Interview with Ben Woo, Vice-President of Formula D Canada

It’s hard to have a conversation about Canadian car culture without mentioning the name Ben Woo.

His current title – Vice President of Sales and Partnerships of Formula Drift Canada, doesn’t come close to explaining the impact and influence this man has had on the car scene. It would be hard to start; Ben was the man behind one of the biggest car shows in Canada - Sport Compact Performance (SCP), but he is also partly responsible for launching Drift Mania Canadian Championship (DMCC), managing the Performance Zone at the Montreal Auto Show, and then there’s his involvement with the fishing industry but we’ll save that story for another day. We tracked down the perpetually busy Ben to ask a few questions about his passion-filled career and upcoming events with Formula Drift.

Let’s rewind a little, some of us know that you’re no stranger to the car scene. But for those that don’t know, tell us a little bit about your background?

I started a show called Sport Compact Performance in 1999, which would become one of Canada’s most anticipated car shows. After years of staying at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, we set out on a cross-country tour with SCP Nights from Halifax to Vancouver. After producing over 150 custom car shows, I helped launch DMCC – the original Canadian drifting series with Alex Crepault. Building on my passion for motorsports, I moved on to the Grand Prix as the director of sponsorships. Eventually, I branched out on my own and started an agency – called WooDoo Events and consulted on programs for major automotive manufacturers. I am also still in charge of the Performance Zone at the Montreal Auto show which I have been managing since the days of SCP.

How did you get involved with Formula D and the world of drifting?

My protégé during SCP, David Da Soma was heavily involved in the grassroots drift scene of Montreal. He saw an opportunity to elevate its presence in Canada. So we held an event called SLIDE in 2012 to gauge the level of interest of drift fans locally and quickly learned that our fans were not only wanting more, they deserved something special. The only thing we needed was to find the right partner. FD was the natural choice; it's a brand that was not only thriving in the U.S. but also expanding rapidly around the world. We approached them, put together a great team to make it happen and we couldn’t be more excited.

So what can we expect for Round 1 of FD Canada?

Well we’ve committed to a competition that’s really big. It’s a full series that leads up to a grand finale in September. We have launched a 3-round qualifier series to find Canada’s top 16 drivers. Round One will be in Montreal, Round Two is going to be in Montmagny and Round 3 is in Trois Rivieres. Different from last year’s competition where we only had a few top drivers, this year’s event will be critical for the global series of FD. Canadian drivers will have the opportunity to go head to head with some of the world’s best drivers as they battle for a coveted spot in the inaugural World Championship in China.

We really didn't realize how popular this would be. We were expecting about 30 teams to register this year, but we’ve got 41 teams enrolled from 3 provinces. I guess they heard we’ve got 4 Pro-2 licenses up for grabs so they can compete in the US series.

We’ve also launched a new online ticketing system where you can purchase tickets with reserved seating with the option of an ultimate fan package with exclusive features like line bypass and early access. Early ticket sales are going well and the event looks promising.

Will you be judging the competition? What do judges look for? Any advice for competitors?

Unfortunately I will not be a judge. In order to standardize the competition, we will be using official FD judges. Our three judges are Haig Kanadjian, Kevin Grenier and Brian Eggert.

The judges base their scores on very simple criteria – they’re looking for: driving line – how close can the car stick to the driving line – the fastest way between two corners? Next is angle – how much angle can they generate while traversing the course and always staying sideways? Then there’s speed – how fast are they drifting? When we first started cars barely made 200 hp, nowadays we have people driving cars with over 800 hp! Finally, judges look at style – we call it the x factor. It’s the flair, the driver’s ability to evoke a response from the crowd, how wide you are when you lead, how close you stay to your completion?

My advice for competitors is to remember that this is FD – you can’t hold anything back. There are a lot of new challengers this year and you will be up against powerful cars with drivers who are not scared of giving everything they’ve got. So come prepared.

We’ll let Pat know! So tell us, will we ever see an FD Canada event in other cities outside Quebec?

You bet your bottom dollar! We wouldn’t call it FD Canada if we only wanted to stay here. Our main focus this year will be expanding to Ontario in 2016. We’ll continue making our way across the country so know that we are definitely heading your way.

Great news! So what’s the best part about being in motorsports?

The best part is the smell of high-octane race fuel and burnt rubber in the morning but what I love most is the look on my kids’ faces when they try to figure out what I do for a living.

Just wait until they turn 16! What’s next for Ben Woo?

SCP. That’s what’s next. After a long hiatus, I’ve decided to bring back SCP for 2016. I'm so excited and the feedback that we’ve been getting is tremendous. We’re planning to feature different genres of automotive culture, but expect the best of the best. Friends and fellow car enthusiasts from back in the day have been reaching out since we announced our return and while many of us have grown up, our shared passion still remains. I’m even planning to have a daycare on the premises. Ha!

Well we can’t wait to hear more. Thanks so much for your time Ben, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks to Scion for the support and stay tuned for news about SCP and our national domination of drifting. We want to bring it everywhere and we hope to see you at one of our events this summer!

Check out the first episode of FD Canada's Inside Angle featuring Scion Racing Driver Pat Cyr and former Tuner Challenge contestant Dany "Babu" Bernier.

Cyrious Report: Recovery

Last month was round 1 of FormulaD Pro 2 in Orlando. While things did not go quite as we expected, our trip provided us with an experience that we can definitely learn from.

The team and I made the 20-hour trip down to Florida and got in on Tuesday night. We were at the track first thing Wednesday morning for tech inspection and the FR-S passed with flying colours, so we were good to race!

Our practice and qualifying was all on the Thursday. We had one 2.5-hour practice session in the morning, another 1-hour practice later in the afternoon then it was straight into qualifying. With so little time to practice, and about 35 drivers competing, I knew we were not going to get very many practice laps in so every lap needed to count. The course was very short, it was a stock car style oval: one large bank, a transition on the infield, and then an inner bank to shut down. With such short courses you have to make a big impact right from the start and be on line everywhere, as errors would be easy to spot.

My first lap out? Nailed it. I've always enjoyed running banked tracks and have always done very well at them. This track was no different, and we were looking great! The next 2 laps out were the same. I was running high on the back, placing the car in all the right spots and making tons of smoke with the Yokohama tires. I was feeling great and we were easily looking like one of the top 3 drivers out there!

However, just before my fourth lap I was waiting in line on the grid, and one of the FD staff noticed I wasn't wearing my HANS device, and informed me that I had to put it on. The HANS (head and neck support) device is a piece of safety equipment that reduces the likelihood of head injuries in the event of a hard front-end crash. Formula D is the only drifting series I compete in that makes it mandatory to wear one. With the HANS device on, I approached the start line, launched and initiated into the bank. Mid to three-quarters of the way through the bank I lightly tapped the wall with the rear of the car and kept drifting. At the time I didn't think much of it but it was kind of a weird spot in the bank to wall tap as in that section you are slowing down and increasing steering angle to zone in on the first inner clipping point. Either way, we were feeling good about our performance in the first practice session and looked forward to the next one in a few hours!

Practice session 2. I strapped into the FR-S and lined up for my lap. I launched down the straight, initiated drift, running a nice high line but clipped the wall again with the rear of the car in the same spot on the bank! This time it was a little bit harder though, and it pulled the front end of the car into the wall. The car came to a halt and I knew the damage was going to be pretty bad. We unfortunately had no spare suspension parts with us so that meant our weekend was done.

I’ve spent the last couple of days sitting in my truck driving home replaying the crash in my mind, and there was one odd thing I kept thinking about. Both times I tapped the wall I didn't see it coming and didn't expect it to happen. I've been drifting for 10 years now and anytime I make a mistake or I'm going to go off track or go too deep into a corner, I know it’s going to happen. I can feel it. This time I didn't feel it. I couldn't figure out why it happened but realized that the only difference was not being used to wearing the HANS device.

Going forward, I will be looking into different versions of the HANS device to find one that is more suited for my driving style. When you’re drifting 8-inches off the wall at 60-70mph, there really is no room for error and corrections need to be made quickly. We will also be getting more spare parts for the car so that if a crash like this ever happens again, we have the parts to fix it to stay in the game!

Our next race will be the first round of FD Canada in Montreal and I'm really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of my FR-S again and seeing you in the stands.

Thanks so much for all the support!

Photography: OMGDrift.com