The King, an Up Close and Personal Interview with 2010 Formula D Champion Vaughn Gittin Jr.
By Mike Kojima and Vaughn Gittin Jr.
The one most notable thing about the 2010 Formula D season was the domination of the series by one man. What was amazing was his domination in an era of extremely tough competition by many highly skilled and well backed drivers and teams. To us, for one driver to be so in charge of the situation in the face of such odds seems impossible.
That man is Team Falken’s Vaughn Gittin Jr. We had a direct insider’s view of his abilities as I am part of Dai Yoshihara’s team, we fought a tough season long battle for the Formula D title with him. Vaughn Gittin Jr or JR for short is the guy we feared and respected the most when we lined up with him. The reason, 6 podiums out of 7 events tells a long story with few words.
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| Oh shit time. As one of Dai Yoshihara’s crew guys, we would get a knot in the stomach when we saw in the ladder that we would face JR. Dai and JR has 3 epic head to head battles over the course of the year, some of the best, cleanest and tightest drifting in the history of Formula D by two of the sports best. No Falken Team tactics here, it was always may the best man win. |
What we really respect about JR is that he is a drifter to the very core, an “organic” champion who was created by the drifting scene, not a hired gun brought in from rally or road racing like so many before him. It is fitting that a “real” drifter to the core has risen from humble beginnings to superstardom. So sit back, read and get to know the man.
MK-Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where did you go to school? What did you do before you became a pro driver? How did you get started?
JR- I was born, raised, and still live in beautiful Maryland. I went to school at a local community college for 1.5 years, got sick of the science and math I would never use in real life, and went to a tech school and got Microsoft certified at 19 years old. That tech school got me a great career in the IT field to support my hobbies of racing motocross and playing with cars.
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| Personality, publicly JR has a larger than life persona, to the casual observer he is loud, brash, confident to the point of seeming arrogance and honestly blunt. JR says what he feels. The JR that few know is a thoughtful, introspective, observant strategist that is very self critical, a thinking driver. He is a top example of a good sport and is a gracious competitor. He is also a helpful and mentoring person. Like an iceberg, there is a lot more to JR than what you see on the surface. |
