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GSR Autosport 350R - Click above to watch the progress of the season
Formula DRIFT is recognized as the North American professional drifting championship series. Autoblog has been invited behind-the-scenes with GSR Autosport, and their driver Michael Essa, as the team builds, tests and campaigns an all-new V10-powered BMW 350R during the 2010 racing season. This is the fourth installment in our series (see Part I, Part II and Part III) as we follow the team throughout the development, testing and race season.
The wail of BMW's V10 bouncing off the limiter at redline is deafening - especially coming out of two straight pipes - so it's unlikely that anyone heard the steel lower control arm on the front right of the 350R shatter. Michael Essa, manning the M5-powered 3 Series, certainly didn't. The run had been going well, just like the ones before it, when all of a sudden the BMW unexpectedly snapped off its line and careened directly into the tire barrier at speed. The incident would wreak havoc on our debut weekend at Formula Drift.