haven’t seen Calvin Wan’s 350z this season or Vaughn Gittin’s new Mustang.

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Rumors have been circulating all day about Alex Pfeiffer stepping down as a judge in Formula Drift. He was seen last weekend with the other two judges that were celebrity judging for the Canadian series Drift Mania in Quebec. Formula D has not made any official announcements either way but we are told that we will have full and accurate details very soon on the situation. So stay tuned as Englishtown is steering just around the corner!

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Lately the big hype in the Drifting community has been the Hyundai Genesis. A cheap RWD platform that even used Drifting to introduce itself into the market at the NYC Auto Show this year. The rumors are flocking about factory support and a new player into the game but what about this new Subaru/Toyota collaboration RWD platform? Check out what Inside Line has to say.

TOKYO — As if paying homage to Subaru, Toyota is co-developing a new lineup of rear-wheel-drive sporty coupes employing a revised version of the Subaru Impreza’s platform, boxer engine and transmission. Toyota’s largest contribution to the mix will be product planning and its impeccable quality control.

The Toyota model, still to be named, will be sold exclusively in Japan, while the Subaru-badged model will be marketed worldwide. The mechanical package will be identical, but both Toyota and Subaru will create exterior designs to differentiate their cars from each other.

The basis for this new radical project is to take Subaru’s well-known 4WD powertrain and modify it to create a new rear-wheel-drive setup. Slated to be built at Subaru’s Gunma plant in Japan, both Toyota and Subaru models will employ a revised version of the naturally aspirated boxer 2.0-liter unit generating around 220 horsepower at 6,500 rpm, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox from the current Impreza WRX STI.

Surprisingly, the joint Toyota-Subaru R&D team has chosen the out-of-production, front-wheel-drive Honda Integra Type R as its benchmark, because its styling, performance parameters and dimensions mirror what the development team wants to create.

Expected to ride on a 103-inch wheelbase, the 2,866-pound coupes will use a 2+2 seating configuration.

Slated for a late 2011 debut, the coupes are expected to be priced starting just under $20,000.

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We intercepted some e-mails and found a laptop in a TSA bin at LAX this weekend that was left abandoned…Being the good citizen’s we are we grabbed it and chased down the owner but we never found him. Opened it up and found this photo with a label of 2009 Formula D Car Render. Maxxis Tires sponsor?! Should be interesting…….

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The great NASCAR conspiracy has been traveling around for sometime now in Drifting circles around the nation. We just may have found the men who are going to make it all come true. That is Daijiro Yoshihara and Rhys Millen standing at Bristol Motorspeedway (a legendary bullring 1/2 mile oval) used in NASCAR.

The track did give Rhys and Dai some chances to drive on the track as well.  The Bristol race is August 23rd, and if Drifting is going on you need to not worry…..Wrecked Magazine will be there. Stay tuned for updates.

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Our thoughts and prayers go out to Nick and the whole Bollea family, we know it must be a hard time the family is going through and things just seem to stay falling in a downward spiral.

This came from Autoblog today:

Today in Clearwater, Florida, a judge sentenced Nick Bollea, son of famous WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan, to eight months in jail for reckless driving. Last August Bollea crashed his father’s yellow modified Toyota Supra into a palm tree while street racing. Not only did he total the car, but his friend John Graziano who was riding shotgun that night will now require lifetime medical care for his critical injuries. The young Hogan was reportedly led off to serve his sentence immediately after it was handed down by the judge. In addition to the jail time, Bollea will also be on probation for five years and lose his drivers license for three. After all the hoopla that’s led us to this point in Nick Bollea’s tragic story, the only thing we can say is that the roads are probably safer tonight.

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