Having only committed to the Subaru Tsukuba Challenge four weeks prior to the finals PDX Tuning built a car just for Laguna. Though fast, their car experienced severe mechanical difficulties on Saturday when it blew a head gasket at 1pm. Determined to win the contest and be the first US time attack Subaru to have an opportunity to compete in Japan, PDX contacted Cosworth Engineering in Los Angeles for a replacement motor and dispatched staff to pick it up. At the same time PDX mechanics went to sleep as they knew the engine would be at the track around midnight and they'd have to work through the rest of the night to install it. The fresh motor arrived at the track as scheduled. By 6am the crew had completed the swap and at 8am the car was running and ready for tech.

For the first time ever, the North American arm of the famous D1 Grand Prix professional drift series will operate a championship points-based series designed to graduate the top scoring drivers in the U.S. series, along with the top drivers from other D1 Grand Prix series around the globe, to a season-end D1 Grand Prix World Championship match which will also be held in the U.S. in 2008. The 2008 schedule for the U.S. will be as follows;

Teams will have three opportunities to qualify for the U.S. finals on November 11, 2007 that run as part of the Redline Time Attack Series at Laguna Seca Raceway. The qualifying opportunities are as follows:
· Redline Time Attack (GT LIVE) - Miller Motorsports Park, April 28 & 29, 2007
· Redline Time Attack (GT LIVE) -- Virginia International Raceway, October 6 & 7, 2007
· Redline Time Attack - Laguna Seca Raceway, November 10, 2007

The top three Subaru entries in the unlimited AWD class from each event are eligible to compete at the Subaru Tsukuba Challenge finals at Laguna Seca Raceway. Competitors need to show entry forms and result sheets from the qualifying events to be eligible for the finals. The Subaru unlimited AWD class car posting the fastest time on Sunday, November 11, will be certified by a Paramax representative on- site as the winner of the Subaru Tsukuba Challenge.

SANTA MONICA (February 20) - GT LIVE, the interactive motorsports festival featuring multiple spectator and participant oriented activities, announces a broad partnership with Falken Tire. As part of the deal the Falken Tire professional drift team is integrated into the event content of GT LIVE. Falken Tire also becomes the presenting sponsor of GT LIVE. Falken Tire specific GT LIVE content elements include:

1. Falken Drift Demo
2. Falken Drift Experience
3. Drift Day sponsored by Falken

The Falken Drift Demo will feature Falken pro drivers and cars putting on two formation drift performances a day at each GT LIVE event. The Falken Drift Experience is a continuation of a program started by Paramax and Falken in 2005. It allows the general public to receive drift rides with professional drivers on a real race track. Drift Day is the longest running and most established grass roots drift program in the US. At Miller Motorsports Park Drift Day will be host to Drift Day, Drift 101 as well as a Drift Day Competition.