April 2, 2006
BFGoodrich® Tires Makes Rousing Debut at Formula D Championships
- "Crazy Swede" Hubinette Takes Victory at Long Beach -
Greenville, SC

BFGoodrich® Tires smoked the competition in its official drifting debut this weekend at round one of the Formula D drift championships in Long Beach, Calf. Newly-signed BFGoodrich drifter Samuel "The Crazy Swede" Hubinette (Mopar/BFGoodrich Tires) took first place while Yukinobu "Boney" Okubo (Signal/BFGoodrich Tires) of the Signal Auto team was the top qualifier of the weekend.

Mopar Results
Hubinette, 2004 Formula D Champion and famed stunt driver, had an impressive start to the 2006 Formula D season, drifting his Mopar/BFGoodrich Tires Dodge Viper SRT10 into the sixth slot of qualifying out of 16 competitors. In the first round of eliminations, Hubinette was paired against and defeated Vaughn Gitten, granting him a position in the quarter finals where he beat out Tanner Foust. In an exciting semi-final bout, Hubinette faced Kenshiro Gushi, who he also overcame, earning him a spot in the Formula D finals against his toughest competitor and 2005 Formula D title holder, Rhys Millen.

The highly anticipated final against last year's number one (Millen) and two (Hubinette) Formula D drivers was intense. Both pushed the envelope as they battled inches apart around the hair-pin corners of the mean streets of Long Beach. Hubinette, Mopar and BFGoodrich Tires came out on top.

"We are really excited to have won at home for all of our fans in Long Beach," said Hubinette. "These BFGoodrich g-Force KDW tires grip better than the other tires out there and create a lot of smoke that really gets the crowd on their feet."

BFGoodrich Tires Used By Mopar
BFGoodrich g-Force T/A® KDW: a street-legal tire chosen specifically by the Mopar team for use on the Dodge Viper SRT10 and Dodge Charger drift cars for its tremendous cornering force at high speeds, strength and exceptional traction on both wet and dry surfaces.

Signal Auto Results
Known as one of the pioneers who helped bring drifting to the United States from Japan, Okubo of Signal Auto verified the team's status as a dominating force on the asphalt by qualifying number one ahead of the entire Formula D field. After defeating competitor Rob Fleming in the first round, the team had high hopes for the quarter finals where they were paired against top-ranking driver Rhys Millen. Okubo and the Signal team's highly acclaimed R34 Skyline fought hard, but Millen eventually edged out the win.

"Qualifying first in the American drift series of Formula D is a great accomplishment," said Ryan Nambu, marketing manager, Signal Auto. "We have the right driver, car (R34 Skyline) and the best tires (BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KD) to compete with. A couple of minor tweaks to get acclimated to American rules and we should post high results all year."

BFGoodrich Tires Used By Signal Auto
BFGoodrich g-Force T/A® KD: a street-legal tire chosen specifically by the Signal Auto team for its ability to maintain grip and stability under the extremely-high torque loads of the R34 Skyline.

"It was a great first round of Formula D in Long Beach this weekend for both BFGoodrich-sponsored teams (Mopar and Signal Auto)," said Doug Brown, brand category manager, BFGoodrich Tires. Sunday's competition brought out the best in the drivers, cars and tires. Formula D is a great platform for a tire company to prove its product, especially since we're running our ultra-high performance consumer tires.

BFGoodrich® Tires combines technological expertise with vast motorsports experience, delivering a high-performance tire for every type of vehicle from ultra-high performance tuner vehicles, sports cars and SUVs to the hottest sport trucks, pickups and rock-crawling rigs in the world. For more than 30 years, BFGoodrich Tires has used motorsports as a proving ground.

Success on the street begins with winning on the track and BFGoodrich Tires is involved in every type of racing, including oval, sports car, drag, desert, rally (Dakar and WRC) and extreme rock-crawling. With 20 consecutive Baja 1000 wins, the most wins in rock-crawling history, and an unmatched record on pavement, BFGoodrich Tires has proven the only records it breaks are its own. Visit BFGoodrich Tires online at www.bfgoodrichtires.com.