#hubinette

Out at Round 6 in Las Vegas of this year’s Formula Drift season, Mike Ryan put on the first ever drift demonstration in a semi-truck with his famous Freightliner Cascadia Pikes Peak Edition. Prior to that event however, Ryan got some testing time out at Irwindale Speedway in Southern California with Samuel Hubinette. The team also gave a very special kid a ride he’ll never forget.

Both Ryan and Hubinette were conducting some last minute testing on their vehicles before Las Vegas, but they also invited out William Klopper, who is battling cancer, for a truly memorable day. Hubinette was granting a wish from the Make-a-Wish Foundation to William’s friend Patrick by inviting them out to the track for ride-alongs.

The nicely executed video does a great job capturing the day’s events, showing off how remarkable it is to watch Ryan drift his Freightliner alongside Hubinette’s Dodge Charger, while throwing in a true feel-good moment with Klopper and his friend.

Watch the video after the jump:

The 2011 Formula Drift season is just around the corner, and competing vehicles are out in full testing mode. Samuel Hubinette hasn’t been at the top of the podium for a couple of years now, but it looks like this year his two-car team will be something to look out for. He’ll be behind the wheel of his Dodge Challenger, while Dean Kearney of Ireland will be piloting the infamous Dodge Viper SRT-10.

Both cars are sporting new looks for the 2011 season, welcoming sponsorship from Dodge, V-LEDs, BFGoodrich and Federal Tires. Dodge will be the primary sponsor of Hubinette’s Challenger, while V-LEDs is the primary sponsor of Kearney’s Viper. Interestingly enough, it looks like Hubinette will be driving on his traditional BFGoodrich rubber while Kearney will be burning off Federal Tires.

Kearney captured the 2009 European Pro Drift Championship, and with the experienced Hubinette by his side, it’ll be an interesting year to see how these two battle it out with the rest of the field. We’ll be looking forward to the season opener on April 8-9th at Long Beach, California.

Check out the video of Hubinette testing his Challenger after the break, along with the official press release.