High school students catch a drift at Giti event

RICHBURG, S.C. — A group of local high school students had the opportunity May 9 to ride shotgun with professional drift drivers at a community event held at Giti Tire U.S.A.'s plant.

The students in the Chester County Career Center's Automotive Technology Program also toured the Richburg facility and saw the tire manufacturing process first-hand.

Students met Formula Drift drivers Chris Forsberg, Dan Burkett, Jeff Jones, Kazuya Taguchi, Travis Reeder and Amanda Sorensen and "donned helmets for a thrill of a lifetime drift along on the GT Radial Champiro SX-2 RS competition tires," which are designed and produced at the Richburg plant.

The event followed a Formula D competition in Atlanta where GT Radial drivers Forsberg celebrated a second-place win on the podium and Burkett finished fourth.

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The students — who just finished studying about tires, steering and suspension in vehicles — enjoyed seeing the manufacturing process, Giti said.

"We were thrilled to welcome students and community guests to our Richburg plant to showcase our highly automated manufacturing plant, latest manufacturing technology and skilled workforce, as well as experience the performance of GT Radial tires made in Richburg," Julianto Djajadi, executive vice president for business operations for Giti Tire USA., said. "Our South Carolina plant is a special place with special people and many stories to tell. We hope this visit inspired the next generation of engineers and manufacturers in the local community."

Giti also partners with the Chester County School District to help students develop valuable STEAM (science, technology, engineer, arts and mathematics) skills through Giti Math & Science clubs in schools across the area. The clubs meet several times throughout the year, culminating with an annual interscholastic contest.

GT Radial, which placed six drivers in the top 12 of Formula Drift last year, has seven drivers competing on GT Radial Champiro SX2 RS tires for the eight rounds of the 2022 season.

"With four podium finishes last year and off to a good start this year with Chris' second-place finish in Atlanta, we are very excited about the 2022 Formula DRIFT season," GT Radial USA motorsports manager Mike Meeiem said. "We look forward to our drivers competing with the best of them and entertaining Formula DRIFT fans on our American-made GT Radial tires."