Browse by Tags
Posted
Nov 15 2008, 09:15 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 13 comment(s)
So I was going through my photos late last night after I got home from the Formula D Pro Am in Long Beach, and I fell asleep. I won't lie. I was tired as hell! Speedhunting is a 7-day-a-week job. You shoot on the weekends and you post up stuff every weekday... So here's a few of my photos from Pro-Am, I'll try to post some more later... but right now I need to get in the car and drive to Long Beach to do this all over again... This being said, big ups to the Drift Association crew and...
More >>>
Posted
Nov 14 2008, 08:25 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 5 comment(s)
Just got back to the office, after being at the Port of Long Beach all day for the Red Bull World Drift Championship setup day and Formula D Pro Am... so I just thought I'd show some of the scenes today. The backdrop is really cool... all the shipping containers and cranes and bridges surrounding the port... I dig it. It looks very cool, kind of like (okay, don't roll your eyes too hard here) a video game. Okay, sorry, I said it. So sue me. Actually, no, don't sue me. I don't have...
More >>>
Posted
Nov 13 2008, 07:28 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 10 comment(s)
There were a ton of race cars on trailers driving through Highway 5 and the Grapevine to LA last night. It was cool seeing these cars on the back of the trailers, cruising at 70mph on the freeway... little would most people know what these cars are really capable of once they're put on a race track. From the starting grid at Buttonwillow yesterday, I spotted the M-Workz 350Z in line waiting to go out on track. I think this Z33 looks cool! Keep an eye out for an upcoming Speedhunters story on...
More >>>
Posted
Nov 13 2008, 12:29 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 16 comment(s)
These are busy times for me right now... there is much happening in the business and creative world of Need for Speed I have to keep on top of, yet at the same time this Speedhunters project needs continual focus... it's like a eating monster with an endless appetite... the site always needs new stories! So with this in mind, let's get down to business, as I have around 100 emails that need to be answered... then we'll be heading down to the Long Beach docks to check out the setup, and...
More >>>
Posted
Nov 10 2008, 11:27 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 9 comment(s)
The eventful 2008 season of Super GT is now in the books. The final race of the year was held yesterday at Fuji Speedway under and despite the not-so unusual cloudy weather, things were looking bright for the Nissan GT-R teams that were aiming to finish off their season of dominance by taking the GT500 drivers championship. From the photos, it looks like the stands at Fuji were packed. According to Super GT, 47,100 race fans braved the cold and cloudy weather to watch the final race of 2008....
More >>>
Posted
Nov 06 2008, 01:10 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 8 comment(s)
Live and direct from the SEMA show, here are some more photos for you to check out... this Porsche at the Toyo booth was definitely turning some heads! This 2001 996 turbo is owned by David Huang, and was apparently built up in only 30 days! (Obviously, he was collecting parts for it all year though) Don't recognize the face? Either did I - apparently it's outfitted with the exclusive Top Secret (yes, Top Secret from Japan) Porsche aero kit, painted with Mazoora white paint, with blue pearl...
More >>>
Posted
Nov 05 2008, 02:03 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 16 comment(s)
While I was navigating my way through the SEMA Show yesterday, I spent most of the morning yawning from lack of enthusiasm for the cars I was looking at. The first hall I went through had me rolling my eyes pretty frequently - I was certainly disappointed with the lack of style on the cars in the first hall I walked through. So imagine my surprise when I came across this Scion TC. I'm not even the biggest fan of the TC; everyone knows I'm an FR car guy. However, I just had to give supreme...
More >>>
Posted
Oct 30 2008, 04:30 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 16 comment(s)
Before moving on to some other things, I wanted to wrap up my coverage from the D1GP finale at Fuji Speedway with a few more photos. Up above we have another view of Kenji Takayama's R-Magic-built FD3S RX7 as he makes one of his qualifying runs on Saturday, This is surely one of the coolest of the several RX7's that can be seen competing in D1. Note how the car is sporting neon-colored Gram Lights 57D's in different colors on each side. Hmm...will this be a new trend among drift cars?...
More >>>
Posted
Oct 29 2008, 05:12 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 19 comment(s)
Before I move on to the rest of my D1GP Fuji coverage, I wanted to take a quick break and post up a few photos from the all-rotary meeting that was held at Fuji Speedway alongside the D1 event. I was pretty occupied with shooting D1 itself, so I didn't have time to look at all the sexy FD's and RX8's very closely, but I was able to go for a quick walk around the meet and snap a few pictures along the way. Japan's big rotary tuners like RE Amemiya and R Magic had a big presence there and their parts could be seen on a number of the cars packed into one of Fuji Speedway's many parking lots....
More >>>
Posted
Oct 28 2008, 04:11 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 12 comment(s)
I don't think there's a better way to open my second D1 Fuji story than with a shot of 2008 D1GP Champion Daigo Saito's 800hp JZX100 Mark II. It's no wonder that Daigo won the championship this year after getting the chance to see his driving at Odaiba and Fuji Speedway. He drives aggressively and consistently, entering with maximum angle and letting the 800 horsepower slide the car through corner with gobs tire smoke and a screaming exhaust sound. Daigo actually had a good chance of winning the event and wrapping up a perfect weekend, but his car developed mechanical trouble and he was forced to retire from his semi final match against Masao Suenaga. Fortunately for him, by that point he had already clinched the series title....
More >>>
Posted
Oct 27 2008, 06:33 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
There is nothing quite like a D1GP event in Japan. Sure there are pro drift series around all around the world with some incredible cars and drivers, but there is something special about seeing Japan's best competing in their homeland. Fuji Speedway might not be the most iconic drift course out there, but it is one of the world's top racing racing circuits. Just two weeks ago Hamilton and Massa were screaming around the track in their F1 machines during the Japan Grand Prix, and this weekend the D1 drivers were here to leave their mark (literally)on the same Fuji course....
More >>>
Posted
Oct 25 2008, 03:47 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 12 comment(s)
As I'm writing this it's about 7pm here in Gotemba city Japan and I just returned to the hotel from the first half of this weekend's D1GP season finale at Fuji Speedway. This was actually my first trip to Fuji Speedway and it is an amazing circuit. Probably the most scenic I have ever been to, but I'll be talking about that in another post.There was heavy rain during yesterday's practice sessions, but fortunately today was dry.My stomach is growling like crazy, but before we head out and enjoy some yakiniku, I wanted to post up a few quick shots from today's qualifying and practice....
More >>>
Posted
Oct 23 2008, 08:40 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 7 comment(s)
In just a few minutes I'll be heading out the door for the trip out to Fuji Speedway to cover the final round of the 2008 D1GP Season. The battle for the series championship is tight with both Youichi Imamura and Ken Nomura within reach of current points leader Daigo Saito. Besides the D1GP match itself, the event will also include a large rotary car gathering and parade lap. It will also mark the last run of Takahiro Ueno's Toyota Soarer before he retires it and switches to a new machine for next year. It has been raining all day here, but I'm hoping things will dry up a little Saturday's qualifying runs. I will try to post some updates from the track so stay tuned......
More >>>
Posted
Oct 22 2008, 10:34 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 11 comment(s)
Being a Speedhunter in Southern California, you have to work 7 days a week. Why? You're processing photos, editing, and writing (and sometimes going to special events) from Monday-Friday, but on the weekends, there are ALWAYS different car events to attend! This past weekend in Fontana CA was the Battle of the Imports season finale, at California Speedway. I was very busy this past weekend doing a photo shoot and a supercar test drive for one of our "Driving Impression" stories, but...
More >>>
Posted
Oct 21 2008, 03:32 PM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 8 comment(s)
Porsche clinched the remaining two manufacture championships at the final round of the American Le Mans series last weekend. The DHL Penske Porsche of Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard finished on the LMP2 podium, scoring one more point than Acura, securing the manufactures crown. Meanwhile in GT2, valuable points from the Farnbacher-Loles team resulting in the GT2 crown going to Porsche. At the front, the dominant Audi Sport team finished 1st and 2nd, with Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr from team mates...
More >>>
Posted
Oct 21 2008, 04:46 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 4 comment(s)
The end of the 2008 Super GT season is almost here, and following this past Sunday's race at Autopolis, there is just one event left on the schedule. Fans and race teams were greeted with sunny and pleasant fall weather at the track which is located on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu and is one of the nicest race tracks in the country. It has been great year in Super GT for the NIssan teams who have campaigned their new GT-R's to a number of victories. Things were already looking good for the GT-R at Autopolis as the Nismo Xanavi GT-R would be starting from the pole in the GT500 class....
More >>>
Posted
Oct 17 2008, 04:00 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 8 comment(s)
Just a quick, random snap from my point & shoot Canon Ixy Digital 910 IS pocket camera. When we first began talking about our Southern Cali theme this month, I made the statement that "if you live in Southern California, you could pretty much do something car related every single day of the week if you wanted to." What I'm talking about is car meets, car shows, race events, tradeshows, and yes, even club events . These type of club events are a bit more rare; they're definitely...
More >>>
Posted
Oct 15 2008, 11:37 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 7 comment(s)
The UK Time Attack series wrapped up its eventful 2008 season this past weekend at Snetterton Race Circuit and the event would determine the final season standings. In what was seemingly typical UK weather, the day got started under foggy, damp conditions but by the end the event day it appears that conditions were pretty pleasant. Lee Chung was there shooting the event and he has again allowed us to use his photos to share some of the action. Judging by this opening shot, I'd say that Snetterton looks like a pretty scenic course, and a great setting for some fall time time attack action....
More >>>
Posted
Oct 13 2008, 08:10 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 15 comment(s)
Sooo tired from this weekend. We got home very, very late from the Formula D Finale at Irwindale on Saturday night. While everyone else that attended FD Irwindale slept in on Sunday, I got up and prepared my camera equipment for yet another event - the Japanese Classic Car show that was happening in Irvine CA. I had to drive top speed down to Irvine, as the event ended pretty early (3:30pm). I met up with my good friend Henry Chung from Motorsport Dynamics in Sacramento in the parking lot, then we...
More >>>
Posted
Oct 09 2008, 07:00 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 15 comment(s)
Today was super hectic! I've been working with some members of the Need For Speed marketing team on a special project for the Formula D Finale at Irwindale this weekend, in addition to my normal duties for Speedhunters. After a full day of editing photos and uploading pics at the office, I decided to head out to yet another meet with my good friends Calvin, Chris and Felix. Since I already showed you some pics from the weekly Tab Tuesday meet at Store 13 in West Covina, I thought I'd also...
More >>>