Posts Tagged ‘Eric O’Sullivan’

O’Sullivan Confident of Future Drift Success Following Gardella Racing Debut

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Irish drifting champion Eric O’Sullivan has today spoken with renewed confidence following his offical debut behind the wheel of the Gardella Racing Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice at the recent Formula Drift Round 2, Atlanta.

Driving the Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice for the very first time in competition, O’Sullivan recorded a debut Championship Points haul for the New Jersey team by making it through to the Top16 elimination rounds at the second event in the 2011 Formula Drift Pro Championship tour.

The introduction of Eric O’Sullivan to his 2011 vehicle was not without incident however. Impact with a perimeter wall during Thursday practice coupled with a Top 32 collision in defeating Kyle Mohan meant that both O’Sullivan and his Gardella Racing crew were tested under difficult circumstances throughout the event. O’Sullivan eventually exited the competition following a narrow defeat to 2009 Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg in an sudden death elimination battle.

Commenting on his Gardella Racing debut, Eric O’Sullivan said “I am extremely happy at how my first event unfolded. Atlanta threw alot of difficult situations at us yet the equipment and team handled it comfortably. The car and the crew are second to none and that support is invaluable as we plan to challenge for future success. I think that this performance immediately proves we can now run with the best & I am looking forward to clocking up some test mileage before Round 3 in Florida”.

Eric O’Sullivan will shortly begin preparations for Formula Drift Round 3 at Palm Beach Florida. To keep up with Erics progress please log onto Eric’s official website, Twitter or Facebook Fan Page.

http://www.ericosullivan.com/

http://www.facebook.com/ericosullivandrift

http://twitter.com/ericosullivan

Photo: Eric O’Sullivan leading Chris Forsberg at Formula Drift, Road Atlanta.
Credit Jacob Leveton, http://www.jacobphoto.com

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Event Recap: Round 2 Road the the Championship

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

May 11, 2011 (Howell, NJ) Road Atlanta, host to the Formula Drift Road to the Championship event, is considered the birthplace of drifting in the US. Road Atlanta marks the home of the first FD event, 8 years ago. With that being said, fans come back every year and this year the turn out of spectators was amazing; people were jammed into the hills like never seen before.

Right from the gate Thursday’s practice was very exciting for the GR team. Even with limited testing time, the 2011 Mobil 1 Chevy Camaro handled and ran great. The LS7 engine worked wonders and sounded almost perfect. It is common to have a few minor glitches with a new build and this was no exception; however, the issues did not affect the team during competition. Once practice was over on Friday, the team went right into qualifying. After his first lap, Tuerck scored a 91.0 and a 94.4 for his second run. His final score put Tuerck and Gardella Racing in the 2nd position on the qualifying ladder behind the leader, Conrad Grunewald, heading into Saturday’s elimination rounds.

“It was great to see two Chevy Camaro’s qualify number one and two,” started team owner, Gary Gardella. “This was essentially our first outing with the Mobil 1 Camaro and I could not be any more proud of my team and the hard work they put into preparing for this event,” continued Gardella. “I could not ask for anymore out of these phenomenal group of guys. Each and every one of my team members worked around the clock over the past month to have this vehicle ready for competition. In my opinion the team does not often get enough credit when a car does well; Mike Whitney, Scott Davidson & Eric O’Sullivan deserve some recognition.”

During top 32, Tuerck faced Tako Aono, a driver who has not missed an event since Formula Drift’s conception in 2003. Due to Aono running into some mechanical issues, Tuerck was able to easily advance on to the Top 16 round. The next battle was very interesting, Justin Pawlak vs. Ryan Tuerck. These 2 guys are long time friends, but it never stops either driver from giving it their all. Minor contact early on, threw off the alignment on the Camaro, which made it very difficult for Tuerck to drive. Pawlak advanced and went on to the next round to get eliminated by his teammate, Darren McNamara.

Next stop for the GR team will be beautiful West Palm, Florida. This will be the first new venue for the Formula Drift series in a number of years. We are all very interested to see what Florida has to offer the series and anxious to get this event underway on June 3rd. For more information on the event please take a look at http://formulad.com/schedule/pro-championship/palm-beach.php

In other news, video and photos are available from the Red Bull Peachtree Battle in downtown Atlanta:

Video – http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Video/peachtree-street-drifting-atlanta-021243010428186

Photos – http://www.gardellaracing.com/com/gallery

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Gardella Racing Steps into a Chevy Camaro

Friday, April 8th, 2011

April 8, 2011 (Howell, NJ) After many months in the rumor mill, the team has confirmed their new platform for 2011.  During the off-season the team worked hard preparing a brand new Chevy Camaro for an early launch.  However, due to some minor set backs, the team was not able to meet their goal; the first event of the Formula Drift season in Long Beach CA on April 8th and 9th.    A new target debut has been set, Saturday April 23rd at the New York Auto Show, where the team has partnered with Red Bull & Nitto Tire to put on an amazing drift demo.  Ryan Tuerck will be tearing up 11th Ave in NYC!

For the 2011 Formula D kickoff in Long Beach, the team has a brand new look on the Mobil 1 Pontiac Solstice.   Once again, Gardella Racing has partnered with Red Bull, whose involvement with the team started in 2003 on Gardella’s drag racing program.  In addition, the team has partnered with Nitto Tires to be the “Official Tire” for all the GR programs.  The team has also introduced numerous product sponsors to their repertoire; including, Wilwood, Enkei, NGK, AEM, Pfadt, Eibach, Kooks, Stefs, Brian Crower, and Ignite Racing Fuels.

“It has been a very stressful off-season with many highs and lows,” started team owner Gary Gardella.  “The entire team is ready to test the new car and show, once again, Chevy has a great product for the drifting market,” continued Gardella.  “Mike Whitney and Scott Davidson worked very hard to build the best car possible.  Together they have many years of racing experience and are hungry to win.  Everyone knows I like to win and I am itching to get back on the podium in 2011,” finished Gardella.

Be sure to watch Ryan Tuerck and the Gardella Racing team take on some of the best drivers in the world this upcoming weekend at Round 1 Formula Drift Long Beach. You can watch it on Live Stream here. http://www.formulad.com/blog/category/fd-live/

In other exciting news, DIRECTV will be back to shoot the season opener in 3D click the link to read more.

http://www.formulad.com/blog/2011/press-releases/formula-drift-and-directv-go-for-round-two-with-2011-season-opener-in-3d/

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Driver Search Ended: GR Announces the 2011 Addition

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

GARDELLA RACING ANNOUNCES EXPANDED 2011 PROGRAM WITH ADDITION OF ’09 FORMULA DRIFT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR ERIC O’SULLIVAN

HOWELL, NJ (February 1, 2011) – Gardella Racing announced today that Irish drifting champion and 2009 Formula DRIFT Rookie of the Year, Eric O’Sullivan, will join the Howell NJ-based team for 2011.

In an exciting move, O’Sullivan will re-locate to Gardella Racing’s headquarters to become heavily involved as both a team driver and Gardella Racing Ambassador in the Formula DRIFT and grass roots programs.

Campaigning the Gardella Racing Pontiac Solstice in the 2011 Formula DRIFT Pro Drift Championship, O’Sullivan will shortly begin an extensive testing program alongside Gardella Racing driver Ryan Tuerck. In addition to the 2011 Formula DRIFT Program, O’Sullivan will also enjoy a broader role as Gardella Racing Ambassador reaching out to the grass roots communities of North American Drifting.

Speaking on the announcement of the move Eric O’Sullivan stated, “This move is a dream come true for me. I am extremely proud and honored to have been given this opportunity with Gardella Racing. Gardella Racing is a team that I have always admired for their professionalism and commitment to top-level motorsports and I am delighted to now be part of the team. Our plans for 2011 are extremely exciting and I cannot wait to get behind the wheel of the GR Pontiac Solstice and begin preparations.”

Following an extensive search for a 2nd driver via the team’s social media network , Gardella Racing Team Owner Gary Gardella also commented on the deal, “There are a lot of talented drivers out there, many of whom applied to be part of the Gardella Racing team. Eric was the one driver who stood out and met all of the qualities I was looking for in a driver,” continued Gardella. “He is a champion driver, a great spokesman for partners, and a team player, expecting to be more involved in the team in addition to driving.”

More details on the extent of O’Sullivan’s role with Gardella Racing will be revealed over the coming months when the Irish driver will travel to New Jersey and be officially introduced to his 2011 team and vehicle.

About Gardella Racing: Gardella Racing was established in 2001. Team owner, Gary Gardella, holds multiple driving awards and world records in sport compact drag racing. Gary’s professionalism and work ethic has enabled the team to continue to have success on and off the racetrack. Throughout the years, the team has held successful and long lasting partnerships with General Motors, Red Bull, Mobil 1, and DuPont. In addition to becoming a large corporate backed race team, Gardella successfully expanded his program to include show cars, drifting, and now road racing. In 2008, the team exited drag racing and made their debut in Formula D; the change proved successful, as the still rookie team finished the 2009 season second in the championship points race.

About Eric O’Sullivan: 30-year-old Eric O’Sullivan is one of the most accomplished European Drifters in Formula DRIFT. A 2007 Prodrift Champion (Ireland) and 2008 JDM Allstars Champion (UK), the Dublin driver has also enjoyed success at various international and European competitions. A qualified and experienced motorsport technician, O’Sullivan’s most recent success came in the form of 2009 Formula DRIFT Rookie of the Year, following a 2009 2nd place at Evergreen Speedway, Seattle.

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