ALL THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT JAP-FEST 2011 WILL APPEAR HERE

September 8th 2011

Mondello Jap-Fest will this weekend play host to what is now officially the biggest Drifting event ever held in Ireland. The latest addition to the stellar line-up is current Formula D championship points leader, and one of the biggest and most popular personalities in world drifting, Daijiro Yoshihara.

Yoshihara will make his first European appearance at the 2011 Prodrift Finale and will join three other Formula D regulars in the strongest field ever assembled for an Irish drifting event. Dai will drive an MG Crash Repairs/Falken Sr20 Altezza in this weekend’s event, alongside fellow Formula D stars, Fredric Aasbo, Darren McNamara and James Dean.

Speaking of the announcement of his Prodrift debut Yosihara said, “I am honoured to be finally making my European debut at the Prodrift finals. We hear so much in Formula D about the standard of driving in the Prodrift Series and I am really looking forward to lining up beside my good friends and fellow FD drivers D-Mac, Freddie Aasbo and James Deane. I would like to thank Falken Tyre/MG Crash Repairs and Prodrift for making this happen and I cannot wait to meet all my Irish fans”.

With three championships to be decided, a whole host of big International drifting stars and the best drift event in Europe this year, Jap-Fest is not to be missed. For further information and to get our advance booking offer go to www.mondellopark.ie/japfest.

September 6th 2011

MONDELLO JAP-FEST ENTRY LIST CONTINUES TO GROW

The number of overseas competitors signed up for the Prodrift Series Finale at Mondello Jap-Fest on September 11th continues to grow with Team Falken UK drivers, Paul Cheshire and Matt Carter, the latest to announce their participation. The Irish Time-Attack championship round at the same event also has an impressive entry list, with twenty six cars set to make up a record field.

Team Falken will join Team Need for Speed drivers Fredric Aasbo and Darren McNamara, Driftworks' Phil Morrison, Japspeed's Steve Biagioni and two Irish drivers currently competing abroad, James Dean and Nigel Colfer, to bring the overseas contingent to eight. These star names will be joined by a huge field of local competitors for what will be the biggest Irish Drifting event for many years.

While Mondello Jap-Fest is a single day event the Prodrift season finale will take place over two days. Saturday will be taken up mainly by qualifying for the Amateur and Pro-Am drivers looking to make it through to Sunday's main event. The seeded professional drivers will also have the opportunity to get in some practice on Saturday afternoon before their competitive action starts on Sunday morning.

The event kicks-off with Time-Attack practice at 09:00 and Sunday’s Drifting gets underway at the later than usual time of 10:45. The late start is designed to allow spectators more time to take up their favourite vantage point before Prodrift take to the track. As the centrepiece of Jap-Fest the Prodrift top sixteen run-off, where the results will be decided, will be the final action on Sunday afternoon and the climax of a full day of track activity.

The Irish Time-Attack championship will make up a large portion of the remainder of the day with three practice and qualifying sessions before the all important single lap final. In the final drivers will have one chance to get it right with a single flying for each competitor in this session being the only one to count towards the result. A record entry of twenty six cars has been secured with almost half of these being made up by the extremely quick cars from the 'Pro' class and the new, anything goes, 'Open' class.

Rounding out the track action will be the Drag Sprint competition and two Track Time sessions for high performance road cars. The competitive side of the event will also continue off-track with a record number of cars vying for the car of the show title in the Show 'N' Shine contest.

Tickets for Mondello Jap-Fest are currently on sale with a free grandstand seat worth €5 being offered to anyone booking in advance. Bookings can be made by contacting Mondello Park or through the Mondello Park web site at mondellopark.ie/japfest.

September 2nd 2011

PRODRIFT ADDS MORE BIG NAMES TO JAP-FEST

With just over a week to go to Mondello Jap-Fest, the biggest Modified Car Show of the Year, the 2011 Prodrift Finale has been boosted further with two more top names added to the September 10th & 11th entry list.

The first of the big name additions is three times Prodrift champion James Deane. Deane, who has been competing internationally this season, returns to home soil for the third time this year with the ‘Low Brain Drifters’ PS13. The former champion will go head to head with previously announced star entrants, Fredric Aasbo, Darren ‘Dmac’ McNamara and Phil Morrison. Speaking on the announcement of his participation Deane said, ”I am delighted to have the chance to drive back in Ireland again. I am really excited about Mondello and running the track in an S-body, I will be pushing hard and it’s great to have the chance to battle with so many good drivers. It’s bringing back some great memories from the 2008 Prodrift European Championship.”

The star studded list will also now include Japspeed UK’s Steve ‘Baggsy’ Biagioni who will join Japspeed’s regular Prodrift driver Shane O’Sullivan for the season finale. ‘It’s an absolute honour to be invited to such a high-level drift series such as Prodrift,’ explains Team Japspeed’s manager Paul McCallum. ‘Shane has shown great skill throughout the series improving greatly, and with Steve’s Impreza now performing the way it should, it will be great to see how the guys perform against the rest of the Prodrift grid.’

Drifting will be the centrepiece of Mondello Jap-Fest with the weekend being billed as the biggest Irish Drift event since the European Series visit in 2008. Additional star entries are still being negotiated and more will be announced over the coming days, so watch this space.

The Supporting cast at Jap-Fest will include Time-Attack, and this event too is building into the biggest of the year, with a number of new and returning drivers boosting the entry to record levels with twenty three confirmed and still more promised. The event will also include drag sprint and show and shine competitions, as well as all of Ireland’s most popular Japanese car clubs and web sites alongside an extensive trade area.

For further information and news of our advance ticket booking offers see www.mondellopark.ie/japfest.

August 31st 2011

PRODRIFT ADDS ANOTHER BIG NAME TO MONDELLO JAP-FEST LINE-UP

With just ten days to go to Mondello Jap-Fest, the biggest Modified Car Show of the Year, the 2011 Prodrift Finale has received another boost with the addition of three times Prodrift champion James Deane to the entry list.

Deane, who has been competing internationally this season, returns to home soil for the third time this year with the ‘Low Brain Drifters’ PS13. The former champion will now go head to head at Mondello Park on September 10th & 11th with previously announced star entrants, Fredric Aasbo, Darren ‘Dmac’ McNamara and Phil Morrison.

Speaking on the announcement of his participation Deane said, ”I am delighted to have the chance to drive back in Ireland again. I am really excited about Mondello and running the track in an S-body, I will be pushing hard and it’s great to have the chance to battle with so many good drivers like Frederic Aasbo and Darren ‘D-Mac’ McNamara. It’s bringing back some great memories from the 2008 Prodrift European Championship.”

Drifting will be the centrepiece of Mondello Jap-Fest with the weekend being billed as the biggest Irish Drift event since the European Series visit in 2008. Additional star entries are set to be announced over the coming days so watch this space.

The Supporting cast at Jap-Fest will include Time-Attack, and this event too is building into the biggest of the year, with a number of new and returning drivers boosting the entry level to almost twenty cars, with many more promised. The event will also include drag sprint and show and shine competitions, as well as all of Ireland’s most popular Japanese car clubs and web sites alongside an extensive trade area.

For further information and news of our advance ticket booking offers see www.mondellopark.ie/japfest.

August 25th 2011

INTERNATIONAL DRIFT LINE-UP TO HEADLINE MONDELLO MODIFIED SHOW

Ireland’s most popular Modified Car Show, Mondello Jap-Fest, is preparing for its return to the County Kildare Venue on Sunday September 11th. The annual festival of Japanese motoring and Motorsport will this year feature the most exciting Drift event of 2011 with Prodrift assembling a spectacular field for the finale of their 2011 Irish Series.

The main drifting attraction will be round five of the Prodrift Series and this will be boosted by the arrival for the first time on Irish shores of US based Team Need for Speed with their drivers Fredric Aasbo and local hero Darren McNamara. Aasbo will drive his Team NFS Japan Auto Toyota Supra while McNamara will make his home début with 'Dmac86' the wildest Toyota AE86 drift car ever built.

Joining Team NFS will be a number of other big name overseas entries including UK based Driftworks. Former D1GB champion Phil Morrison will drive Driftworks Nissan S15 which will be making its Mondello Park début. Morrison has long been one of the biggest names in European drifting, both on and off the track, in particular due to his involvement with Driftworks, one of the biggest online drifting communities in the world, and he should be a big draw for Irish Drifting fans.

Jap-Fest always provides an exciting mix of on-track and off-track entertainment and this year will be no different. Round five of the Irish Time-Attack will be one of the other main attractions with a much increased entry expected for this event due to changes to the regulations. New rules for 2012 will be tested at this event and these rules will see much more highly modified cars and kit cars being allowed to compete. A number of new drivers have already signalled their intention to take part, as a try out for next season, so a very interesting field of cars is expected.

Modified Japanese cars remain the central theme of the event and there will be plenty on display alongside those destined for the track. A large number of clubs and individuals are expected to showcase Ireland’s best Japanese metal alongside an extensive trade area. Some of these cars will also be visible on track during the early morning 'Track Day' sessions.

Tickets for Mondello Jap-Fest are now on sale with an advance purchase offer of free Grandstand seating for all pre-booked tickets. Admission tickets will be available on the day of the event but with limited availability of Grandstand seating these may not. The only way to ensure the best seats In the house, overlooking the drifting arena, is to book in advance.

For further information on Mondello Jap-Fest see www.mondellopark.ie/japfest.

Team Need for Speed will be in full effect at select European drift events this summer and autumn with Formula Drift superstars Fredric Aasbo and Darren McNamara in the spotlight. Team Need for Speed has had quite a successful 2011 season thus far in the Formula Drift Championship – the North American premier drifting series – and now that the team will be expanding its horizons to European events including Mondello Jap-Fest on September 11th.

2010 Formula D Rookie of the year, Fredric Aasbo, will bring his Abu Dhabi Invitational-winning Team NFS Japan Auto Toyota Supra to Ireland for the first time and he will bejoined by NFS team mate Darren McNamara. McNamara (D-Mac) has been working for a year to create the wildest Toyota AE86 ever built for drifting, the Dmac86. The car will make its world debut at the AwesomeFest at Mallory Park in the UK on July 29-31 before he brings it to his home track.

"I'm delighted to be returning to European competition with Team Need for Speed,” says D-Mac. “We have been working hard on testing and developing the ‘Dmac86’ in the spring, so it’s just as hard to beat in real life as it is in SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED.”

Mondello Jap-Fest will be the concluding round of the Prodrift Irish Series and will round out the team NFS european Tour. The Irish drift scene has long been one of the leaders of European drifting, and Team NFS is looking forward to putting a on a stellar show for Irish drift fans.

"In Europe, drifting as a motorsport first caught on in UK and in Ireland, and the drifting scene that blew up in the years to follow has always been a big inspiration for me,” says Fredric. “I have always wanted to compete in Ireland, but to no avail until now. Thanks to Team Need for Speed, Japan Auto, and my other sponsors, we are actually doing it this year, and I can't wait to compete."