Formula D: Rob Primo – Streets of Long Beach

Words by Dylan Evans

When people asked me how Formula Drift Long Beach was, I had one answer for every single one of them: “I’ll be going again, every year, for the rest of my life.”

Two of the biggest deciding factors in going down for the Formula Drift (FD) season opener were: one of my best friends recently moved to L.A., and another friend was driving as an FD Rookie.

Ian Dillon finished the graphics on this white S14 just days before he moved to L.A. to work for Hoonigan, another of Rob Primo’s sponsors.

I spent my entire weekend with Ian and/or Rob and it was one of the best weekends of my life. Being my first out-of-town FD experience, I definitely noticed some differences between Long Beach and Evergreen. For those not aware, FD Streets of Long Beach is just that – city streets in Long Beach, California that are closed off a few times a year for motorsports events like this. When the OMGDrift.com crew and I rolled in early on Friday morning, we actually drove down the starting grid on our way to the parking garage.

Upon seeing the course for the first time in real life, one of the biggest “Oh, shit!” moments was the stretch between corner one and two (or nine and 10 if you’re looking at the entire Grand Prix course). Seeing it on Livestream all these years, I never really got a feel for how long the straight is until I was standing on it. Rob’s car is posed about halfway down the stretch for these photos.

Rob didn’t end up qualifying for Top 32. Being that he was driving for the first time on the incredibly sticky Achilles tires, using a shorter geared and less favourable differential set-up, and he was unfamiliar with the course, there just wasn’t enough practice to dial it in. The 2JZ-GTE engine in the S14 also had some refreshing during the off season. On the roster was a switch to E85 fuel, in addition to some internal fortifications developed by Portland Speed Industries – and a brand new tune from John Reed Racing – all being transferred to the rear wheels via a new GSR Dogbox transmission.

In my opinion, it’s quite unfortunate that Long Beach is the season opener. As it’s not open for practice at any other time of the year, there really isn’t any opportunity for drivers – especially rookies – to get the hang of it. Combine that with the changes to the car and 700+ horsepower beneath his right foot, and there was a lot to adapt to, and not a lot of time to do it.

A less than favourable finish aside, Rob had a good time and learned a lot about the course, the car, and competing in Formula D as a whole. Seeing how Rob is just shy of 11-feet tall, he had a good view over the jam-packed venue. When he wasn’t busy chatting up the waves of fans, he got to watch other drivers in the competition and see how they tackled the monster that is FD Long Beach.

Rob Primo’s 2013 livery is an evolution of the design Factory 83 worked up last year. The water droplets have formed flowing waves and the X’s have gone a little more extreme. Combine that with a set of dual layer sponsor decals and the addition of a giant Big Country Labs wing, and you have one of the best-looking cars on the FD grid.